How to Change Chords on Ukulele

Lloyd Crowley
Oct 16
4 min read

When starting out on a uke, changing smoothly between chords can seem impossible. Even people who have been playing for years will likely have combinations where they struggle to move nicely between 2 chords. Beginners in particular always ask how to change chords on ukulele. There is a secret, and it's something that I tell everyone I teach: be lazy.

I don't mean don't bother practicing, or stay in bed an extra hour. I mean try to minimise the movement between chords - it's less work, less to remember, and reduces tension. So here's how it works!

A pirate sitting on an anchor and playing the ukulele — This is **not** the kind of anchoring I'm talking about

Being Lazy

I've seen beginner players that will put their fingers in the right place for a chord, and then take all of their fingers right off of the fretboard to prepare for the next chord. Their fingers are waving about right up in the air before coming all the way back down.

When you're using the "lazy method," you're trying to minimise movement, so instead of lifting them all the way up, just leave them hovering slightly above the strings. Not only does this require less effort on your part, but it means that your fingers are already nearer to where they need to be for your next chord, meaning a quicker and smoother transition. Another part of being lazy is called anchoring.

Anchoring

When you're looking at several chords in a row, see if there are any frets in common. For example, look at the diagram of Am - F - Dm.

Red ukulele diagrams showing Am, F and Dm

If you're starting with Am, don't take your finger off of the fret to move to F, keep it anchored and add your second finger to make F. Moving on from F to Dm, again, keep your fingers anchored and add another to make the Dm shape. This simple anchoring technique will make your transitions a lot smoother and easier.

Using the Right Fingers

This anchoring and movement minimising is why using the correct fingers is so important! Here's a great example - a very common chord sequence is C - Am - F - G. If you use your first finger to play C, you then have to take it all the way off the frets to move it right over to the other side. However, if you correctly use your third finger, then your first finger is hovering ready to press Am at a moment's notice. Take a look at the clips below - which one seems easier and smoother?

Why Laziness Works

Obviously less movement means that it is easier and quicker to change chords, but there is more to it than that!

Most beginners think practice is all about repetition—but it’s actually about consistent repetition. If your fingers lift high into the air and land in a different place every time, your brain has to relearn the movement from scratch on every chord change.

By keeping fingers close to where they need to be:

Your hand repeats a similar movement every time, locking it into muscle memory.
The distance your fingers travel becomes short and predictable, so your brain builds a reliable movement pattern.
You stop “resetting” your hand position between chords, and instead create a flow between shapes.

The Brainy Bit

Neurons connecting and playing the ukulele — Ukulele neurons

Your brain loves efficiency, and is constantly looking for shortcuts. When you play with big,

exaggerated movements, your brain sees lots of random actions to process. But when your movements are small and consistent, your brain groups them into a pattern — the foundation of muscle memory.

This is how confident players make it look effortless—their brain is no longer thinking “move finger, place finger”, it’s just thinking “play F chord”, and the fingers handle the rest like a reflex. It's the same with many different activities such as sports, driving or cooking. It really is a fascinating topic that is a bit too detailed to go into here, but it is definitely worth looking into. I believe the book The Psychology of Performance by Stewart T. Cotterill speaks about this in detail.

If you want to know more about this topic, please contact me. I may post more detail about it in future too!

The Challenge

Next time you practice, take a look at the chords before you begin. Think to yourself: Which fingers can stay down? As you become more familiar with the chords and the sequence in which they're played, you'll find it easier to move less and keep fingers anchored without having to think too much!

Changing Chords - Practice Routine

One final piece of advice is to pick chords that you struggle to switch between. Just start by choosing two of them. Now, with a slow metronome, practice 4 strums on each chord, just changing backwards and forwards between them. Boring, yes. But building up this muscle memory by repetition and practice is the best way to do it!