Ukulele Blank Chord Chart

This is an interactive chord builder for ukuleles. That’s right, you can build and explore ukulele chords from scratch.

This time around there aren’t any complicated setup steps to worry about, just dive in and start placing your finger. How does it work? It works the same way you’d play one if you had one. Except that instead of being a physical instrument, it live on your browser.

How to Use the Ukulele Chord Builder

A grid represent the neck of the ukulele with the four columns relating to common tuning of G C E A. The highest re-entrant G string is at the top of row. The lower strings follows in the following rows, representing the first five frets. By simply clicking on a point on the grid you place a finger on that string. A blue dot will appear showing where your finger has been placed. To take your finger off click on the same point again and the string goes back to being open.

There are four little circle above the nut line, one for each string. Each allows you to play the string open without having to fret it. To switch between playing the string open (o) or muting it (x), simply click on the circle. It will go through all of these options in order. If there’s an “o” then the string will ring out clearly when it’s played open. If there’s an x then the string is muted and won’t be heard. This is useful when trying to create voicings for chords that omit some of the strings. Only one dot can be active on each string at once.

As you move your fingers around on the strings, the widget will automatically check where they are placed. It then displays chord name beneath the neck. Below that it shows the notes that is being struck, allowing you to hear which harmony is being played. To get an idea of how a particular shape might sound, simply click on the play button and it’ll strum through the shape. There’s a neat little audio engine that plays a realistic-sounding pluck note based off the selection. You can control the volume from the slider in the lower-right corner.

You can use the preset buttons to load common chord shapes instantly. There are options for C, G, and other major, minor, and 7th versions too. Hit the preset and it will load the shape into the grid and play it right away. This is a fast method to see what make up standard chords. From there, you can move the fingers around and adjust the shape to hear how this alters the sound. If you want to start again, just hit the Clear button which returns the board back to all open strings.

The widget is designed for comfortabley mouse-free use with keyboard navigation. Simply press Tab to jump from one grid cell to another, and from one control to another. The arrow keys are available to get around the fretboard when necessary. Pressing Space or Enter triggers the selected button or cell. You can put fingers down on the fretboard like this and play chords with just your keyboard. This makes for a smooth workflow for fast chord practice and testing out new ideas.

This is the fullscreen button. Fullscreening the widget lets it fill your computer screen, giving you plenty of room to view the chord names and the grid clearly. If you have a small screen or just want to concentrate on the exercise alone this is handy. Click the button again, or hit the Escape key, to exit fullscreen mode. If you get stuck, the Help panel has a quick reference to all of these controls.

Experimenting with minor variations will help you grasp the relationship between chords. For example, play a C major chord then hold it down but move your finger up a further fret. You’ll see that the notes and the chord name update instanly. Try muting the G string of a G major chord and listen to the change in texture. It’s these little tweaks that show you how harmony works for the ukulele. With immediate feedback you begin to link what is seen to what sounds like.

The idea behind this tool is that it’s meant to be exploratory and open-ended. How do you use the grid? It doesn’t matter. Build chords by ear, from theory, whatever. If you’re just learning how to play ukulele and don’t know any chords, start with the presets. They give you a good place to start.

If you want to create something of your own on the blank canvas go right ahead! Tweak all the variables until the sound sounds like what you heard in your head. Click around, strum around and see what comes up.