A VERY LARGE CHORD DATABASE.
Brian Lemin June 2013
Introduction.
For some years now I have been using my own database of chords to drag and drop the chord grids into Word or copy into PDF. It has worked very well, and though it is a very extensive library of chords I still find a chord that I do not have when I am arranging music from say a lead sheet or a fake book. To try and be a bit “funny” I always say that it is the fault of those “danged” jazz guitarists that have six strings, a long fret board and exquisite ear to choose those slightly dissonant harmonies that sound so great to us.
Can the Uke have the same advantages as a guitar?
Not really, 4 strings and about 12 frets do not cut to the chase, add re-entrant tuning to it and even if we can create some of those chords, they will never sound the same. With a low G tuning we stand a chance, and it is that chance that I spent so many hours, and searches, and reading, and asking, and talking; that has finally enabled me to create a ukulele chord library in grid form that contains so many chords that I am sure that I will never use them all. They have chord names that are out of this world! I like the “aug min MAJ added 9”. Quite amazing for a chord name, it hardly fits across the top of the grid, even after I have fiddled with it in Photoshop for hours.
Does it really matter to have the correct chord?
Well, in some ways it does, but in other ways it is immaterial. Just imagine all the tunes you can play with the “three chord trick”, the “12 bar blues”. Frankly you can get away with that very well, that is until your ear gets exposed to the “better” or “fuller” chords to the tune you are singing. Then suddenly the beauty of the “extended and the altered” chords come into play.
The good thing about it is that you do not have to turn your fingers in knots to play all these chords. Certainly they are very different to the vanilla chords you play at the nut, but once you start learning to play with all the strings stopped for each chord, you find that there are comparatively few “chord shapes” that you need to learn. For the most common “advanced” chords you can probably get away with say a dozen fingering shapes, and once your fingers have mastered those shapes, they will quite easily form into the even more complex shapes that are “occasionally” needed.
It is the wonder of music theory (of which I am almost totally ignorant of) that allows these same chord shapes to turn up and be named by a different name in different songs. I have often said that playing advanced ukulele is all about “shapes”…. Not chords. Of course that is true for the fingers, but not for the music. If you master your shapes you will be proficient with your chords.
What chords does my library contain?
Well here is a list of the directory:
11
11b9
13
13#11
13#9
13b5
13b5b9
13b9
13sus4
4
5
6
6(11)
6-9
6add9
6aug5
6dim5
7#11
7#5
7#5#11
7#5#9
7#5b9
7#9
7#9b5
7+11+5
7+5
7+5+9
7add11
7add11_
7add13
7aug5
7b5
7b5#9
7b5b9
7b9
7b9add13
7b9b5
7dim5
7sus
7sus2
7sus4
9
9#11
9#5
9b5
9sus4
9ths+7add9
add11
add2
add4
add9
add9 (alternative chord)
aug
aug7 +7
aug7(11) +7(11)
aug7(9) +7(9)
augmM7 +L7
augmM7(11) +L7(11)
augmM7(9) +L(9)
b5
dim
dim7
dim7#5
dim7(11)
dim7(9)
dim7add9
dimM7
dimmM7
dimmM7(11) oL7(11)
dimmM7(9) oL7(9)
dom7
halfdim -o
halfdim(9)
halfdim7(11)
halfdimadd11
halfdimadd13
halfo7(9)
MA11
MA13
MA6-9 M6-9
MA7
MA7#11
MA7#5
MA7add13
MA7b5
MA9
MA9#11
MA9#5
MA9add6
MA9b5
madd9
MAJOR
mb6
min11
min13
min6
min6-7
min6-9
min6add9
min7
min7add11
min7add13
min7b5
min7b5b9
min7b9
min7dim5
min7dim9
min7sus4
min9
min9b5
mindim11
mindim13
minM7
minM7(11)
minM7(13)
minMA9
MINOR
mmin6-11
Q3
Q4
Q5
Slash chords BL
Slash chords-from ukulele chords
Sus
sus2
sus4
sus4add9
susadd9 (alternative chord)
Chord families with moveable shapes.docx
131 Dir(s)
Conclusion
I suppose I think I have run the Chord Marathon. It has been a process of at least two years to put this together, and even now I am full of misgivings about what I have done. I have tried to be accurate in depicting the chords, but I am far from sure if some of those chords listed above are nothing but the same chord in a different guise?
Anyway, they are all here and ready to go. I will give you some examples to look at. No, I am not selling them… it is the work of an amateur and remains “as is”, but if any of you want a copy, I will charge only the cost of the disk etc postage and posting, then you can share it with whoever you like. The “Slash Chords” must always acknowledge “ukulele chords” as I got them from that web site, though I had to painfully extract them from that site.
Of course I will always be happy if some of you more knowledgeable players, put me right or develop the database in a better direction. Just share your efforts with me please.
