Exercises 9-10 – Inside The Book: 50 Ukulele Chord Exercises for Beginners

These 2 ukulele chord exercises are featured in the book 50 Ukulele Chord Exercises

On this chords exercise sheet, we will be working with four chords: Em7, Edim7, F and Fadd9.

Exercise 9

Whilst we don’t usually play diminished chords at beginners level, this one is not very difficult because it is an open chord, and all you do is move the Em7 shape down one fret, from frets 2 to frets 1 with both fingers.

Counting:
1+2+3+4

Exercise 10

moving from F to Fadd9 is an esay change on ukulele; take your 2nd finger off to move from F to Fadd9. Incase you were wondering what an add9 chord is, it’s a full major chord with an added major 2nd or major 9th note added (major 9th and major 2nd are the same notes, but major 9th is an octave higher.

Counting:
1 2 3 4

Video Lesson for Exercises 9-10


Watch on YouTube

← Exercises 7-8
Exercises 11-12 →
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Exercises 7-8 – Inside The Book: 50 Ukulele Chord Exercises for Beginners

These 2 ukulele chord exercises are featured in the book 50 Ukulele Chord Exercises

On this chords exercise sheet, we will be working with three chords: A, A7 and Dsus2.

Exercise 7

The first strum is worth 2 beats. You can see that the note is not coloured in and it has a stem, so that makes it a minim, worth 2 beats (also known as a half note because it lasts for half of the bar). This is followed by two cotchets, which are 1 beat each. Here is the counting that you should use for this exercise (strumming on the parts in bold font).

1 2 3 4

Exercise 8

The rhythm for this exercise is almost the same as exercise 7. All we do is add an up strum after beat 3. Here is the counting that you can use to help:

1 2 3 + 4

Video Lesson for Exercises 7-8

← Exercises 5-6
Exercises 9-10 →
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Beginners Ukulele Chord Exercises 5-6 of 50

These 2 ukulele chord exercises are featured in the book 50 Ukulele Chord Exercises

Here are 2 beginners ukulele chord exercises using C, am and F chords. On this sheet, we start to work on strumming rhythms. Exercise 5 uses C and Am chords and the rhythm is down up down up down down. Exercise 6 uses F and Am chords and the rhythm is down down up down down. On the video I show you how to practice these using a metronome. You could use this sheet and follow this video for a quick 10 minute lesson on practicing the C, Am and F chords, which are fundamental to learn and practice on the ukulele.

← Exercises 3-4
Exercises 7-8 →
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Beginners Ukulele Chord Exercises 1-2 of 50

Here we have 2 ukulele chord exercises for beginners. The first exercise has single strums, lasting for 4 beats, and the second exercise has 2 strums per chord, each lasting for 2 beats.

These exercises are designed to be very easy for ukulele beginners. The chords are Cmaj7, Am7 and Am. Watch the video below for help with counting and playing the chords.

Exercises 3-4 →
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(PREMIUM) – 10 Group Chord Exercise Sheets – 3 Ebooks – Guitar & Ukulele

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People that might find this book useful

● Guitar and Ukulele groups can use these as warm ups or practice exercises
● Guitar & Ukulele teachers can print the book or single sheets for their students (unlimited printing)
● Students can teach themselves if they have some reading knowledge
● Supplementary learning material for students that have guitar lessons

Contents Highlights

10 exercise sheets, containing a total of 27 individual exercises. There are 3 books; Guitar Chords (Grade
1-2), Guitar Barre Chords (Grade 3-4), Ukulele (Grade 1-2).

About the book

As my students progress up to grade 3 and 4 level they move on to barre chords, so this book has been
made for those players, to play along with the other ability levels in the youth music group. Perhaps there
will be other groups in the world that will find this useful in a similar type of group scenario. For many others,
the books can also be used as exercise books for the individual instrument level, and therefore there are 3
seperate ebooks included in the online download.

Free Previews

Page 3: Guitar Grade 1-2 ebook

Page 3: Ukulele Grade 1-2 ebook

Page 3: Guitar Grade 3-4 Barre Chords ebook

Final Thoughts

I hope that this book provides a useful set of lesson material for guitar teachers and ukulele for grade 1-4
levels. I also hope that it is used by self taught players, or by players that are having lessons and are
looking for extra things to work on.

