Ten Tips for Ukulele Beginners
March 26, 2008
A couple of weeks ago Mike asked me for one or two tips for ukulele beginners. My brain went whiring into action (actually, is was more a nasty screetching and cracking of gears). I ended up with a big list of stuff. So here, in their original, un-rewritten and bloated form, are all of them.
1. Record yourself playing and listen back to it. It’s difficult to play and listen to yourself at the same time. Quite often just noticing what you’re doing wrong is enough to fix the problem. It also gets you used to playing infront of the mic – making it less of a big deal when you want to record yourself properly.
2. Much to the RIAA’s disgust, you can’t sue someone for stealing a chord progression. Although Metallica tried to sue the band Unfaith for changing from F to E. If you hear something you like, work it out and steal it.
3. Practice so slowly you can’t possibly make a mistake. If you make the same mistake over and over again, it’s incredibly hard to get rid of it. It’s much easier to start slow, get the tune under your fingers and gradually speed up. If you’re more consciencious than me, you’ll use a metronome while you’re doing this sort of thing.
4. Learn how to read ukulele tab. There are plenty of people around who can play the ukulele without learning to read tab. But there’s so much ukulele tab around on the net now that it’s really going to increase the speed that you can pick up new tunes.
5. Once you’ve decided you enjoy the ukulele, get a nice one. Almost everyone starts of playing on a very cheap ukulele. These ukes are fine for deciding if playing the ukulele is for you. But once you’re into it, get yourself a decent quality ukulele. It’ll be easier to play, sound better (so you’ll be more pleased with the way you sound), and will give you more impetus to practice.
6. The type of strings you use can make a big different to the sound of your ukulele. The strings you get with your ukulele are likely to be cheap and nasty. It’s worth replacing them with higher quality strings such as Worth or Aquila.
7. Don’t hold your ukulele too tightly. The ukulele is small and it’s very easy to smother the sound out of it. Don’t hold it too tightly or you’ll lose a lot of volume and tone. Watch how masters like Jake Shimabukuro and hold the uke.
8. Listen to lots of ukulele players. The more you listen, the more you’ll get a feel for the ukulele and the way it sounds. It will influence how you play subconsciously.
9. Take the time to tune up properly. The ukulele isn’t the easiest instrument to get in tune and keep in tune, but it has to be done. If your ukulele is out of tune, you WILL sound terrible. I’m looking at you, Mr Merritt.
10. Enjoy yourself. The big appeal of the ukulele is that it is the most fun instrument around. People try to denigrate the ukulele as a toy. I think calling the uke a toy is a huge compliment. Toys are fun to play with and so is the ukulele.
If you want more beginners’ tips, you can find 101 of them in my ebook Ukulele 101.
Are you really recommending D’Addario strings?
I think they’re pretty much the worst thing ever. They don’t hold a tune and the tone is thin.
Great advice for me…the beginner. Can you please explain exactly what the “Tabs” are? Thanks!!!
Glad you like it, Ron. I’ve written a a series on how to read tab here. I should add that to the post.
Ian: Personally, Worths are my choice. If D’Addarios are Jake Shimabukuro’s choice, then that makes them worth checking out. I’d recommend trying them. You can make your own choice from there.
This is a great list. I concur on #5, though I suppose it’s true for ANY instrument, right? (Are there others?)
Also, I’ve found that playing with others is oh so edumacational. Uke players seem to be a very social lot, happy to share their tunes and tricks. I’ve learned more from showing up to play with our local uke club than anywhere else.
Well written, Woodshed.
I especially like tip number 10.
I taught a two-year-old how to form and strum a C chord yesterday and it was the most fun I’ve had all week.
Thanks for the refresher course, seems I forgot a few basic helpers, like recording yourself for improvement. I am very grateful you did not stress the use of a Metronome. Just when I think you have something learned, I try playing with that thing and find out just how bad my timing is.
exellent. i have to remember that record-yourself-thing, too.
but i disagree on the use of a metronome. i have terrible timing and when i use the metronome it serves as the simplest drum machine ever and helps me to get into the groove. and when that happens, the easiest tune is so much fun (for me at least).
I do agree with the metronome comment when struming simple songs, it helps and feels good. My frustration starts when I into finger picking and challanging tunes like some of the Dominator stuff. Trying to get all of his notes into 4 beats can be tough.
Good article.
The only other things i can think of are;
* play with other people
* find your own music at places like chordie.com (where you can transpose songs into other keys to avoid that pesky ‘E’)
Al,
It should be noted Jake does not use D’Addario ukulele strings, a subpar product. Or maybe he does since signing a contract with them. Prior to that he used D’addario guitar strings on his ukulele.
I cannot speak for the tenor strings that he now sponsors, but the soprano strings are really inferior.
Otherwise, awesome article!
pam: Other instruments? You’ve lost me.
Lonna: Thanks. Keep spreading those C chords.
Art and Maduke: My position on metronomes: you should use one, it’ll help your playing, I rarely use one.
zym: I know I should play with other people, but I’m completely anti-social. There seems to be an image that ukulele players are all happyily strumming along in big orchestras, but I don’t think that’s really the case. I seem to remember a pole on the Cosmos and most people described themselves as ‘lone wolf’ ukers.
Ian: OK, you’ve won me over. I’ve taken the D’Ads out.
Al,
On metronomes, you are right, it is an important but frustrating tool. Just wondered how you developed your natural timing ability? Just come naturally, or was it worked on and learned? Meaning, after a while does one get much better at keeping a steady time? Also, do you work on giving most anything you play a notice-able Beat. Someone once told me, “if it doesn’t have a beat, it isen’t music”, think it was a banjo teacher.
Boy, was I confused for a sec, there… was wondering how I managed to post while my internet was down without knowing it. I take it there’s another Ian here…
And also, you might want to add showing off to your friends once you have a good number of songs down… at least where I live, people see a ukulele as somewhat of a novelty and are awed by someone who can play it. MY friend and I, both being ukulele addicts, have a lot of fun with it….
And as far as metronomes, I have been playing in orchestras for years, and have developed a rather good sense of rhythm, partially due to the constant ticking (and booming) of metronomes. They help a lot over time, and once you become good at holding a steady beat, they become unneccessary.
Art: I have to say, my timing is pretty poor. I have a real tendency to speed up. Quite a lot of my recordings are made to metronomes. Particularly the stuff for Uke Hunt and How to Play…
Ian: There’s only one Ian ;) I might have to do a post of the top ten other people’s tips.
Gah… so when I go to sleep I sleepwalk to Massachusetts and live another life as… another Ian? Creepy… =P
i’m a guitarist who just got a ukulele for christmas and when playing guitar, I swear by d’addario strings, so it was a shock to hear them bad-mouthed here. maybe the uke is more different than expected…
You were so smart when you saied:
“..calling the uke a toy is a huge compliment. Toys are fun to play with and so is the ukulele”
That’s so true!
Marco: I was smart enough to steal a good idea when I hear it. Jim Beloff said something very similar.