first experience...

nikolo727

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what was your first experience with an ukulele?


what did you try and do with it?

did you just laugh at it?



well I'll go first.


I was really interested in ukuleles so when I finally found one in a music store I bought it immediately. It was this poopy Hilo ukulele that cost 50 dollars but I see now on ebay that it runs for about 2$ :eek:


anyway I got it with a book and I had no idea what chords were until I looked at it in the book.

I actually thought that I was supposed to put my fingers on the bars that seperate the chords.

and I thought that the chords started at the bottom of the uke near the soundhole.

so my brother saw me, laughed at me, then showed me how to play it.


I was terrible


I had a blast.
 
picked it up after thinking of playing for a few months. brought some crappy "kay" it holds up nice, but its really bad for anything serious. two main reasons why i picked it up was because of Iz and the king blues: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeivMPkIRfM
 
Saw Julia on youtube, thought I would get a uke as an instrument to take to sessions for a laugh or two. Then played seven nation army and five foot two, thought it was pretty easy, checked out Gutings tutorial on Waiting In vain, thought hmmm I think I'll learn that one another day.
 
Let's see... I always wanted to play Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World a la Bruddah Iz but I hadn't really seen many ukuleles in the music stores that I usually frequented. I checked out the chords for guitar, but it didn't feel the same as the uke version.
So one day, I'm killing some time before seeing 300 (great movie) and I stroll past a music shop and I see this Mahalo uke that bright yellow w/ pictures of fruit all over it. I think to myself, "this is the cutes instrument I've ever seen!". To my surprise, it only cost $27 (I'm used to guitars that start at $300)! Sold!
Boom! I've got my first uke. The next day, I learn the chords to SOTR and start playing it that day. Of course, I wasn't using the proper strumming pattern but it was recognizable at least. It was love at first strum!
 
A few years ago I was on my grandfathers boat. It was raining outside and I had nothing to do inside. He began to play the uke! I thought it was a cool little instrument and he taught me a few things. I then was hooked. I used his Mel Bay book to learn as much as I could and from there it is history.
 
I first became interested in ukes after stumbling across Seeso doing 'Wait in Vain' on his. I kept leavin him silly comments & generally pestering him until we became friends. Through him I discovered a wealth of ukulele music, and this past Xmas a friend of mine gave me my own- to get me to shutup about them, I think.

My initial reaction to playing one? Well, I wrote a song about it. Wanna hear it, hear it go- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJ1O5AG9aZA
 
It was a rainy night. I was driving and looking for trouble. I spotted a neon sign. "Open" was cutting through the fog. I pulled into the parking lot and ducked into the building. I looked around and all the usuals were there, the blondes, the reds. I spotted her in the corner, alone, by the counter, I could tell she was blue. She had this look about her. I tried not to make eye contact. Tried to play it cool. I walked around and visited the regulars. As much as I resisted, something made me gravitate towards her. I walked up slowly yet confident. I placed my hand on her back and turned her around. "Mahalo" she said. I didn't say anything back. Instead, I picked her up and studied every curve and every detail of her. There at the back counter, we were alone. She was in my hands and she fit perfectly. She was cheap but I didn't care. I knew right then we were going to make some serious music together.
 
haha I like deach's story.

I got my first uke when I first moved to Hawai'i, my freshman year in college. I've played the guitar forever, so when my friend was looking at guitars at the pearlridge mall I thought a uke might be fun and bought one on impulse. That poor uke sat around unplayed for a couple years before I gave it away. Maybe because I hadn't stumbled upon forums like this! The next summer-ish I bought a Tahitian banjo, which also sat around unplayed.

Anyway, this month now that I'm not longer in Hawai'i I got nostalgic for the uke and picked up my Tahitian banjo again. It wasn't quite the same, so I bought an old harmony baritone off craigslist a few weeks ago, strung it gCEA and have loved it since. Never again will I own an unplayed uke :)
 
It was a rainy night. I was driving and looking for trouble. I spotted a neon sign. "Open" was cutting through the fog. I pulled into the parking lot and ducked into the building. I looked around and all the usuals were there, the blondes, the reds. I spotted her in the corner, alone, by the counter, I could tell she was blue. She had this look about her. I tried not to make eye contact. Tried to play it cool. I walked around and visited the regulars. As much as I resisted, something made me gravitate towards her. I walked up slowly yet confident. I placed my hand on her back and turned her around. "Mahalo" she said. I didn't say anything back. Instead, I picked her up and studied every curve and every detail of her. There at the back counter, we were alone. She was in my hands and she fit perfectly. She was cheap but I didn't care. I knew right then we were going to make some serious music together.




LOL deach your the man!






Never again will I own an unplayed uke :)


thats great to hear dude!


everyone keep them coming!
 
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My first experience was with a plucky little Koaloha soprano. It wasn't difficult at all to see what all the fuss was about. I'd finally found a string instrument for me. :)
 
You can find out about my first uke experience here. And several subsequent ones as well.

But it's a sad story. You end up like I did today, hanging around in the doorway of a store with other people and trombones, guittarons, washboards, kazoos and such, serenading passing pedestrians.

Of course, you also make some bank.

Yeah.
 