– Theo Lawrence / TL Music Lessons

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5 beginners Guitar & Ukulele Chord Exercises with E7, D, Em, Am

These exercises are for practicing chord changes using a selection of basic chords. Each quarter note (crotchet) is 1 down strum, so on the first exercise, Em has 8 down strums, then Am has 8 down strums and then you repeat the exercise until you have been aroud 4 times. Take the speed slow to allow time for changing chords. Aim for a steady and slow constant speed before increasing the tempo afterwards. Keep going around the repeats for a while on each exercise.

The guitar and ukulele exercises 2-5 are compatible with each other so you can even play these exercises in groups with guitars and ukuleles together.

These exercises are featured in the Basic beginners book 1 for Guitar & Ukulele.



Related (Premium): Basic beginners book 1 for Guitar & Ukulele.

(PREMIUM) – Guitar & Ukulele Basic Beginners Book 1

Since writing this ebook, I have developed some ‘Easy Reading’ guitar and ukulele scales and melodies ebooks, so although this page says ‘Book 1’, you might want to take a look at those easy reading books first, especially for younger players.


 

2 for 1: The premium download includes 1 book for guitar and 1 book for ukulele.

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People that might find these books useful

  • Guitar & Ukulele teachers can print the book or single sheets for their students
  • Students can teach themselves to learn the basics if they have some reading knowledge
  • Supplementary learning material for students that have guitar lessons
  • Beginner ukulele players and guitarists looking for some easy songs or exercises to get started with

Contents Highlights

17 topics of study for guitar and ukulele that is aimed at complete beginners. The book has a mixture of public domain songs, easy scales, easy melody exercises and easy chord exercises.

Teaching Notes

The books are designed so that even age 5 or 6 could play some of the pieces and exercises, so it starts off very easy with simple melodies such as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, that almost everyone can play to some extent in their first lesson. There is however content for all ages in this book and the majority of content is designed to be played by all ages.

The book also takes a while to move onto chords. Like I said at the start of the post, I have developed some ‘Easy Reading’ books recently and at the time of updating this page for a new website launch (Jan 2019), I also have some ‘Easy Reading Chords’ ebooks in the pipeline, which have worked really well with my students. Check out the ebooks section and look for the Easy Reading Chords books – they’ll probably be available by the time you read this.

Example Page from the Guitar ebook:

Full Contents

3. Contents
4. Introduction
5. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
6. Ice Cream
7. Canon in C – 2 sections
8. Silent Night in C – melody
9. 4 finger note / string / fret exercises
10. C major and A minor scales for beginners melodies
11. Canon in C – 3 sections
12. 2 melody exercises in C major
13. 2 melody exercises in A minor
14. Autumn Leaves
15. One Drop
16. Em and Am Chord Exercises 1-12
20. 5 Easy Chord Progressions with E, A, D, Em, Am, Dm (Free Preview)
21. Robin Reddocke – chords
22. C major scale practice with chords
23. Silent Night in C – chords + melody
24. Melody Exercises – A minor scale

About the book

The book is designed for use with teaching students with reading from as early as the first lesson if they are capable. All of the sheets are supposed to be achievable fairly quickly and easily by guitar and ukulele students of any age. Even students from the age of 5 or 6 could play some of these sheets. A teacher using this book would need to gauge the ability of the student. Often having something written down helps the student so even if they cannot read much of the music, they will be able to understand fret numbers and hopefully chord boxes too.

The best thing about these books is that the guitar and ukulele versions are compatible so if you happen to have beginner guitar and ukulele students in the same group, then you will be able to use these books to play along together. I don’t have many of these groups and they don’t always have a lesson together, but sometimes it works really well to have guitar and ukulele students playing together or learning in a group.

Final Thoughts

I hope that this book helps people get started quickly with learning guitar or ukulele and playing along to songs with others. The aim of this book is to progress quickly through it and to provide satisfaction through achieving. I hope to break down the barriers to getting started with learning guitar and ukulele with this book.

