Now that you’ve learned a few basic baritone ukulele chords using the free Level 1 chord chart, it’s time to add some new chords to your repertoire with the free printable Level 2 chord chart.
The Level 1 chart is a single page. For Level 2, we expand to two pages. Thousands of songs can be played from these two pages.
Why pages? Isn’t that so twentieth century? For me, I need something portable that doesn’t depend on internet—i.e. paper—because I like to go camping and stargazing in remote areas, away from the hive mind, OGNS (off-grid, no signal). The two-page chart is a convenient way to have at hand 64 of the easiest and most common chords for baritone uke. With a sheet protector, the chart survives indefinitely through my travels. And it’s easy to pull a page out to make notes.
Notice in the above photo that I used a double-wide sheet protector. (You can find these in small quantities on eBay for a few dollars.) I like the way it folds out. In a later post, I’ll share more of what I keep in my baritone ukulele book (ring binder). When I hit the road or head to a jam, I grab my uke and my book and I’m ready to roll.
How to Use the Level 2 Baritone Ukulele Chord Chart
The chart is read across from left to right, so the two pages are facing each other. Here’s a photo of how to do it with standard sheet protectors:
The are 102 chord diagrams on the Level 2 chart, but only 64 unique chords and only 26 unique shapes. How can this be?
- The same chords appear in more than one key.
- The same chord shapes can be used on different frets to make different chords.
Let’s look at the first row, the key of G major (E minor). Sometimes known as the “people’s key,” G major is a very popular key for guitar as well as baritone uke (same notes) because the chord shapes in G major are the easiest shapes and because G major is a good vocal key for many men and alto females (me).
(On piano, the key C major is easiest because it’s all white keys. C major is also the easiest key for traditional Hawaiian tenor, concert and soprano ukuleles tuned G-C-E-A.)
Note sure what key your song is in? Follow these tips.
Note also in the photo above that the blue boxes indicate the four most frequently used chords in a particular key. In the key of G major (first row), these chords are G major, C major, D major, and E minor. You can play thousands of songs with just these four chords. These chords are also referred to as the one, four, five, and six, which refer to the notes of the major scale (seven notes).
The G major and Em chords only require one string to be fretted, the C major only two. Add the D major, which is a pretty easy shape, and you have the most frequently used chords in the most popular key for baritone uke.
The rest of the first row shows the most common variations for songs in the key of G major. For example, the variations for G major include G7 and Gmaj7, with only one string to fret for each chord.
To play a song in A major, go to second row. And so on.
Compare baritone ukulele pen shapes and moveable shapes
I also want to point out something neat about chord shapes: look on the first row of the Level 2 chart and compare the Am shape to the Bm shape. At first, you might think that these are two different shapes. But if you think about it for a minute, you’ll see that they are they same shape, two frets apart. The Am shape is on the “0 fret” meaning that the chord includes an open string. As you move up to the 1st fret, this chord shape becomes a moveable shape.
When a chord shape includes open strings, we call it an open shape. When all four strings are fretted at once, we call it a moveable chord shape, meaning that the shape can be moved anywhere up and down the fretboard to play a different chord. The chord retains its qualities, such as major, minor, diminished, minor seventh, major seventh, and so on. Only the letter changes. For example, an Am moved up two frets becomes a Bm.
What Is the difference between a moveable chord and a barre chord?
Moveable chords and barre chords are essentially the same thing. All four strings are fretted to make the chord, with no open strings. All barre chords are moveable chords.
However, it is possible to make a moveable chord without using the index finger to bar all four frets. For example, take a look at the F major chord at the end of the first row (top photo). You could use your index finger to bar the first fret, or you can just bar two strings (E string and B string, the two highest-pitch strings). The choice usually depends on the chords that come before and after the F major. Use the approach that works best in the song.
Related Posts:
Beginner Baritone Uke Chords: Level 1
Baritone Ukulele Builders and Brands Directory
Choosing Strings for Baritone Ukulele
The Baritone Ukulele Fretboard: Step-by-Step
Why Organize Chords By Key?
