The small change in the sound between the MINOR and MAJOR chord is by playing the 3rd ('Mi') 1/2

tone lower. It is 'Do' 'Mi' (lowered a semitone) and 'So' in our Tonic Solfa. However to play minors we need quite

different chord shapes. Minors are Triads too, so you MUST strum only 3 strings. Sounding a 4th string is optional.

The MINOR is shown in music charts as 'm'; '-'; 'min' or 'minor'. Minors sound mournful and evoke sadness.

SENTINEL 'Am'. See how you can trace this shape easily up to Dm at fret 5 and higher if you want. Note that the

BAR covers strings 1 to 3 and your ring finger stretches across to the root note 2 frets up on S4. At Cm you get a

rerprieve by only needing to bar strings 1 to 3 at frt 3.TIP: Lock your 'bar' finger ie., your pointer, by holding it

down with your long middle finger. This makes for a good sounding chord.

The 'Em' shapes. Dm is the closest minor you play to the NUT when using this shape. Although you are playing the

'Em shape' its full shape is disclosed when you play D#m when the oblique line of 3 notes appears on strings 1 to

3 with a 'tail' on s4. At Em you have another option because the e & g at open s2 & s4 are in the Em chord too.

This is another shape which can be played high up the frets. Stop advancing when the chord isn't sounding 'true'.

The 'Fm' Shapes. If you are prepared to learn to be selective with your strumming, you need strum only the strings

G,C&E.Doing this will discover a trove of Minor chords. From Fm at fret 1, every Minor can be played up to

and beyond 'Cm'. Notice that the shape of these chords is a triangle pointing up to the nut of the uke. Refer back

to the shape of the major chords and see how they are also triangles pointing away from the nut of the ukulele.

Note how any major has 2 notes on a fret and its relative minor has its 2 notes on the next fret up and looks in

the opposite direction. The Major sits on strings 1 to 3, the Minor on strings 2 to 4. Does this help you at all ?

Like with Fm shapes you only have to strum strings 1 to 3 with these shapes. It reinforces the need to attain this

strumming skill. You will one day be able to reach Em using this shape. It is on frets 10,11,12 but is exactly like Gm.

Strum S1 to S3 and not S4, and play the minors from G to E. TIP: As long as you are playing it correctly you

should get a nice sound playing minor chords. If you are not then get a new Uke! Minor chords are often used in

both classical and jazz repetoires and they are the basis of The Blues.