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Christmas Is Here feat. Snejana

Back in October (2016) my guitar student Snejana asked ‘Can we write a Christmas Song?’.

We liked it so much that we ended up recording it, and here it is!

You can listen to the song here, and even download it if you like it here:

Stream / Download on Bandcamp

Stream on Spotify

Written and produced by Theo Lawrence & Snejana
Lyrics & vocals by Snejana
Cover Art edited by RogueSkins.

Merry Christmas!


Lyrics

VERSE

Cadd9 C/B Dsus4 x2
Cadd9 C/B G Dsus4 x2

Christmas is here where lots of good cheer will come around
Christmas is here where lots of good cheer will come around
The fire is burning the candles are lit our hearts are warm and full of joy.
The sky is dark the stars are shining brightly and Jack Frost’s outside making everything sparkle nicely

PRE CHORUS

Cadd9 G Dsus4 x6

Woah oh oh oh
Woah oh oh

Christmas is here it’s official
Don’t be alone this Christmas
Invite a couple friends over and have some fun
And that’s why it’s Christmas

CHORUS

G Cadd9 Em7 Dsus4 x8

Christmas trees fairy lights baubles everywhere
Christmas trees fairy lights baubles everywhere
Can’t you see Christmas cheer and carols all around
Don’t you worry you’ll get a carol at your doorstep

Christmas is here don’t fear Santa’s on his way
There’s some snow on a slope and people sledding down it
Baubles are shining in some people’s faces
And that is why it’s gonna be Christmas time

BRIDGE

G Dsus4 Em7 Cadd9 x4

woah oh oh oh oh…..
Christmas time
Christmas time
It’s just Christmas time

CHORUS

G Cadd9 Em7 Dsus4 x9 (Then end on G)

Christmas trees fairy lights baubles everywhere
Christmas trees fairy lights baubles everywhere
Can’t you see Christmas cheer and carols all around
Don’t you worry you’ll get a carol at your doorstep

Christmas is here don’t fear Santa’s on his way
There’s some snow on a slope and people sledding down it
Baubles are shining in some people’s faces
And That is why it’s Christmas time

Wouldn’t be any other time, cus it’s Christmas time


Credits

Written and produced by Theo Lawrence & Snejana
Lyrics & vocals by Snejana
Backing vocals by The Guilsfield Cupcakes
Sleigh Bells performed by students of TL Music Lessons
Cover Art edited by RogueSkins.

(Premium) – 50 Ukulele Chord Exercises ebook – Beginners & Grade 1-2

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Playlist with video lessons for this Ukulele book


Contents (29 pages)

  • Page 4 – Brief help with reading notation regarding the strumming hand
  • Page 5 – Exercises 1-20 – Chord Exercises in 4/4
  • Page 15 – Exercises 21-25 – 3/4 Time Signature
  • Page 17 – Exercises 26-31 – 6/8 Time Signature
  • Page 20 – Exercises 32-40 – Picking exercises in Various Time Signatures
  • Page 25 – Exercises 41-45 – Finger Picking Only Exercises (no guitar pick)
  • Page 27 – Exercises 46-50 – Finger Picking and Chords

Introduction

People that might find this book useful

  • Ukulele teachers can print the book for their students.
  • Beginner ukulele players can work through the book with the help of a teacher
  • Some ukulele players may be able to work through the book on their own (reading knowledge needed)

About the book

This book was written following my first two books (released as a set), 100 Beginners Chord Progressions + 100 Strumming Rhythms.

Either book could be started first, but I tend to start with this one, and then burn through the 100 chord progressions a lot quicker following this book.

I started out writing this book in order to solve two problems I found in the first book of chord progressions – which were mainly problems for early beginners. The first problem was that by the time we got through all 4 chords, sometimes it had taken a while to change between chords and we lost the flow of the exercise. The second problem was that the new beginners were not familiar with the chords yet, so we had 2 books and a chord sheet to look at. The third problem was that for young beginners, some struggled to remember the rhythms and therefore got lost flicking between the books, rather than remembering the rhythm and then just looking at the chord progression book.

So, this book aims to solve all of the problems in the above paragraph for basic beginners level, by having the chord diagram and rhythm and tab all in one place and also only focuses on 2 chords at a time so the player can really master those chord changes.

