the notes on the ukulele

On a piano keyboard you’ll see the notes in sequence. On a fretboard of a string instrument like the ukulele it’s a bit more complicated. But not much.
The picture below shows the notes on the ukulele fretboard. For now we assume you’re using the standard C-tuning (G-C-E-A). The third string is the C-string. Every fret up the fretboard is the equivalent of moving from one piano key to the next, regardless of its colour (black or white). So moving from fret to fret along the C-string we find the note sequence from part I: C-C♯-D-D♯-… The open string (without fingering any fret) is a C, fretting the first fret is a C♯, and so on. For the other strings the sequence is the same, except for the starting note. So for example on the E-string you start with an E, and from there follow the familiar sequence E-F-F♯-G-G♯…

As you know by now, the C chord consists of the notes C-E-G. We’ll have to find a way to play those three notes on the ukulele. The easiest way is usually to stay close to the top nut. The open G, C and E-string are all notes from the C chord. The open A-string doesn’t belong to the C chord, so we move up the fretboard along the A-string until we find a C, E or G. So A-A♯-B-C. At the third fret we find a C note, which is part of the C chord. So if you fret the A-string at the third string and play the other strings open you have your C chord. Of course you already knew that, but with this method you can find any chord you like. Just try to make sure you play all notes from the C-chord (so C, E and G). For example, you could also fret the E-string at the third fret, but then you play G-C-G-C, missing the E-note.

Another way to find out how to play a C chord is to find all C, E and G notes on the fretboard. In the previous picture we marked all notes, in the one below we’ve marked only the notes of the C chord.

To play the C chord, just pick one of the marked notes on each string and strum. Easy! You can pick any combination you like, but try to make sure you have at least one of each (a C, an E and a G). Also make sure you’re fingers can reach them. If you look up some C chord forms in a chord table, you’ll see all possible ways to play this chord fit within this template.

chords on a ukulele

The easiest way to play a chord is usually by using open strings, so unfretted strings. For the C chord you would use the open G, C and E strings, because those notes are part of the C chord. You have to fret the A-string (for example at fret 3), because the A isn’t part of the C chord.

Fretting all strings might be a bit more complicated, but has lots of advantages. Have a look at this C-chord, where we picked the first fretted note from the C chord on each string:

Since we’re not using open strings, we can move this shape along the neck of the ukulele. For example, if you move this shape two frets up the fretboard (towards the body), all four notes move up two steps. These are exactly the notes of a D chord! The D note is two steps higher than the C, and for the D chord you have to take 4 and 3 steps (see part I). So all three notes of the D chord (D-F♯-A) are two steps up from the C chord (C-E-G). You can use this trick for all chord shapes without open strings. By moving this single shape along the fretboard you can play any major chord! The only problem is that you may end up very high on the fretboard. In part III we’ll see how you can use three to five moveable shapes to play any major chord in a number of ways, and at different positions along the neck. In later parts we’ll do the same with minor and other chords.

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You can find ukulele chords in chord tables which you can find on the internet. But there are many kinds of chords like major, minor, 7th and many more, each in twelve different keys. And you can play each of these chords in a number of ways, resulting in hundreds of ukulele chords. You could learn all of these chords or use a small selection of ‘basic’ chords. A much better solution is to know what you’re doing, and learn a couple of basic shapes. Combined with a little bit of musical theory you can then find all the chords and variations you ever need yourself. In this series I’ll show you how to do just that.

If you want to know how to make your own chords, you first need to know what they are.

what are chords?

notes

A chord consists of different notes played at the same time. Music notes are ‘numbered’ with the letters A through G. After G we get back to A. The famous ‘do-re-mi’ scale starts at C, so C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C. These notes correspond to the white keys of a piano keyboard. Between some of the white keys is a black key. You can consider the black key to be either a higher note than te white one to the left, or a lower one than the white note to the right. Raising a note (making it higher) is notated by a sharp sign (♯), lowering it by a flat sign (♭). For example the black note between C and D is either a raised C (so C♯ or C-sharp), or a lowered (flattened) D (so D♭ or D-flat). Which of the two names you have to use isn’t that important for the moment. There are also black keys between D and E, F and G, G and A, and between A and B. At two places there isn’t a black key between the white ones: between B and C, and between E and F. It’s important to remember this keyboard layout, since we’ll need this order of notes later on.

steps

Using the sharp sign for now, we have a sequence of 12 music notes: C-C♯-D-D♯-E-F-F♯-G-G♯-A-A♯-B. After that it starts again at C. For music theory, all notes are equally important and the steps between two consecutive notes is the same. For example, from C to D is two steps (C-C♯-D), and from E to F is one step. If you’re building a chord, the most important thing is the number of steps to get from one note to the next.

