Hey Undergroundlings! UB40 and Pure Heart will have nothing on you after this easy-to-learn (though it might take a little practice) episode of UKE LESSONS! Check out “Bring Me Your Cup”, let us know if you like it, and show us what you got on the Forums!
Also, don’t forget to check out the tracks on Aldrine’s NEW CD (see post below) and if you like it, pick it up so you can jam along to it or bump it hard from the sound system of your automobile. Thanks much - we heart you more than air!
Alright UUers! We have a very special Uke Minutes for you this week, bringing you the quick-and-dirty rundown of CHORD FAMILIES!
Ever wonder why certain chords sound good together? Want to write a song in a certain key, and wondering what chords to use? Well this episode of Uke Minutes was made especially for you!
Step 1: Pick a key. Any musical key you want to play in. Step 2: Find the major scale. Click HERE to review major scales and how to find them. Step 3: Number the notes in your major scale 1 through 8
Now, numbers 1, 4, 5, and 8 will be major chords. Numbers 2,3, and 6 will be minor chords. And 7 will be a diminished. That’s it! You’ve got your chord family!
All of these chords will sound good together, so if you are writing a song, go ahead and choose which ones you want and arrange them in a specific order. Once you’ve done that you’ve got a new chord progression to your very own song!
This also applies to figuring out the chords to an existing song. If you can figure out what key the artist is playing in, more than likely, many of the other chords in the song will be taken directly from the chord family for that key.
Have fun with this one guys! Also, Don’t forget to SIGN UP for Next week’s OPEN MIC (Wednesday, June 25 2008 - 3:30 pm HST / 6:30 pm PST). It will be broadcast right here on this page for the world to see! See you there!
No Uke Minute this week, instead we chose to debut our new show: ‘Uke Got Mail’. In this show Aldrine will answer questions submitted by you, our loyal viewers and forum members. To get your question answered on this new show, email askaldrine(at)gmail.com.