The book includes a lot of new content not seen in the first two books, like finger picking exercises and different time signatures. Therefore those who have started with the first books, could also go through this book afterwards and still feel like they are progressing.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, I think this book is best to start with out of the 2 releases so far. The overall aim is to improve those chord changes and build up your rhythm and finger picking skills, preparing you to be able to play songs, to help you progress in general, and it to give you some new concepts for constructing your own music.

I hope you find the book useful.

Theo Lawrence
www.tlmusiclessons.com

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View Guitar Version →

Spanish Guitar Chord Progression Loop – Flamenco style Chord Progression – Guitar & Ukulele

Photo Credit: Sean Molin. License Link: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0


 

The Am, G, F, E chord progression is used in Spanish improvisation, and is the fundamental part of some flamenco songs.

In the images below, I have modified the final chord to be E7 on ukulele, and I have also shown a simple rhythm to get started with.

For the guitar chords, you may play the F as a barre chord, and you may also use F7.

It is also common to spend two bars on each chord instead of 1.

Guitar

Ukulele

12 Bar Blues Ukulele Chord Progression in C

This is a nice little blues chord progression using easy beginners open chords, which has a very pleasant sound to listen to and to play.

You could try using some Strumming Rhythms once you have mastered single strums or playing 4 strums per bar. A slow strumming rhythm with an 8th note swing sounds nice and relaxing with this blues chord progression.

All Through The Night (Ar Hyd y Nos) – Welsh Traditional Song – Guitar & Ukulele TAB – Public Domain

Photo by Felix Mittermeier from Pexels


 

The arrangements should be playable by grade 1-2 level students.

As I teach in Wales during my working week, some of my primary school students have been learning this tune on guitar or ukulele to play at school events to mark St. David’s day.

By some, the song is considered a traditional Welsh Christmas song. I’m not too sure on this, but it says on wikipedia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ar_Hyd_y_Nos

2017 update: Now includes a lyrics file.

 

Guitar:


Ukulele:


Lyrics:

10 chord progressions in the key of D minor for guitar and ukulele

These 10 chord progressions in D minor are from my premium ebooks, 100 chord progressions for guitar and 100 chord progressions for ukulele ebooks.

The first sheet is for guitar, and the second for ukulele. They can be played together. Some of the chords are slightly different so that they are easier to play on each instrument – most of the chords are exactly the same on each sheet.

 

Guitar

The Sheet:

The Chords Reference Sheet:

Ukulele

The Sheet:

The Chords Reference Sheet:


Related (Premium): 100 chord progressions for guitar
Related (Premium): 100 chord progressions for ukulele

(Premium) – Ukulele Ebooks: 100 beginners chord progressions + 100 strumming rhythms

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These ebooks have been created after 6 years of teaching guitar and 1 year of ukulele. They follow on nicely from the premium ebook ’50 Ukulele Exercises’.

I have used my knowledge of how students learn chords, where they struggle the most, and what is needed to develop with rhythm playing and chord playing. The combination of these sort of chord progressions along with different strumming patterns is one that I have tried and tested, and have now compiled into a range of printable ebooks that can be used side by side to help many beginner guitarists and ukulele players improve their chord changing and rhythm playing.

People that might find these books useful

  • Ukulele teachers can print the book for their students.
  • Beginner ukulele players can work through the book with the help of a teacher
  • Some ukulele players may be able to work through the book on their own

Page 2 – Contents
Page 35 – Introduction
Page 6 – 10 Chord Progressions in A major
Page 7 – 10 Chord Progressions in A using A7, D7 and E7 chords
Page 8 – 10 Chord Progressions in A minor
Page 9 – 10 Chord Progressions in C major
Page 10-  10 Chord Progressions in D major
Page 11 – 10 Chord Progressions in D minor – [View Sheet]
Page 12 – 10 Chord Progressions in E major
Page 13 – 10 Chord Progressions in E minor
Page 14 – 10 Chord Progressions in F major
Page 15 – 10 Chord Progressions in G major
Additional Sheet Beginners
Ukulele Chord Chart (21 chords)


Also Available for Guitar

View the Guitar version →