A chord consists of different notes sounding simultaneously. The C major chord consists of three notes: C-E-G. A chord is named after the ‘root’, which is more or less the starting note. In this case a C. If there’s nothing behind this root, it’s a major chord, so if you see a C chord it is actually a C major chord. For other types of C-chord there’s an addition to the root, like Cm for C-minor or C7 for C-7th. We’ll get to that later.

constructing a major chord

A major chord consist of the root (the starting note), then the note 4 steps further, and finally the note another 3 steps further. Have another look at the piano keyboard or the following note sequence:
C-C♯-D-D♯-E-F-F♯-G-G♯-A-A♯-B.
For a C chord (i.e. C major) we start at C (the root). Take four steps from C to end up at E, and take three steps from E to end up at G. So the C chord consists of the notes C, E and G.

Another example: for an E chord take 4 steps from E to G♯ and another 3 steps to B. So the E chord is E-G♯-B. And what about the D♭ chord? The D♭ key is the same as C♯, so taking 4 and 3 steps we get D♭-F-G♯. (Actually we should write D♭-F-A♭, but that’s not really important for now.)

constructing minor chords

Sometimes you’ll notice an ‘m’ at the end of a chord symbol. This ‘m’ indicates a minor chord. Instead of the 4-3 steps of a major chord, a minor chord consists of 3-4, so first three steps and then another four. For an Em chord (E-minor) start at E, take 3 steps to G and another 4 to B. So Em is E-G-B. For Am you’ll find A-C-E (after B start at C again).

Now you know the recipe to find the notes you’ll need for any major or minor chord. In the next parts we’ll learn how to play these chords on the ukulele. We’ll also learn other types of chords, so you won’t have any problems when someone asks you to play an F♯sus4.

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For those of you who don’t know (like myself until recently): the paleolithic or paleo diet is based on the premise that our paleolithic ancestors from around 10,000 years ago were a lot healthier, so we should eat the way they did. In particular you should avoid eating grains and dairy. This diet was introduced around 1975 as the ‘stone age diet’, but suddenly it seems to get popular.

As with any diet you have to make sure you get all the important stuff you need. If you do, I guess there’s not that much wrong with the paleo diet. However, I don’t think it will do you much good either. Most of the scientific evidence quoted by paleo supporters turns out to be articles about related but completely different things, like the bad effects of gluten (whole wheat) for people suffering from gluten sensitivity. Ok, if you’re allergic for peanuts you shouldn’t eat them. But for most of us there’s not much evidence that gluten are bad for you, and you’ll also miss all kinds of the good stuff from e.g. whole wheat bread.

What annoys me is the stack of unproven assumptions on which the paleo diet is based. The idea is that the cavemen were healthy, that this health was due to their diet, that after 10,000 years we didn’t adapt to another diet, and finally that the modern paleo diet is a good approximation of what these cavemen ate. Let’s have a look at these assumptions.

Cavemen health

True, there is evidence that cavemen lacked some of the diseases we get. But then again, their live expectancy was around 30 years. They probably died before they could get ill. Modern hunter-gatherers grow older, but still most don’t make it to their 60th birthday. In terms of health, not really the best example to follow perhaps.

Cavemen diet

Even if the paleolithic people were healthier, we don’t know whether this was due to their diet. Hunters had the ability to run down wild game until the animals dropped down by exhaustion. If you’re able to run for hours you’re probably in better shape than most modern day people. And don’t tell me they could run that far due to their diet. World’s best ultrarunner is a vegan.

