10 Things I Wish I’d Known About Ukuleles (Before I Bought One)
June 10, 2009
Jemsite has been doing a series called 10 Things I Wish I’d Known About Guitars (Before I Bought One) and I know a good idea when I steal one. The concept: if you could hop into your DeLorean, whack it up to 88 mph and visit yourself when you were buying your first instrument, what advice would you give?
In about 50 years’ time I imagine myself sitting in a comfy chair and my grandkids scurrying up to me in their space-pyjamas and asking, “Granddad, what was life like before the internet?” And I’ll say, “Put down your hoverboards, jump up on my knee and I’ll tell you.” Then I’ll twirl my mustachios wistfully and reply, “It was FUCKIN’ AWFUL!”
Back when I got my first ukulele – during my teenage guitar obsession – there were no internets, YouTubes or blogs to teach a boy anything. I didn’t know anyone who played ukulele. I’d heard George Formby and one other song with a ukulele once. I didn’t have a clue. As a result, it took me many years to see the potential of the uke. So here’s what I’d tell the fat, ugly, stupid, teenage me as he wandered into Bakewell Music Shop to buy a ukulele.
1. The strings don’t go fattest to thinnest.
Just to prove how ignorant I was, I actually tried restringing it the ‘right’ way. It didn’t occur to me that the people who made it might have had a better idea of how to string it than I did. I did have a book. But it was a very slim, old one. I either didn’t read it or it failed to mention this fairly important detail.
2. Good ukuleles exist. Your local music shop doesn’t have one.
Bakewell is famous for it’s tarts (and they are exceeding good). It’s not famous as a centre of outstanding luthiery. The uke I bought was complete junk. I didn’t even know there were better ukes. I think this is the main reason I rarely played the uke for many years.
Message to me: buy a Martin ukulele or six. They might seem expensive now but you ain’t seen nothing yet.
3. Good ukulele strings exist. Your local music shop doesn’t have them.
The same goes for the strings. In fact, I don’t remember them selling strings at all. I don’t know where I would have been able buy good strings. God, I love you, internet. I’m going to miss you come the post-apocalyptic Mad-Max world.
4. Tighten the screws. It might stay in tune.
I think I did eventually work this one out myself. But only many months after giving up on ever getting it to stay in tune.
5. Ukuleles are not little guitars.
I started figuring this one out pretty quickly. After trying to strum it with a plectrum for 3 minutes I realised that clearly wasn’t the way to go. It took me much longer to figure out that the high-G string could be a help rather than a hindrance (partly because it took me a while to figure out it was a high-G string).
6. Eventually, you won’t want to play the guitar any more.
Actually, I might gloss over this fact lest it puts me off picking it up in the first place.
7. Fewer strings means harder, not easier.
Not entirely true, I know. But it is more of challenge to play difficult pieces on the uke. And more rewarding.
8. Don’t steal plutonium from the Libyans.
9. In about 15 years time ukuleles are going to be the coolest thing in the world and you’re going to be writing about them every day. You should practice more.
There’s no getting round the fact I’m a mediocre player. It might be the fact that I’m not naturally musically talented. But more practice certainly couldn’t harm.
10. You like her. She likes you. Just ask her out you useless, spotty idiot. And sell your sister to organ harvesters and put the money into Google and Microsoft.
No, it’s nothing to do with ukuleles. But if I’m time traveling here, I’m not going to spend all ten on ukuleles.
What do you wish you’d known about ukuleles before you bought one?
Darn! I’ve stolen plutonium from the Libyans. Sorry.
But these tips really fit my experience with the Uke, so now I’ll just show them to my guitar playing friends and turn them over!
A good ukulele costs less than a crappy guitar- don’t cheap out! Take the leap and commit $150 – $200 for a uke that sounds good and will make you happy when you look at it. My first $50 Lanikai only made it six months before I sprung for a better model due to the lack of consistency down the fretboard.
Add another $15 for a tuner – it’s well worth it….
mine would be: do it sooner! that way i could be good by now
Very entertaining !!! Loved it :)
But please don’t call yourself mediocre… It’s a bit painful for the infinitely less talented players !
I’d tell myself not to say “ooh” every time I hear a ukulele on the radio. Or send a cyborg back to kill those “5 years time” people.
It’s much easier to play the dreaded “E” on my new tenor than it is on my now temporarily redundant soprano…oh and by the way they are more addictive than crack (apparently)…
Iverrrr: Just make sure you wear a bullet proof vest.
Donnie: Thanks for those.
mictoboy: I’d go along with that one.
Armelle: I definitely am mediocre.
Iain: And the same with adverts. It seems to crop up so often it’s not worth mentioning any more.
Nick: True fact. I’ll would rob my granny for my next ukulele.
I often get annoyed at the fact that I only started playing the uke 18 months ago, but then I tell myself that because of work and before that, no internet, it would have been nigh-on impossible.