After I started to get the hang of the basic chords on my Level 1 chord chart, I was ready to add more chords to my toolbox. But once again, I wanted the chords I would need most often, and I wanted them organized the way songs are organized. I didn’t want to use an entire chord encyclopedia or website just to play a song.
I also wanted to try to understand WHY some chords are more common than others. I’m a curious person. But I’m also a shy person and I can easily get nervous or anxious when I play. There’s nothing worse than that deer-in-the-headlights feeling when you’ve forgotten the next chord. I wanted to see chords organized in a way that helped me understand how songs are built, so that I didn’t have to rely on rote memorization, which never fails to fail under pressure!
Music Is a Language
Imagine trying to speak a foreign language without understanding what the words mean. Suppose you just tried to memorize the syllables needed to buy a train ticket when you visited a foreign country. You’d have much better chance of reaching your destination if you learned the words for “train” and “ticket” rather than just trying to memorize sounds you didn’t understand. The same is true for music.
Tip: It takes time to learn the language of music. Most of us can’t learn a new language in a day. So be patient with yourself. You’re in this for the long haul. Keep at it, and don’t beat yourself up when up you get confused. Time is your friend when it comes to learning something new.
As beginners, we rely on sheer memorization a lot, but over time, the more we learn about the language of music, the better we’ll be able to communicate musical thoughts, ideas, emotions, and stories. And the better we’ll be able to remember and communicate under pressure, such as when we get nervous. If you start to think in terms of keys from the beginning, you’ll find you can progress much more quickly in understanding the language of music.
How to Learn Baritone Ukulele Chords Faster
The best advice I can give you for learning to play baritone ukulele faster is to (1) focus on the chords you need most, (2) start with simple songs–there are so many! and (3) learn as much as you can about the key of G major so you can start to learn how music works, instead of just trying to memorize things you don’t understand.
There’s nothing special about the key of G major except that it is the easiest key for baritone ukulele and guitar, and a comfortable for many voices, so it’s very popular. However, all keys work the same way in terms of how songs are constructed.
If you start with simple songs and learn how to transpose them into the key of G major — which is really quite easy for simple songs — you’ll quickly start to understand how songs work and how music works.
What Are the Most Popular Keys for Baritone Uke?
The more strings you have to press on the more frets to make a chord, the harder it is to use the chord in songs. The fewer strings you have to press on the least number of frets, the easier the chord is to play. So it makes sense that the most popular keys for baritone ukuleles are the easiest ones.
For baritone uke players, these are the six easiest and most popular keys:
- G major and E minor
- A major and F# minor
- C major and A minor
- D major and B minor
- E major and C# minor
- F major and D minor
Each major key has a related minor key, called the relative minor or natural minor, that is comprised of the same notes and chords, as shown in the list above. By learning the notes and chords of G major, you’ve already learned the key of E minor. Cool!
Should You Learn All Twelve Keys on Baritone Uke?
Is six keys enough to learn? Aren’t there twelve keys in Western music? Yes, there are twelve keys in all, but I promise you, there are a lot of working musicians out there who don’t play in all twelve keys. So no, you don’t have to learn all twelve, and certainly not any time soon.
Of course, virtuoso performers who are fluent in the language of music can play in all twelve keys, particularly in jazz. But most of us baritone ukulele players aren’t going to become consummate pros. Still, we can learn to hold our own with the band in familiar keys.
Even accomplished pros prefer the easier and more familiar keys. Why make it harder than it has to be? If a song really must be in Db for the singer’s money note, use a capo. Otherwise, most musicians would chose either C or D instead.
If you get really bored some evening, you can research which chords you’d need to play a simple song in D-flat (Db), and look up the shapes you’d need to master that key. Or you could just take my word for it! You can go a long way with your music by focusing on certain keys and learning how key structure works in songs.