Adaptation

Although we share a lot of our genes with our paleolithic ancestors, this doesn’t automatically imply we didn’t adapt to other food. Perhaps even the cavemen would have done perfect on grains. Actually there is scientific evidence for adaptation in the last couple of thousands of years, for example in increased lactose tolerance. And there also seems to be evidence that people consumed grains around 200,000 years ago, so 20 times longer than the paleo diet wants us to believe.

Modern paleo

Even if you’d like to eat like a cavemen, you can’t. First of all, we don’t know for sure what our ancestors ate. According to most paleo proponents you should get at least half of your food (or even two-thirds) from animal sources. With modern day hunter-gatherers this ratio depends on location, but it’s much lower. For our genetically close chimp friends it’s around 3%. According to some research our paleolithic ancestors were mostly vegetarian. (BTW: there’s plenty of scientific evidence in favour of a vegetarian diet for your health.) Even if you do assume that half of the paleolithic diet came from animal sources, it would have been mostly wild game. Paleo diet cookbooks don’t have that many wild game recipes. Instead, it has been substituted by beef, bacon, steak, pork fillet and chicken drumsticks. Not really the same as an antelope, especially if you think of all the growth hormones in meat and toxins like mercury and pcb’s in fish.

Conclusion

If you believe in a paleo diet and take care of getting everything you need, please continue. But don’t try to convince the rest of the world that it’s the only healthy option. Unless you’re trying to sell your paleo cookbook of course.

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For the webserver I’m using xampp voor linux. Xampp is a complete package with an Apache server, PHP, MySQL and phpMyAdmin. What I like about xampp is that you just have to unpack the files in /opt and everything works instantly. However, to get WordPress working is a little bit more complicated.

Here’s the problem. The xampp root directory is /opt/xampp/htdocs/ but in order to easily work on the WordPress files and themes I’d like to install it in my own home directory. When I’m working on the source files I don’t like to mess around in /opt with root access. One solution is to move the Apache root directory, but it’s more convenient to put a symbolic link in the xampp root directory to the local WordPress install.

The next problem is to get the automatic installation of WordPress plugins and themes working. From within WordPress the server doesn’t have access to the local folder. A solution I found on the internet is to open all local files (with chmod 777), but somehow that doesn’t sound too secure for me. Also, it didn’t work (yes, I tried). My solution is to change the Apache username to my own username, so WordPress has the same access to the local files as myself.

So here’s how it works:

• install xampp with sudo tar xvfz xampp-linux-1.8.1.tar.gz -C /opt
• start xampp (sudo /opt/lampp/lampp start)
• create passwords for the default users (sudo /opt/lampp/lampp security)
• change Apache user ‘nobody’ in /opt/lampp/etc/httpd.conf by replacing it with your own username (in my case ‘simon’)
• just to make sure you can create a whoami.php file in htdocs with <?php echo(exec(“whoami”)); ?> to check whether Apache is using your username now
• give this new user access to the xampp files in /opt/lampp with sudo chown -R simon htdocs and in /opt/lampp/phpmyadmin with sudo chown simon config.inc.php (use your own username here)
• install (extract) WordPress locally, for example in ~/wordpress
• create a symbolic link in htdocs: sudo ln -s ~/wordpress wordpress
• log in as root on phpMyAdmin and create a database for WordPress, for example wp_dbase
• under ‘Databases’ – ‘add user’ you can add the default xampp user pma as user of this new database, so WordPress doesn’t have to have root access
• now do the usual WordPress install: in ~/wordpress rename the configuration file (mv wp-config-sample.php wp-config.php) and change the database parameters (database wp_dbase, user pma, and the password you chose for user pma)
• in your browser visit localhost/wordpress/wp-admin/install.php and if everything went ok you should have a local WordPress running with working installation of plugins and themes from the Dashboard

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Assuming a permutation we can check the possible positions and jumps for ‘BERLIN’. For example the possible distances from a B in the code to an E, then the possible distances from E to an R, etcetera. The ‘nicest’ sequence starts at position 19: 73-8-8-73-73, especially when you realize that modulo 97 you can rewrite 73 as -24, or 3 times 8. Unfortunately the obvious extrapolations don’t give any meaningful results.

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