 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Not logged in - | |
| Moderated by: Richard Hefner | Page:   1 2 |
|
|||||||||||||
| Struggling with B chords - Beginner Questions - Ukulele - Ukulele - ezFolk Forums | |||||||||||||||
| Author | Post | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||
|
woollyuke Approved 
|
It was good to read this thread, as I have problems with the B's as well. I continue to practice, but my advice in the meantime is that if there's a song you really want to play, and you can't make it work with the B chords, just transpose it. I'm planning on doing that with "I Want to Hold Your Hand." The B7 is driving me nuts. I can play it pretty well, except that I can't play all the other chords with my thumb on the back of the neck, but I can't barre any chords unless my thumb is on the back of the neck. So, there's too much extraneous movement and it's vexing me. So, I'll transpose it. And with "I've Just Seen a Face," I replaced the E chord (another evil one) with an E7, which I can play just fine, and it sounds OK.
|
||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
|
BartlebysUke Approved 
|
woollyuke wrote: It was good to read this thread, as I have problems with the B's as well. I continue to practice, but my advice in the meantime is that if there's a song you really want to play, and you can't make it work with the B chords, just transpose it. Really? I use B7 as the great cheat chord for the B family. But I do find all the most frequent B's challenging: B, Bm, Bb. For B I usually use B7. For Bm I either use Bm7 (not a good substitute in this case) or use my thumb on the G string. For Bb I move the B7 chord back one fret towards the nut, and don't play the A string-tricky, but I am getting better at it. The Beatles really love B chords, and it can get frustrating working around them, but you can't transpose everything (if you play everything in the same key, it starts to sound monotonous). And Bm really is an essential chord; it crops up everywhere.
____________________ exegi monumentum aere perennis. |
|||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
|
Smiffy Approved
|
My head's spinning from all the ballyhoo about B, Bb and Bm. If the chord is too difficult for you to play give it up. You'll find you can't play without it. So you'll practise and practise and then one day you'll realise it's over. Just like tying your shoes. Or driving a car. It's over before it's begun, once you get the hang of it. Like reading and writing. Like weeing your pants over E#min7 when you see it on your song sheet. And then realising you already know that shape. Getting it in behind the right fret is the next challenge. Ahh. More practise, til it comes right. Post recordings of your songs. When you're happy with them. Record everything you practise. Meanwhile take all the hugs you can get. Hugs
|
||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
|
BartlebysUke Approved
|
Ha ha! Smiffy is quite right, of course. Just this week, after two years of working around it, I nailed a chord that I never thought I would get: F7. So... if it be not now, yet it will come. The readiness is all.
____________________ exegi monumentum aere perennis. |
|||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
|
Smiffy Approved
|
You're on to it! Makes you wonder what all the fuss was about.
|
||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
|
BanjoDave Approved
|
I had trouble with the B chords when starting out just over a year ago and asked on here for advice in getting round them. This nearly started WW3 as the consensus was that if I wanted to play properly I would have to learn them, Period!. I didn't buy that at all for 1 reason - and that is because I started playing the Uke following advice that the Uke should be fun to play and enjoy. I never set out to be a Jake Shimabukuro and only intended to strum along to popular tunes for my own enjoyment and at parties etc. For that reason I either transposed or left certain tunes alone, only going back to them to learn (and try and do B chords) in between having fun. Learning any instrument is not easy but the main point of a Uke is that its easier to get something out of it straight away, so that gives you encouragement. In time you will get any chord and in a fashion that it comes natural. But any chord thats frustrating and hard to do straight away can be worked around so as not to lose track on the main line of pleasure.
|
|||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
|
BartlebysUke Approved
|
BanjoDave wrote: I had trouble with the B chords when starting out just over a year ago and asked on here for advice in getting round them. This nearly started WW3 as the consensus was that if I wanted to play properly I would have to learn them, Period!. I heartily agree. Playing uke is not a moralistic endeavour. If the uke had not been fun to play--and therefore worth playing-- even when I could only manage C, G, and F chords, I would never have gotten to the point I am now. Like BanjoDave, I have no aspirations to be a virtuoso; I just want to be able to play and sing some of my favorite songs. And that it is all the incentive for B chords that I need.
____________________ exegi monumentum aere perennis. |
||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
|
absurdus_delirium Approved 
|
HowlinHobbit wrote: Alba, divrom, et. al.,That's what did thet rick for me too! I actually got it when I used a strap and lowered the neck of the uke (a la Johnny Cash) while holding it cradled under my arm, almost perpendicular to my chest. The "bony" part of the finger still fell into place so I got a clear sound!
____________________ http://ezfolk.com/audio/absurdus_delirium i guess, the more u like music, the more music u like! |
|||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
|
Will Approved 
|
BartlebysUke wrote: woollyuke wrote:It was good to read this thread, as I have problems with the B's as well. I continue to practice, but my advice in the meantime is that if there's a song you really want to play, and you can't make it work with the B chords, just transpose it. Bm is the relative minor of D major, and it's commonly used in songs played in the key of D. The Beatles may have loved B chords, but did they actually record any songs in the key of B major? Probably not many - B major or Bb are not "guitar-friendly" chords, and songs in those keys are most likely played with a capo on the guitar. The only pop songs I can think of that were recorded in the key of B major were by Gordon Lightfoot, such as "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" and "Rainy Day People."
____________________ Will http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/297/ Loose Change & Friends http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/245/ http://loosechangeandfriends.com The Earth Tones http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/337/ A Bunch Of Coconuts http://abunchofcoconuts.com |
||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Current time is 07:21 pm | Page: 1 2 |
| ezFolk Forums > Ukulele > Beginner Questions - Ukulele > Struggling with B chords | |