So, not all twelve, at least not anytime soon. But is six enough? Will you need to learn more than six keys? In the long term, you may eventually get around to working on B major, Bb major, and Eb major. But not as a beginner.
The Scales of the Most Popular Keys
Here are the six easiest keys for baritone ukulele with their corresponding major scales. Notice that each letter appears once and only once in a major scale.
| G major | G | A | B | C | D | E | F# |
| A major | A | B | C# | D | E | F# | G# |
| C major | C | D | E | F | G | A | B |
| D major | D | E | F# | G | A | B | C# |
| E major | E | F# | G# | A | B | C# | D# |
| F major | F | G | A | Bb | C | D | E |
The Beginner Triads for Baritone Uke
Triads, as you probably know, have three notes.
In Level 1, we practiced six triads in each of six keys (three major triads and three minor triads) and one seventh chord. In Level 2, we continue with these six keys, adding one more triad (the flat-seven triad) and several more seventh chords.
The triads we learned in Level 1 are the triads that occur naturally in those keys. In other words, the notes of the triads are the notes of the major scale of the key (diatonic).
In my research, I found that there was another triad that occurred frequently in many songs, one that doesn’t occur naturally in the key, the triad referred to as the flat-seven major. This is the first triad we learn that strays from the major scale (diatonic) and it is built on the flat seven. Flat seven simply means starting with the seventh note of the scale and lowering it a half step (one fret). Build a major triad from that note to find the flat seven major triad of that key.
For example, in the key of C, the seventh note of the major scale is B. Lowering it a half step (one fret) takes you to Bb. Building a major triad from Bb, using the notes from the C major scale, you get Bb-D-F, which is a Bb major triad, the flat-seven major triad in the key of C major.
Similarly, in the key of G, the seventh note of the major scale is F#. Lowering it a half step takes you to F. Building a major triad from F, using the notes of the G major scale, you get F-A-C, which is an F major triad, the flat-seven major triad in the key of G major.
By the way, the triad that occurs naturally in a major scale by starting on the seventh note of the scale is a diminished triad. We don’t learn this chord in Level 1 or Level 2 because it isn’t often needed in popular songs.
Building the Beginner Triads in C Major
Let’s review how the basic triads are built. Then we’ll see how adding one note creates the seventh chords.
I know that a lot of people don’t like too much jargon but there is one music term you want to know because it’s so helpful: diatonic. Diatonic just means that the notes (either in a chord or a melody) are the notes of the major scale for the key you are playing in.
For example, in the key of C, the diatonic notes are the notes of the C major scale (the white keys on a piano). In the key of G, the diatonic notes are the notes of the G major scale (all white keys except for the F, which is an F#).
If you know the diatonic notes of a key, you can guess most of the chords in most of the songs in that key and, over time, you’ll start to be able to hear when a chord change or melody diverts from the diatonic. Playing by ear starts here.
By making yourself aware of when you are playing diatonic versus non-diatonic notes and chords, you can train yourself to understand what you hear. You can train yourself to play by ear.
In the table below, the red letters show the pattern of diatonic triads in C. By listing the notes of the C major scale, and skipping every-other note, we have these triads:
| Note | Chord | C major scale | |
| 1 | C-E-G | C major | C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A-B |
| 2 | D-F-A | D minor | C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A-B |
| 3 | E-G-B | E minor | C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A-B |
| 4 | F-A-C | F major | C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A-B |
| 5 | G-B-D | G major | C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A-B |
| 6 | A-C-E | A minor | C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A-B |
| b7 | Bb- | Bb major | C-D-E-F-G-A-Bb-C-D-E-F-G-A-Bb |
Building the Beginner Triads in the Six Easiest Keys
If you were to create the chart above for the six easiest keys, your results could be summed up as follows:
| Key | Scale Degree 1* | Scale Degree 2 | Scale Degree 3 | Scale Degree 4 | Scale Degree 5 | Scale Degree 6 |
| G major | G | Am | Bm | C | D | Em |
| A major | A | Bm | C#m | D | E | F#m |
| C major | C | Dm | Em | F | G | Am |
| D major | D | Em | F#m | G | A | Bm |
| E major | E | F#m | G#m | A | B | C#m |
| F major | F | Gm | Am | Bb | C | Dm |
You can find the chord shapes for all of these on the free chord charts.