It was a rainy night. I was driving and looking for trouble. I spotted a neon sign. "Open" was cutting through the fog. I pulled into the parking lot and ducked into the building. I looked around and all the usuals were there, the blondes, the reds. I spotted her in the corner, alone, by the counter, I could tell she was blue. She had this look about her. I tried not to make eye contact. Tried to play it cool. I walked around and visited the regulars. As much as I resisted, something made me gravitate towards her. I walked up slowly yet confident. I placed my hand on her back and turned her around. "Mahalo" she said. I didn't say anything back. Instead, I picked her up and studied every curve and every detail of her. There at the back counter, we were alone. She was in my hands and she fit perfectly. She was cheap but I didn't care. I knew right then we were going to make some serious music together.


...and you "played it again", right Sam/Deach? Great story, better than Casablanca!!
 
You can find out about my first uke experience here. And several subsequent ones as well.

But it's a sad story. You end up like I did today, hanging around in the doorway of a store with other people and trombones, guittarons, washboards, kazoos and such, serenading passing pedestrians.

Of course, you also make some bank.

Yeah.




to be honest Mr. Hobbit.

you just described what my job will probubly be in 30 years!

nice story.
 
haha. my first experience with a ukulele was when i got it for christmas when i was around 12 years old. I thought to myself,"What in the heck am i going to do with this thing." It sat in my closet for a couple of years until i heard Jake Shimabukro play the uke. It was so wonderful that i wanted to take a shot at it and remembered that i had one just sitting in the closet, and the rest is history. I fell in love with the uke and play it all the time. =]
 
Several years ago I started playing harmonica, because it was a nice, small, portable instrument that would adapt well to life on the boat.

Eventually, I thought, wouldn't it be great if Rich & I played music together? But what would be a good instrument for him?

Then I had an epiphany—how about getting him an ukulele?!? Of course, neither of us had ever played a stringed instrument...

So in Sept 2006 I got Rich an ukulele for his birthday. In about 30 minutes we were jamming together! And he loved playing the uke!

Four months later, I decided that it looked like so much fun I needed to learn to play the uke, too. (I can't believe I waited so long!)

At this point we've purchased 14 ukuleles. (So much for storage issues!!!) Of those, we have given four as gifts, sold two, and put four in storage. We now have only four ukuleles on the boat.
 
This past February we were on a cruise to Hawaii and on the 3rd day of the cruise they offered a Ukulele lesson. I had to go. We practiced strumming some notes for a while and then Dave said, "Now we're going to play Tiny Bubbles." From the strumming (which didn't really sound all that bad) to 40 people trying to put it together was hilarious! I was on the floor laughing so hard I was crying! 3 days later in Honolulu I got my concert Uke. I went to every lesson on the ship. The best part was that the "Ukulele Masters" performed at the passenger talent show on the last night. I like to tell people that I have performed on a cruise ship.:D

Now I'm hooked and practice way too much and spend way too much time here and I'm starting to get UAS -- you guys are the greatest!
 
Dude. Deach. That was gold.

I suspect that my story is similar to many others.

I strolled into the Old Town School of Folk Music one fine April day, to check and see if they had any new stuff.

I usually pay no attention at all to the ukuleles whenever I visit, but for some reason, I picked one up.

As soon as I plucked that first string, I was hooked.

My ears perked up, and I immediately smiled wide.

"Wow! These things are awesome!"

I figured out some chords, and happily strummed away for awhile.

After about 10 minutes or so, I decided to buy one.

I played all of the ukuleles they had in stock, and I settled on a mahogany concert Lanikai.
 
I got my first uke when my dad randomly ordered a $60 one and gave it to me when I was 5, 6, or 7, I don't quite remember (I'm 17 now). At the time I thought it was a guitar cause it was just my size. :D I watched a beginners video that came with it and still didn't know it was an ukulele . . . . . I later took guitar lessons, which I continue to take today; although, I never became really good at it because I never practiced at home . . . . Anyway maaaaaaannnnnnyyyyy years later, in August of 2007, my family went to San Francisco for vacation, and we went to the Aloha Festival (I think that's what it's called) and my dad saw a Risa uke there and thought it looked interesting so he asked me if I wanted it. Before we left I decided to get it. And not until after the new year of school started, I finally decided I should learn to play something on this $200 uke cause it cost quite a bit of money. So I typed "ukulele" on youtube . . . and the first thing that came up was Jake's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" at Central Park. I thought that vid was so awesome I looked in the related section and clicked on Aldrine's Zelda Medley. After these vids I seriously wanted to learn how to play. So I found out that Aldrine gave lessons on iamhawaii and thought "how nice of him":D I started practicing on that $60 uke, because I didn't want to constantly plug in the Risa just to hear it; that became my 1st, self-awared, experience. Later in November I got the uke I currently play: an Ohana TK-30 tenor for $300. It's a decent uke and I love it :love: but I still have yet to name it.:( I later got an $800 (OMG!!) Mele uke at the Aloha Warehouse when we revisited SF during springbreak, but that's not a part of my "first experience" so I'll end here . . . . . .




EDIT: Dang! my post is pretty long
 
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My wife went to town one day looking for a birthday present for a friend of ours. She came back all smiles, really giddy and excited.

"Guess what I got for x's birthday!" She said.

"I've no idea," I replied.

"Go on, guess."

"A ukulele?", I said, spoiling the surprise.

While this conversation doesn't reveal much I must point out that her purchases were still in the trunk of the car at this time. She actually purchased two Stagg sopranos, one for herself, one for our friend. I had a little guitar experience so I helped her find some 'Happy Birthday' arrangements for uke and learn to play them myself and taught her so she could play while the cake came out.

She didn't have much patience to learn and as a result she never got past that first song, so I inherited her uke.

She still mocks me and my uke, but I just keep reminding her that it's all her fault for bringing one home in the first place.
 
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