Dm is also the IV chord in A minor.Īdding E7 opens up songs based on the Andalusian Cadence (vi-V-IV-III7). The key of C is the most common key for Elementary music.Īdding C7 (modifying the C major chord) opens up I-V7 songs in the key of F and works as a transition to the IV chord (V7 of IV) in the key of C.Īdding Am and G to the above opens up hundreds of songs that use the 50’s (I-vi-IV-V7) and Pop (I-V-vi-IV) chord progressions.Īdding Dm allows for alternative 50’s progressions (I-vi-ii-V7) and the “Don’t Worry. They allow you to play hundreds of songs in the key of C, including I-V7 and I-IV-V7. Why are the the most useful ukulele chords and why?Ĭ, F and G7 are the most common and widely used ukulele chords, period. Forget about that page of 100 ukulele chords for now. I created this one-sheet chord set so we can all focus on what I believe is the most important set of chords every ukulele player should know – and the chords that will get every beginning student the farthest down the musical road with the least effort in the shortest amount of time.

It’s also useful to learn new chords so you can play a song in a different key – to make it easier to sing for certain vocal ranges, for example. Of course, there will always be certain songs that require exotic or less-frequently used chords, and you can always add those as needed.

Over my 20 years playing the ukulele, I’ve come to realize that, while it’s great to know a bunch of chords, there is a specific set of chords that seem to get used far more than others.

That is the topic of this post and what I’m giving you in the PDF. The question we need to answer is: What are the most useful chords commonly played on the ukulele? or another way to put it: What is chord set represents the shortest distance between my ukulele and the music I want to play?

Ukelele chord progressions