Besides, I found this site when I got my first ‘proper’ ukulele – a Greg Bennett UK-60 – almost a year after learning to play. Some may scoff, as yes it was ‘only’ £50, but that thing is my old faithful, in that any song sounds like a million bucks. It was when I found this site that I felt my playing coming into its own, and it’s gone further since I bought the Lanikai LU-21 and started playing in public.
So yeah, if I had anything to tell my past self, it would be to buy that lovely wooden GB uke you’re been staring at in the window for ages, because it’ll kick-start your dreams.
i think the most important thing i could tell myself about playing music, is to be encouraged when you see players who are better than you, not consider giving up because ‘you’ll never be that good’.
Don’t believe the man in the shop; ADF#B hasn’t been standard tuning for several decades. The fact that the only book you can find that backs up his position is thirty years old should be a clue. As should the fact that you can only find one. Although maybe not; I quite enjoy being a tone higher than everyone else now, awkward though it occasionally is.
I’d definitely point out that there was useful stuff on the internet, though. It didn’t even occur to me to have a look for nearly a year after I’d bought the thing, and that was only 2 years ago.
Yes, I wish I would’ve gotten a slightly more expensive but infinitely nicer ukulele when I asked for one last Christmas! It’s only half a year later, and I’m already planning out the next uke I’d like to buy–but maybe that’s just an addiction setting in!
Many of the uke world’s fleetest flying fingers have
produced results that could quite easily be played along
with the best (worst?) shopping-mall music (especially those players with a distressing bent towards smooth jazz), so “mediocre”
must mean something more than degree of technical facility (be very afraid when word spreads that Yngwie Malmsteen has taken up the ukulele, for then we’ll truly see mediocre at it’s most mediocre).
A player with mediocre technical ability can still be a good player, of course,
with a proper gung-ho attitude & application. A player of mediocre
technical talents can still be a very creative player & bring more to
the instrument than a uke world luminary who produces ( yet another) Wal-Mart ready, super-duper, Beatles cover (yawn).
And a blogger of professed mediocre ability can still play with
just about any of the acts he highlights & would be a worthy
performer at any of the events/venues he writes about.
Don’t be too shy to sing along. Even if all you’re singing is ridiculous, improvised rants to a cycle of C/A/CM strummed arrhythmically. Especially then.
(Haha, what am I even saying- “me before I bought a ukulele” is me of last month. But I’d also tell this to pre-guitar me, who’s at least two years ago, so there.)
Ya, I don’t know what you mean by mediocre. You don’t sound mediocre to me. Your videos, tabs, mp3’s, riffs etc. sound a lot more interesting than quite a bit of the stuff coming from the “professional” uke players. Quite a bit of that music is boring or overdone. By “overdone” I mean there is sometimes so much fancy fingerwork that the original melody is completely lost and the song unrecognizable.
let’s see now grandkids…..
-if you’ve been a guitarist for almost 20 years….you don’t ‘have’ to get a tenor or baritone……you’ll learn to be happy with a soprano or concert uke very quickly
-yes, save your change and spend (except in those rare cases) between a 100 and 200 bucks for something that is a solid player and that will ‘feel’ good to play
-watch, watch, watch other players with really different styles from each other….
-don’t think you have to play just one genre of music (be it jazzy or old timey or whatever) on the uke….her abilities reach far and wide….
-oh….and most importantly….four strings…..it’s enough :)
you can find many reasons to own more than one ukulele…give in to your obsession.
Oi! #5!
There are people on their umpty-seventh ukulele who haven’t figured that one out.
(Don’t get me started.)
#7: Hmmm… I’m still convinced that there’s nothing more Zen than “4 strings, 4 fingers” but it *is* true that you have to tweak things sometimes and equally true that the rewards are greater.
Lastly… what Tamster said.
I just wish I’d started playing in my teens or 20s and not my 30s.
See Al,
Re: you accusing yourself of being ‘mediocre’
feel all the love? feel all the appreciation for what you do?
not mediocre man…..
I know some aficionados may want to fling poop at me after saying this, but i especially enjoyed your rockabilly roustabout just as much as some of the other stuff from James or Jake that i’ve heard…..’gasp’ yup…i said it…so there (nothing against them either obviously)
smiles :)
If I’d only known two things… 1) that non-Hawaiian music could be played on a ukulele, and B) learning to play a uke (before a guitar) is a great way to learn about playing music (in general).
For the record, I love Hawaiian music, just not enough to want to learn a new instrument.
For the record part 2, I’m exceeding lame at playing both instruments, but the uke rewards where the guitar torments and teases.
I wish someone would have put one in my hands sooner.
Think of all the trouble I could have stayed out of.
Then again, I’d have found a way to make trouble with the ukulele!
Hilarious post, Al. Especially that joke about you being a mediocre player. Good one :)
I’d Have to say:
The Ukulele, however poorly played, has the capability of cheering up everyone around.
I wish I’d known that nobody ever spells “ukulele” correctly, except for other ukulele players.
