Chords on a Stringed Instrument

Chords
Chords are groups of notes played (or fingered) together
which sound pleasant (harmonious) together.



Chord Diagrams
To show what a particular chord is,
it's useful to draw a diagram.

Below, are two chord diagrams -

 
















One shows the chord where all the strings are open.
       
      An open string is one where no finger is placed on it.

One shows a chord where there are some finger positions.

      These finger positions are where you place your fingers,
          -  firmly on the string
          -  just behind the fret,
               which is the metal bar that runs across underneath.

Numbers of Strings
Stringed instruments can have different numbers of strings,
depending on the type of instrument.

Using my ukulele as an example,
it has -
                      4 strings

    so I drew the above diagrams with 4 vertical lines.

Numbers of Frets
To keep things simple,
I drew only down to the Fourth fret.

Notes for the Chord with All Open Strings
As outlined in my blog entry "How I Tuned My Ukulele",
I've tuned my ukulele differently to the norm,
and I've indicated these notes below the diagram.
      (mC  =  middle C)

Notes for the Chord with Finger Positions

I've indicated these notes below the diagram,

as they would be on my ukulele.

      The distance between each fret

      corresponds to an increase or decrease of -

      

                            One Note

So here, my -

                                F open string          goes to F#       

And here, my -

                                G# open string        goes to A#   

(c) Katherine Stuart 2015