Feb/24/10
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Improver Ukulele Lessons

Following on from the beginner lessons, you’re rocking through the easy chords, have your strumming down and learnt some fundamentals. In this section we’ll kick it up a notch with some more advanced chords.

Step 1: Barre Chords

– Barre chord playing tips
– Barre chords and inversions
– Songs with barre chords:

Ingrid Michaelson – You and I
Creep
I Heart You Online
Death Cab for Cutie – I Will Follow You Into the Dark

Step 2: Polish Up Your Technique

– Get good tone
– 10 ways to play an E chord – get to grips with the most loathed chord on the ukulele.

Step 3: Learn Some Jazzy Chords

Songs with fancy diminished chords, 6 chords and other oddities:

Flight of the Conchords – Mermaids
Priscilla Ahn – Way Back Home
Sophie Madeleine – Take Your Love with Me
Erika Eigen – I Want to Marry a Lighthouse Keeper

Extra Credit: Learn the fundamentals of chords, which chords go together and why in my ebook How to Play Ukulele Chord Progressions.

Step 4: Make Sure You’ve Got a Decent Uke

To get this far you’ve shown some dedication. If, like me, you started on a really crappy ukulele, you’ve earned yourself a nice uke. Kala make some nice ukuleles and Lanikai both make good ukuleles at reasonable prices.

By now you’ve probably read quite a bit about the ukulele so take a look at ten things you hear about the ukulele that might be bollocks.

Now you’ve got your chord chops down head over to the intermediate section to get stuck into tabs.

If you think there’s a post that deserves a link here or have a topic you’d like me to cover in this section, leave a comment.

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23 Comments

  1. FranSpain May 23rd, 2010 4:13 pm

    I really love every “uke hunt e-book” I’ve readen!!!
    I’m reccomending them to my spanish uke friends!!!

  2. Woodshed May 24th, 2010 2:19 pm

    Thanks, Fran. Good of you to spread the word.

  3. Jimmy July 3rd, 2010 8:50 pm

    I was wondering if i should finish the fingerpicking and blues sections before going to the intermediate section

  4. Woodshed July 8th, 2010 9:21 pm

    Jimmy: There’s no set way to go through the fingerpicking and blues sections. So do it any way that takes your fancy.

  5. LAshley August 11th, 2010 5:36 am

    I’m stoked right now.. I’m not too good at uke yet cuz I just started but I have checked out tons of uke sites and this one is THE BEST!! Thanks Uke hunt!!

  6. Woodshed August 15th, 2010 6:30 pm

    LAshley: Thanks very much. You’re very kind.

  7. beginner December 31st, 2010 4:23 am

    I would love just a few more songs to practice at this level of difficulty. some if the suggested songs were not to my liking. And find my way back home sounded wrong to me..or is it my uke??Otherwise, i love Uke hunt and its helped me a bunch . Thanks

  8. Woodshed January 1st, 2011 11:51 am

    beginner: I’ll see what I can do!

  9. JnJ0411 January 3rd, 2011 3:17 pm

    I’m a beginner. I got my ukulele from a friend he said it’s from Cebu Philippines, he put on a set of Aquila strings. Would you consider this as a decent ukulele? or have you or any body here have tried any ukulele from Cebu Philippines?

  10. rachel :D February 14th, 2011 11:16 pm

    Just wanted to say this website is by the far the best! I’m finding the Lessons great, seeing as I’m trying to teach myself… and don’t feel that I’ve earned a better ukulele yet.. I guess I’m getting there, so THANKS :)

  11. Woodshed February 17th, 2011 11:11 am

    JnJ0411: Sorry, it’s not a make I’m familiar with.

    rachel: Thanks very much. You’re very kind.

  12. Sophia June 15th, 2011 8:07 pm

    So, Woodshed, (or any other experienced players), I have a great sounding Cordoba 25CK Concert uke. It’s pretty, sounds wonderful, and Amazon has it priced pretty high. What does that mean? Is Cordoba a good brand? And i’m assuming it has Aquila strings on it… It sounds like it does.

  13. monkey June 15th, 2011 11:41 pm

    can you put videos? pleeeeaaaasssseeee!!!!!

  14. Woodshed June 16th, 2011 8:46 am

    Sophia: I haven’t tried one but if it sounds wonderful to you then it is wonderful.

    monkey: I do occasional video demonstrations but I’m not really a video person.

  15. nerea June 30th, 2011 1:26 pm

    Fantastic website! It’s helping me a lot with my recently adquired uke.

    thanks

  16. Netta J. May 20th, 2012 12:46 am

    Thanks for creating this lesson. It was actually created during the time where I’d put down my uke for a while because I really didn’t know where to go from beginner. It’s a bit too bad that I’m finding it just now—imagine where I could have been today—but better now than never I suppose. Thanks again for this.

  17. Woodshed May 21st, 2012 8:19 am

    Netta: Very glad you’re back in the fold!

  18. j3wild June 22nd, 2012 10:26 pm

    I was looking at buying another uke. I started out with a Mahalo U-30 PP and I might upgrade to a Kala KA-S Mahogany Soprano. Is it worth it?

  19. Woodshed June 25th, 2012 11:16 am

    j3wild: Yeah, I think it would be a good upgrade.

  20. Guian Carlo July 21st, 2012 11:55 pm

    Mabuhay from the Philippines! Nice site! It’s been only 20 days since playing the uke but am learning a lot from this site, and being a better player every passing day! More power!

  21. Woodshed July 23rd, 2012 4:21 pm

    Guian Carlo: Thanks very much! Glad you’re enjoying the site and your uke.

  22. Rocio April 1st, 2018 4:21 am

    I really love this website! Just learned “You and I” and now moving on to “I Will Follow You Into the Dark.” I really love how your website is set up, I’m so glad I found it! It’s my favorite by far! And your strumming tips really help! Thanks so much! <3

  23. Woodshed April 4th, 2018 7:06 pm

    Rocio: That’s fantastic! Thanks very much!

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