Ukulele · Chapter 5 of 24

Reading Chord Charts

A chord chart is a picture of the fretboard standing up, with dots where your fingers go. Learn to read one and you can play any chord.

Every chord in this course comes with a small diagram. Once you can read one, you can learn chords from any songbook, or from our chord finder.

What the lines mean

Up and down: strings

Imagine the ukulele standing up in front of you, facing you. The four vertical lines are the strings: G C E A from left to right, string 4 on the left and string 1 on the right.

Across: frets

The thick line at the top is the nut. The lines below it are the frets. A dot between two fret lines means: press there. A number next to the diagram (like “5fr”) tells you the chart starts higher up the neck.

Dots and numbers

The number in or under a dot is the finger to use: 1 index, 2 middle, 3 ring, 4 little finger. An o above a string means play it open, not pressed.

Here is the C chord. One finger: the ring finger (3) on the 3rd fret of the A string. The other three strings are open. Press the diagram to hear it.

The letters under the strings are the notes the chord plays: G, C, E and a C on top. C, E and G are the three notes of a C major chord.

Shape names

Ukulele players often write a chord as four numbers, one per string from string 4 to string 1: C is 0003, meaning G string open, C string open, E string open, A string at the 3rd fret. Here are three more, read them and then press them:

Chord	Numbers	Fingers
Am	2000	finger 2 on string 4, 2nd fret
F	2010	finger 2 on string 4, 2nd fret; finger 1 on string 2, 1st fret
G7	0212	finger 2 on string 3, 2nd fret; finger 1 on string 2, 1st fret; finger 3 on string 1, 2nd fret

Left-handed? Some left-handed players play a regular ukulele right-handed; others restring it so they strum with the left hand and fret with the right. Both are fine. If you play the second way, turn on the left-handed switch near the top of the page: every diagram and fretboard on the site turns into a mirror image, with string 1 on the left, the way your neck looks from where you sit.

Try it. Read each chart on this page and finger it on your ukulele without looking at the table. Strum once, and check that every string rings.

Remember

Vertical lines are strings, G C E A from left to right; horizontal lines are frets.
Dots show where to press, numbers which finger; o means open.
Four-number names run from string 4 to string 1: C = 0003.