Advice to self: don’t get a website called “UkuleleBartt.” Just get one called “Bartt.net.”
Thanks Todd for helping me tell Al he is far from mediocre !
My one regret is that I didn’t buy a proper uke sooner. I stuck with my crap ukulele for 13 years before I finally got something that looked, sounded, and felt good. I had it in my mind that I didn’t deserve a nicer instrument until I had more skillz, and it wasn’t until I had mastered the fairly quick [Em][Cdim][G7][A7] in “Tiptoe through the Tulips” that I would let myself upgrade. Silly, silly girl.
-You’ll get more attention for playing uke than for having written 200 songs or for having put out three independent albums.
-You’ll also get more bookings and be more appreciated and have more fun.
-Attractive women flock to places where people are charming and genteel and silly in an “I-can’t-help-it” kind of way.
-The answer to “should I bring my uke” is always “yes.”
Let’s praise the internet again while I give a razzzzberry to my local music store who overcharged me (it was even “on sale”) for mine….BUT it does stay tuned. Should I replace the strings on my Mahalo? How often?……LOVE playing I’m Yours.
Hope you are healed from your fall…be more careful…or blame the dog!
I wish I knew that I would like my ukulele too much to leave it in the car before I bought a ukulele specifically for the purpose of leaving it in my car.
Also I think you maybe spelled “super completely excellent” wrong when describing yourself/your mad fantastic ukulele skills.
Byjimini and Mary-Anne: I still make the mistake of not buying a nice enough uke. It’s not like I can’t justify buying a top quality one. I just feel guilty for doing so.
cbf: Good one. I don’t think I’ve ever felt anything other than inspired by talented musicians. Talented songwriters on the other hand…
Alf: I’m not quite sure why D-tuning is dying out. It makes more sense if you’re going to be playing songs written for guitar and therefore in guitar-friendly keys.
Mary S.: Trust me, you never stop wanting a slightly better uke!
ronhale: You’re bang on about why I think of myself as mediocre. I’ve never felt I have the ease of expression that the best musicians have. Some people seem to have less distance between their heart and their instrument.
Madison: I wish I could take that advice to heart. I just can’t stand my singing voice – I can’t even stand my talking voice. I shouldn’t let that stop me, but I do.
Tamster: Thanks. I do like to keep my stuff as direct as possible.
todd: And also watch players of different instruments. There’s a lot than can be transferred. And thanks for the kind words (but I think you’re insane).
+one: Don’t mind if I do!
Hobbit: Yeah, I could certainly rant for a while on #5 as well.
Chris: As you might have noticed, I stay away from the Hawaiian side of things. Also, not because I dislike it. More because other people do it better than I can.
Lonna: You’re obviously a natural-born trouble-maker.
Connor: True that.
Bartt: But you must still have the problem of explaining that it’s Bartt with two t’s.
David: I do wonder why so many people make obvious instrument choices: guitar, bass and drums. There are a whole world of instruments around that would instantly make their music more interesting and original.
VC&A: I’m with you on the rip-off thing. Sometimes when I hear local shops complaining about losing business I do think, “Serves you right for taking advantage when we didn’t have a choice.”
Anne: There’s only one solution to that: buy another ukulele. Thanks for the kind words.
No matter how much you spend on a ukulele, it will not be long before you are temped to buy, or start dreaming up your next one. Luckily they are small and easy to find room for. Remember that the law of diminishing returns applies to ukuleles. i.e. The difference between a $500 instrument and a $1000 is easily quantified. The differences between a $1000 and $2000 ukulele will not provide a doubling of quality or benefits. Above $2000 you’re buying something you want vs. something that will provide playability or tonal benefits over a less expensive instrument.
I wish I knew that playing an instrument as fun as the ukulele would motivate me to learn more in one year than in ten years of getting nowhere on a guitar.
PS. I agree with Todd–I would listen to your Rockabilly Roustabout over stuff by Jake and James!
BoomerZoomer: Thanks for the advice. I’ve never had a chance to test out a +$2000 uke, so I’ll take your word for it.
Franny: Glad you’ve found your instrument. And thanks for the kind words.
8. Don’t steal plutonium from the Libyans.
Bwahaha!
Well, I’m just a couple years new to the uke, and I don’t think I made many mistakes. My first uke was a flea, which is a great sounding uke, and even sounds better than some more expensive ukes. And my local music shop does carry good strings (aquilas).
The best thing I would tell myself would be to pick up the uke sooner. Although, I kinda think that things happen at certain times for a reason. I might not have appreciated how great the uke was in my teens or twenties.
Marcy: Looks like you got off to a good start. It’s turned out to be a common theme that people wish they’d started the uke earlier (or, in my case, took it seriously earlier).
I wish I’d known I’d be getting my third of them a few months in.
And I wish I’d known sooner that they were so much fun.
Sterf: The fact you end up buying so many ukes does go against the idea that ukuleles are cheap.