How to Play A G Chord on the Ukulele

Welcome to the third section of the beginner ukulele chords series. In this article we’ll be discussing how to play a G chord. This chord makes a great accompaniment to the chords we have already looked at in this series.

Once you’ve learned these three chords and can play them smoothly there is a huge number of songs you’ll be able to play running the gammut from Ramones punk songs to old blues standards.

Playing G

The G chord is another step up in difficulty as it uses three fingers. First, put your third finger on the E string at fret 3. Then your second finger at fret 2 of the A string. And your first finger goes on fret 2 of the C string. You don’t need to fret the G string at all.

To test that you have every noted fretted correctly, play them all individually. If the E string doesn’t sound clear, don’t worry. Beginners often have trouble with that string. They often find that the string isn’t ringing clear because their ring finger is touching it and muting it.

To stop this, make sure that your ring finger is arching high above the string. In order you do this, you may need to adjust your left hand positioning a little.

In order to create this, shift your hand so that the tip of your thumb is against the middle of the fretboard. This will give you a better hand position making it easier to change chords as well as giving the chords a clearer sound.

When To Play A G Chord

In the sequence of chords we’ve looked at so far, the G chord usually comes as the last chord. So if you’re writing a song using these chords, the G will sound best at the end of the progression.

This is because it is a ‘high tension chord’ which will build a climax in your progression which will create a sound which is eager to return to the root chord (in this case C).

By now you should have a firm grasp of the three major chords we have discussed so far. With that in mind, we take one step further in our series of beginner ukulele chords next time by looking at a minor chord.