The first ukulele chords

Eight chords: C, G, D, F, A, Am, Em, Dm. Chosen not by opinion but by two numbers — how much effort the shape takes and how often the chord is needed.

The eight shapes

C1 fingersin 40 progressions1 G3 fingers · 1-fret stretchin 39 progressions4 D3 fingersin 38 progressions3 F2 fingers · 1-fret stretchin 28 progressions3 A2 fingers · 1-fret stretchin 24 progressions3 Am1 fingersin 12 progressions1 Em3 fingers · 2-fret stretchin 11 progressions5 Dm3 fingers · 1-fret stretchin 10 progressions4

How these eight were chosen

Almost every list of first chords is an opinion. This one is a calculation from two measurements, and both are printed with every shape.

Effort comes from the shape itself: how many fingers it needs, whether a barre is required, how far the hand has to stretch, how high up the neck it sits — and whether a muted string lies between sounding ones. That last one is the hardest at the start, because a finger already doing something else has to damp it.

Needed comes from the eighteen common chord progressions: we count in how many of them the chord appears, calculated in the keys this instrument is actually played in. A chord belongs at the beginning if it takes little effort and is needed often.

None of these shapes requires a barre. That is not leniency but the single biggest difference: one finger lying flat across several strings while three others fret costs weeks — and all eight here manage without.

What you can already play with them

25 progressions need no chord outside these eight. Not promised but counted: a progression appears here only if every one of its chords is above.

I–V–vi–IVAm – C – F – GC major I–V–vi–IVC – D – Em – GG major vi–IV–I–VAm – C – F – GC major vi–IV–I–VC – D – Em – GG major I–vi–IV–VAm – C – F – GC major I–vi–IV–VC – D – Em – GG major I–IV–VC – F – GC major I–IV–VC – D – GG major I–IV–VA – D – GD major i–iv–vAm – Dm – EmA minor i–VII–VI–VIIAm – F – GA minor i–VII–VI–VIIC – D – EmE minor I–V–vi–iii–IV–I–IV–VAm – C – Em – F – GC major I–♭VII–IVC – F – GG major

What comes next

These three appear most often in the progressions but require a barre. They are the line between beginning and carrying on.

Bb3 fingers · barre · 2-fret stretchin 17 progressions8 D72 fingers · barre · 1-fret stretchin 12 progressions5 Dm73 fingers · barre · 2-fret stretchin 9 progressions8

More about barre chords

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Every note on this page is computed, not typed in — following the rule that also makes F# major spell its seventh degree E#, not F.