Brian
Brian Lemin June 2013
Introduction.
For some years now I have been using my own database of chords to drag and drop the chord grids into Word or copy into PDF. It has worked very well, and though it is a very extensive library of chords I still find a chord that I do not have when I am arranging music from say a lead sheet or a fake book. To try and be a bit “funny” I always say that it is the fault of those “danged” jazz guitarists that have six strings, a long fret board and exquisite ear to choose those slightly dissonant harmonies that sound so great to us.
Can the Uke have the same advantages as a guitar?
Not really, 4 strings and about 12 frets do not cut to the chase, add re-entrant tuning to it and even if we can create some of those chords, they will never sound the same. With a low G tuning we stand a chance, and it is that chance that I spent so many hours, and searches, and reading, and asking, and talking; that has finally enabled me to create a ukulele chord library in grid form that contains so many chords that I am sure that I will never use them all. They have chord names that are out of this world! I like the “aug min MAJ added 9”. Quite amazing for a chord name, it hardly fits across the top of the grid, even after I have fiddled with it in Photoshop for hours.
Does it really matter to have the correct chord?
Well, in some ways it does, but in other ways it is immaterial. Just imagine all the tunes you can play with the “three chord trick”, the “12 bar blues”. Frankly you can get away with that very well, that is until your ear gets exposed to the “better” or “fuller” chords to the tune you are singing. Then suddenly the beauty of the “extended and the altered” chords come into play.
The good thing about it is that you do not have to turn your fingers in knots to play all these chords. Certainly they are very different to the vanilla chords you play at the nut, but once you start learning to play with all the strings stopped for each chord, you find that there are comparatively few “chord shapes” that you need to learn. For the most common “advanced” chords you can probably get away with say a dozen fingering shapes, and once your fingers have mastered those shapes, they will quite easily form into the even more complex shapes that are “occasionally” needed.
It is the wonder of music theory (of which I am almost totally ignorant of) that allows these same chord shapes to turn up and be named by a different name in different songs. I have often said that playing advanced ukulele is all about “shapes”…. Not chords. Of course that is true for the fingers, but not for the music. If you master your shapes you will be proficient with your chords.
What chords does my library contain?
Well here is a list of the directory:
11
11b9
13
13#11
13#9
13b5
13b5b9
13b9
13sus4
4
5
6
6(11)
6-9
6add9
6aug5
6dim5
7#11
7#5
7#5#11
7#5#9
7#5b9
7#9
7#9b5
7+11+5
7+5
7+5+9
7add11
7add11_
7add13
7aug5
7b5
7b5#9
7b5b9
7b9
7b9add13
7b9b5
7dim5
7sus
7sus2
7sus4
9
9#11
9#5
9b5
9sus4
9ths+7add9
add11
add2
add4
add9
add9 (alternative chord)
aug
aug7 +7
aug7(11) +7(11)
aug7(9) +7(9)
augmM7 +L7
augmM7(11) +L7(11)
augmM7(9) +L(9)
b5
dim
dim7
dim7#5
dim7(11)
dim7(9)
dim7add9
dimM7
dimmM7
dimmM7(11) oL7(11)
dimmM7(9) oL7(9)
dom7
halfdim -o
halfdim(9)
halfdim7(11)
halfdimadd11
halfdimadd13
halfo7(9)
MA11
MA13
MA6-9 M6-9
MA7
MA7#11
MA7#5
MA7add13
MA7b5
MA9
MA9#11
MA9#5
MA9add6
MA9b5
madd9
MAJOR
mb6
min11
min13
min6
min6-7
min6-9
min6add9
min7
min7add11
min7add13
min7b5
min7b5b9
min7b9
min7dim5
min7dim9
min7sus4
min9
min9b5
mindim11
mindim13
minM7
minM7(11)
minM7(13)
minMA9
MINOR
mmin6-11
Q3
Q4
Q5
Slash chords BL
Slash chords-from ukulele chords
Sus
sus2
sus4
sus4add9
susadd9 (alternative chord)
Chord families with moveable shapes.docx
131 Dir(s)
Conclusion
I suppose I think I have run the Chord Marathon. It has been a process of at least two years to put this together, and even now I am full of misgivings about what I have done. I have tried to be accurate in depicting the chords, but I am far from sure if some of those chords listed above are nothing but the same chord in a different guise?
Anyway, they are all here and ready to go. I will give you some examples to look at. No, I am not selling them… it is the work of an amateur and remains “as is”, but if any of you want a copy, I will charge only the cost of the disk etc postage and posting, then you can share it with whoever you like. The “Slash Chords” must always acknowledge “ukulele chords” as I got them from that web site, though I had to painfully extract them from that site.
Of course I will always be happy if some of you more knowledgeable players, put me right or develop the database in a better direction. Just share your efforts with me please.
Brian