anyone taught themselves to play the ukulele?

Doc_N

Sheepstar wrote: »

I think you'll do well with either the Lanikai or the Kala. Both are well respected brands and their budget lines hold up well. They are much better than some of the horrible coloured ukes you can get for half the price.

I have a Lanikai LU-11 which is the even cheaper version of the LU-21 and it's fantastic. It's got a lovely tone, and I still play it regularly.

If you can manage going to a music shop for a strum, that would be a good way to decide which you like the feel of best, although I accept that's often easier said than done.

GOOD LUCK

Thanks for the advice - much appreciated. I've discovered that we do have a local shop selling ukuleles, and I'll do as you suggest.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Here's a link - http://www.scribd.com/cwhinnom - to a rather wonderful resource for uke chord charts.

If you look around your local area, you could find a uke group meeting in one of the pubs of a weekday evening. That would get your learning accelerated!

redux

I just noticed this thread at random. I can't say anything useful, but sort of wistful.

I watched the Martin Scorsese film about George Harrison on the telly the other day, in which Tom Petty described George turning up one day and getting him to learn the ukulele, and insisted on giving him not just one but four of them, out of the back of the car, as George reckoned you never knew when you might need one

TrueFlower

I really want to learn how to play.

SailorSam

Doc_N wrote: »

Any thoughts on these for a beginner - .

As a beginner i think your neighbours would prefer it if you started with something old and traditional,
Perhaps ......... Over the hills and far away.
Anyone who's interested that lives up this way the nearest group i can find is in Wigan, they say in their website that everyone of all abilities is welcome

SailorSam

I've been looking on Amazon at ukes and most of the reviews say they're addictive little instruments and well worth the money. A problem that many people talk about, particularly with the cheaper one is they go out of tune easily (could you tell with a novice like me). So maybe it's best to pay a little bit more at the beginning. I like the look of the Brunswick Soprano for £51, it comes with better strings than some others but unfortunately no bag.
What do others think who already play ?

SplashWellyKid

Hi,

I've just seen this thread & thought I'd add a few comments, especially if anyone's just got a ukulele for Xmas. I started teaching myself uke just a couple of months ago & have been mainly learning online. I bought a cheap Mahalo (about £14) as I didn't want to spend lots & find I lost interest; it sounds okay & stays in tune fine.

With any new uke, playing it for a few days/weeks will stretch the new strings & then it'll keep in tune better. Make sure you buy one with geared tuners (like on a guitar), as they hold the tuning better than basic friction tuners, & can be fine-tuned more easily. You can easily swap the strings for around £5+ to improve the sound.

Here's a nice selection of sites with plenty for beginners, including basic & more advanced lessons; intros to chords; easy exercises; tunes to play; strumming & fingerpicking:
http://www.ukeschool.com/ukulele/lessons/beginner.html
http://ukulelehunt.com/2010/02/24/ukulele-lessons/
http://doctoruke.com/index.html
http://www.theuke.com/content.php?content.10

Get a basic chord diagram or two to get you started, eg
http://www.ukalady.com/Images/UkeChart.pdf
http://www.kiwiukulele.co.nz/Kiwi-Ukulele-Chord-Chart.pdf
- you can move onto more advanced chords, reading tabs & reading music as you progress & get more into the theory if you wish.

Online tuners are handy, eg http://ukebuddy.com/ukulele-tuner
(various sites have mp3s you can download for your phone or you can get the electronic clip-on tuners for around a fiver, which are simple to use, especially if you're not used to tuning an instrument)

Tunes - one if the nicest things is being able to play a few tunes almost immediately. Here are some sources I've used in addition to the sites above:
http://www.wukulele.com/ - they have 12 really good free songbooks down the right hand side of their homepage
http://doctoruke.com/songs.html
http://www.alligatorboogaloo.com/uke/tabs.html
http://bettylou.zzruss.com/ - don't be put off that it says guitar (just use the chords above); there are lots of songs in many styles dating back in the charts from the '50s to current day
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/ - good, searchable site; one of the best things here is you can transpose many of the songs (ie put in a different key - so you can often choose a key with chords you find easier to play!)

If you wish a buy a book, I grabbed Ukulele For Dummies by Alistair Wood (off of http://ukulelehunt.com/) cheap on Amazon; it's easy to understand, comes with a CD & is good to dip into.

I've recently found a couple of local groups; as others have mentioned, it's certainly a nice, social way to learn & improve.

Good luck & I hope you enjoy playing!

Doc_N

SplashWellyKid wrote: »

Hi,

I've just seen this thread & thought I'd add a few comments, especially if anyone's just got a ukulele for Xmas. I started teaching myself uke just a couple of months ago & have been mainly learning online. I bought a cheap Mahalo (about £14) as I didn't want to spend lots & find I lost interest; it sounds okay & stays in tune fine.............

Thanks so much for taking the time and trouble to post that, SplashWellyKid. One of the most helpful posts I've ever seen on MSE!

I was wondering where to start with my new (very cheap for starters) uke, and you've solved the problem for me.

Thanks again!

SiobhanG_3

Don't forget https://www.ukulelehunt.com! It's a fantastic resource for tutorials and uke news, run by the guy who wrote Ukulele for Dummies. Worth checking out!

EDIT: Whoops, just saw this at the bottom of SplashWellyKid's post. Sorry! It is a fantastic site though

dr.squeakyduck

pavlovs_dog wrote: »

I'm looking for a project as a focus for my 'me' time over the coming year (i'm a teacher determined to improve my work/life balance). I really fancy learning the ukulele. was just wondering whether anyone here has taught themselves, or plays the Uke? any hints or tips to share?

I taught myself the uke, they say it's the easiest instrument to learn. Chords are so different to how you play them on guitar so it just took a while to remember the new way to do the chords.
Youtube have lots of little videos about how to teach yourself the ukulele