How to Play Ukulele Chords Cleanly: 5 Simple Fixes to Avoid Buzzing Notes

If you’re struggling with buzzing notes, unclear sound, or awkward chord transitions on the ukulele you’re not alone. Whether you’re a beginner or brushing up your technique, here are five essential ukulele chord tips to improve your tone, clarity, and accuracy.

The following lesson is an excerpt from “Ultimate Ukulele Technique & Warm-up Book.”

1) Finger Placement: Stay Close to the Frets

The placement of your finger in relation to the frets significantly influences the quality of your tone. A simple rule to remember is to keep your fingers close to the fret (whenever possible).

I say ‘whenever possible’ because fingers can sometimes get in each other’s way, especially given how close the frets are and how tight the chords are. To understand placement, let’s have another look at how the note is produced. It doesn’t matter where you place your finger between the frets because the note is stopped at the fret above:

You will hear a buzzing or “fret rattle” when you don’t create good contact with the fret, as shown in the diagram below:

Before leaving this topic, I should emphasize that playing single notes differs from playing chords with several fingers. Many chords require different leverage points, cramped finger placements and unusual wrist positions.

So, keeping the fingers close to the fret is not always possible. In this case, you must apply more force on the string to prevent buzzing and poor tone.

2) Reposition: Adjust Your Wrist Until the Chord Rings Clearly

If you are still hearing muted, buzzing or poor-quality notes, reposition your wrist until all notes ring. Sometimes, the repositioning will be slight, but often, you must move the arm and wrist quite dramatically until the notes ring clear.

One way to check is to play one string at a time until each note rings clearly. If the chord sounds good, take note of your wrist position and move on to another chord.

Try this exercise to improve your repositioning accuracy:

1. Play any chord,
2. Take your left hand off the ukulele,
3. Shake your wrist and loosen your fingers,
4. Now play the chord again.
5. Repeat until you can play the chord cleanly.

Eventually, you will develop muscle memory and position the chord consistently.

3) Curve Your Fingers and Wrist 

Curve your fingers and wrist to avoid the strings underneath and above. Note: Avoiding the strings sometimes requires a dramatic arm and wrist position out in front of the neck. Many beginners don’t realize their chords are buzzing because their wrist is not curved enough to produce clean, clear notes.

Like Tip Two above, reposition your arm, wrist, and hand, and curve your fingers until each note in the chord rings clearly.

Alright, those are the first three essential ukulele techniques to master. The next technique we will learn is one that all ukulele players do: play chords. 

4) Hover and Drop Technique

If you watch advanced ukulele and guitar players, you will notice that they often drop all their fingers in one motion when they play a chord. If you were to watch them playing chords in slow motion, you would see a two-step approach: 

1) Hover the fingers over the strings in the chord shape, and

2) Land the fingers together according to the rhythm of the chord changes.  

This two-step approach generally develops naturally with lots of practice. Some tips that could help are:

• Memorize all the chords needed in the song you are working on.
• Adapt the exercise from number 2 (reposition) to work on hovering and landing fingers.
• Practice slowly with a metronome and only increase speed when your chords sound clearly and in rhythm.

5) Prepare the Next Chord Early

Start forming the next chord slightly before the beat to ensure a smooth transition when playing chord progressions (see diagram above). Since it’s nearly impossible to switch chords exactly on the beat, early preparation is essential to maintain a steady rhythm. In other words, think ahead to the next chord before you play it.

Keep These Tips in Mind While Practicing:

• Maintain a steady strumming rhythm even if open or muted strings sound as you prepare a chord.
• As previously stated, memorize the chords and practice with a recording of the song or metronome.
• Identify the time signature and count carefully to land each chord (not too early or too late).

Summary

Playing chords is an essential part of all music on the ukulele, and it takes time and consistent practice. As you improve, try to identify any issues and occasionally record and listen to yourself to track your progress. Here is a summary of the five chord tips to remember:

1. Keep your fingers close to the frets to avoid buzzing.
2. Reposition your wrist so all the strings ring clearly.
3. Curve your fingers so the strings above and below are not muffled.
4. Hover the fingers over the chord shape and drop the fingers simultaneously.
5. Prepare for the next chord so the chord lands on the beat.

“If your chords don’t ring true, don’t press harder—reposition smarter.”

Check back often for more ukulele lessons and leave your comments below.

Good luck!