Let It Be
Let us begin learning chords with Let It Be!
What is a chord? The shortest answer is: at least three notes sounding at the same time. A ukulele has four strings, so it can produce at most four notes simultaneously. (A piano, by contrast, can produce ten or even twelve if we use all our fingers and occasionally press two keys with one finger.) If two strings sound at once, we have an interval; if three, four or more notes sound, we have a chord. Different combinations arise depending on which strings we fret and where. But why do different chords matter? When we listen to music, we are essentially hearing chords together with a melody built over them. Changes of harmony establish much of a song's mood, so different chord relationships and turns play a major part in whether we say we like a song or not. Naturally many other factors contribute too: melody, lyrics, tempo, arrangement, performance and so on.
What do we need in order to play chords on the ukulele? The answer is simple: we need to know which of the four strings to fret, and at which fret, with the left hand, so that when the right hand strums across the strings the desired chord sounds. Actually doing it, of course, takes practice .
The four diagrams below show the fingerings for the four chords heard in the verses of Let It Be. The vertical lines represent the ukulele strings, the horizontal lines represent the frets, and the red dot shows where a string must be fretted to produce the desired chord.
This style of diagram is widely used; chord fingerings for other string instruments are shown in very similar ways. As we learn more songs, the number of chord shapes stored in our memory will steadily grow. Now let us hear how one of The Beatles' wonderful songs, Let It Be, is built from the four chords above:
This video gives you the initial push by demonstrating the chord shapes. With 25–30 minutes of persistent practice a day, you can reach a level fairly quickly at which both player and listeners will enjoy the accompaniment. (Naturally, the more time you can devote to practice, the better!)
Once you have started down the bumpy road of learning chords, only your own ambitions and musical taste need limit what songs you learn. On the internet you can find the lyrics and chords for almost every popular song in a format like this:
The Beatles — Let It Be
C G Am F
When I find myself in times of trouble, mother Mary comes to me,
C G F C
speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
C G Am F
And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me,
C G F C
speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
Am G F C
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be.
C G F C
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.
And when the broken hearted people living in the world agree,
there will be an answer, let it be.
For though they may be parted there is still a chance that they will see,
there will be an answer. let it be.
Let it be, let it be, .....
And when the night is cloudy, there is still a light, that shines on me,
shine until tomorrow, let it be.
I wake up to the sound of music, mother Mary comes to me,
speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
Let it be, let it be, .....
The chorus (the “Let it be, let it be...” section) is not shown or played in the video; that is your “homework”. In other words, you can work out the chorus easily using the same method demonstrated for the verses. As you can see, the chords are no longer written above the lyrics from the second verse onwards, because you simply play the same progression as in the first verse. If you wish, you can of course copy the lyrics from here and add the chords yourself. Listening to the song many times helps enormously when learning it, especially if you try to play along while you listen.
In the songs covered in the next posts we will learn more chords, but I have already uploaded a complete chord chartwhich you can use to learn a whole range of new chords.
