How to Play a C Chord on the Ukulele

So you’ve just got your first ukulele and aren’t sure where to start? In this series of articles we’ll be taking you through all the chords you need to know to get started beginning in this article with the C chord.

When you first pick up the ukulele, the first chord you need to learn is C. As well as being easy to play and very common, C is the center of the whole music world.

Rather than A as you might expect, the musical scale is based around the note of C no matter what instrument you play.

If you’ve ever played piano, you’ll know that the C major scale is played using only the white notes – it doesn’t have any sharps or flats. Because of this, it is using as the standard in music.

So it is that the C chord is the first you will learn. The chord is played by putting the ring finger of your fretting hand (right hand for most people) on the A string (the one nearest the ground) at the third fret.

When you play a fret, you should be holding down the string between the steel bar lines. In this case, between the second and third ones.

The precise place you hold the string down will not be the same for every size of uke. If you have a small ukulele, press down in the middle of the fret.

If you are playing a larger ukulele, you may want to hold the string down closer to the third third steel bar. If you hear a buzzing sound, that means you are too close. So back off a little to prevent this sound.

If you do hear any buzzing move back from the third fret a little (if this doesn’t solve the problem, there are other factors that could be causing it such as the action on the ukulele being too low or a particular fret on the uke having been worn down by playing).

There is an art to getting the force used to fret a note just right. If you don’t hear the note ringing clearly, you may not be holding the string down with enough force. If the notes you are playing sound out of tune, it may be that you are holding them down too hard.

Check your fretting by playing the A string on by itself. Does that note sound brightly? Is it muffled? Does it sound like it is in tune with your other strings?

You can test this by playing both the open C string and the string you are fretting together. They are the same note, so the two should blend together perfectly.

Once you are satisfied with that, you have your C chord right there. All you have to do is play the other strings open.

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