The Most-Used Seventh Chords for Baritone Uke
When we add the next note in the pattern to get a four-note chord, we create seventh chords. These are the seventh chords that occur naturally from the major scale (diatonic). You can call them anything you like; for example, you could call them the meat and potatoes sevenths:
| Notes | Chord | Scale | |
| 1 | C-E-G | Cmaj7 | C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A-B |
| 2 | D-F-A | Dm7 | C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A-B |
| 3 | E-G-B | Em7 | C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A-B |
| 4 | F-A-C | Fmaj7 | C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A-B |
| 5 | G-B-D | G7 | C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A-B |
| 6 | A-C-E | Am7 | C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A-B |
We can also get some variations on our 7th chords by raising or lowering the 7th note, shown in green above.
Types of Seventh Chords for Beginner Baritone Uke
For Level 2, we’re learning three types of seventh chords, the types you need most often when you start learning songs. These 7th chords are made with a triad, either major or minor, plus one more note.
As a beginner, you probably don’t need to get too much deeper into the music theory of seventh chords. For now, you’ve got enough on your plate. But for those who are curious (like me) here’s how we make the three types of seventh chords in Level 2:
| Chord | Example | Triad | Seventh |
| Major 7 | Cmaj7 | major triad | natural 7th |
| Minor 7 | Cm7 | minor triad | flat 7th |
| Dominant 7 | C7 | major triad | flat 7th |
Tip: Music structure is all about these repeating patterns. It takes time to learn all the repeating patterns in music. But the same patterns appear in every key.
Part of the magic you see on the bandstand is the mastery of some of these patterns. Many performing artists are not completely fluent in all of the patterns. But just a few of the patterns can sure take you a long way.
Which Chords Should I Learn Next?
Once you have learned the chords on these two charts (Level 1 and Level 2), and WHY they are the most common, you will probably be getting to the point where you don’t need chord charts so much anymore for popular music.
That said, the suspended chords are going to be next on your list, the “sus2” and “sus4” triads and seventh chords. These chords are fairly common in songs. Look them up online and add them to your repertoire. Maybe I will do a supplement page for these, depending on feedback I get from readers.
Beyond that, you’ll be relying less and less on chord charts and learning a system for playing chords all over the neck.
There is more than one chord shape for any chord, so you’ll start learning different ways of playing the same chord, called inversions. Why learn more than one way to play a chord?
- to change the pattern of the lowest notes: the bass line
- to change the pattern of the highest notes: the melody or harmony
- to make a quicker change from one chord to another
- to transpose the song to higher or lower key, to fit the singer’s voice
Conclusion
I like to understand what I’m doing. I’m curious. I want to see the big picture. But more than that, I want to know WHY certain chords work together so I can learn to play by ear, so I can play the music I hear in my head—cover tunes, yes, but also the music that comes from my imagination. I want to hear the next chord coming in my head and know what chord I need to play. I want my hands to just “GO THERE” because I understand what I’m hearing.
But it’s not just curiosity that drives me to understand what I’m doing musically. It’s stage fright. I used to feel so uncomfortable playing in front of people, it was dreadful. It was NOT fun. I still get nervous, but the problem isn’t crippling when you have confidence that you understand what you’re doing.
So my charts are organized by key. If you start to think in terms of keys from the beginning, I think you’ll find you can progress much more quickly.
How I make the charts: I looked into various ways of making my own chord charts and eventually decided to create them from scratch using Adobe Illustrator. I enjoy digital illustration and I know the software pretty well so it was not too difficult for me (though time consuming), and I was able to do exactly what I wanted.
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