Book Recommendations Needed

Purdy Bear · Sep 6, 2015

I need to pick your brains, I am looking for a specific type of beginners book, one which is layed out just like other instrument tutorial books. Ukulele beginners books don't seem to be like them.

What I mean by this is that it has the following:

The fret fingering for each note/chord
Sheet music for each note of the said note and chord
Sheet music to practice muscle memory for the notes and chords you learn - usually similar to the arpeggios or scales
Adult tunes to play for each, usually half a page
It normally doesn't have lyrics, but would have the Tab staves/bars
It may even have a copy of the scales and arpeggios
Sheet music size so it fits on the music stand

I live in hope that I can find one with the above. I find it a lot easier to learn a musical instrument when given all the information I need in one place instead of search dozens of books.

Thanks
Purdy

johnson430 · Sep 6, 2015

Do you know about this series?

http://www.alfred.com/Products/The-Complete-Ukulele-Method-Beginning-Ukulele--00-40916.aspx

I have this book and believe it meets all of your needs.

Camsuke · Sep 6, 2015

Samantha Muir's work might suit; http://www.samanthamuir.com/ukulele-2/

kypfer · Sep 6, 2015

Purdy Bear wrote:

I need to pick your brains, I am looking for a specific type of beginners book, one which is layed out just like other instrument tutorial books.

There are several "old-fashioned" ukulele methods available for free download, usually as scanned documents in pdf format, from various sources on the web, that would cover your requirements ... you could start with http://www.mammothgardens.com/books/KamikiUkuleleMethod.pdf and then use your usual search procedures to find others similar.

Once you've "got the basics" and can read music, a significant source of "grown up" tunes that fit on a ukulele nicely are available here http://www.campin.me.uk/Music/Chalumeau.abc ... you'll need an ABC program to convert the listing to "notes on a stave", I use ABC Explorer http://stalikez.info/abc/abcex.php on my PC. You can display one tune at a time, or print out as many or as few as you need, or even the whole listing of 574 tunes, if you so wish

Hope this helps

If you choose to go a more "commercial" route, I'm sure there are others who'll be interested to read your experiences.

johnson430 · Sep 7, 2015

kypfer said:
Purdy Bear wrote:

There are several "old-fashioned" ukulele methods available for free download, usually as scanned documents in pdf format, from various sources on the web, that would cover your requirements ... you could start with http://www.mammothgardens.com/books/KamikiUkuleleMethod.pdf and then use your usual search procedures to

Thanks for this link. I had a quick glance through and it looks like a good read.

LDS714 · Sep 7, 2015

kypfer said:
Purdy Bear wrote:

There are several "old-fashioned" ukulele methods available for free download, usually as scanned documents in pdf format, from various sources on the web, that would cover your requirements ... you could start with http://www.mammothgardens.com/books/KamikiUkuleleMethod.pdf and then use your usual search procedures to find others similar.

Interesting tuning. As a beginner to the uke, I tend to think of GCEA as "standard."

I found some uke sheet music from the 1920s & 30s this past week in a pawn shop. Tunings were not always what I currently use for the most part, including: GCEA (Blue Danube Waltz), ADF#B (Just a Gigolo & the book linked above) and BbEbGC (My Menalcholy Baby).

PhilUSAFRet · Sep 7, 2015

I usually recommend my beginning students not to buy a uke book until they know exactly which one they need and why they need it. Most of what you want can be found free online. I basically printed out my own personalized ukulele instruction book, much in the same way I make my own Trip Tickets instead of getting one from AAA.

kypfer · Sep 7, 2015

http://www.mammothgardens.com/books/...leleMethod.pdf

johnson430 said:
Thanks for this link. I had a quick glance through and it looks like a good read.

You're very welcome

In retrospect, that booklet, as comprehensive as it may be, is in "D" tuning and may not be ideal for a starter in the "modern world" where "C" tuning predominates.

http://www.mammothgardens.com/books/NBBailyPracticalMethod.pdf is in "C" tuning and may be of more help, initially.

Although they are also in "D" tuning, you may care to look out for publications by May Singhi Breen, "The Ukulele Lady", which are in a similar vein.

Enjoy

Mivo · Sep 7, 2015

Of the beginner books I have seen/read, "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing Ukulele" is the most traditional and comprehensive. It does go into topics such as how chords are created, where they "come from", and how to find them and put them together. It also covers transposition. Songs include both tabs and "normal" music notation, and it touches on other tunings a little as well. Heaps of songs in there. Amazon and such probably have the full index available for viewing, and sample pages. I paid around €19 for it, which is an okay price for the relatively hefty book (comes with a CD, too).

PhilUSAFRet · Sep 7, 2015

Oh yeah, nearly forgot, this is the one book I recommend.....since it came out, I see it as kind of the new "Bible" for new uke players.

Mivo said:
Of the beginner books I have seen/read, "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing Ukulele" is the most traditional and comprehensive. It does go into topics such as how chords are created, where they "come from", and how to find them and put them together. It also covers transposition. Songs include both tabs and "normal" music notation, and it touches on other tunings a little as well. Heaps of songs in there. Amazon and such probably have the full index available for viewing, and sample pages. I paid around €19 for it, which is an okay price for the relatively hefty book (comes with a CD, too).

DownUpDave · Sep 7, 2015

PhilUSAFRet said:
I usually recommend my beginning students not to buy a uke book until they know exactly which one they need and why they need it. Most of what you want can be found free online. I basically printed out my own personalized ukulele instruction book, much in the same way I make my own Trip Tickets instead of getting one from AAA.

Completely off topic............You got to be 50 years of age or older to know what Trip Tickets are

.............my how times have changed

Chopped Liver · Sep 7, 2015

Mivo said:
Of the beginner books I have seen/read, "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing Ukulele" is the most traditional and comprehensive. It does go into topics such as how chords are created, where they "come from", and how to find them and put them together. It also covers transposition. Songs include both tabs and "normal" music notation, and it touches on other tunings a little as well. Heaps of songs in there. Amazon and such probably have the full index available for viewing, and sample pages. I paid around €19 for it, which is an okay price for the relatively hefty book (comes with a CD, too).

PhilUSAFRet said:
Oh yeah, nearly forgot, this is the one book I recommend.....since it came out, I see it as kind of the new "Bible" for new uke players.

Ooo! Thanks, guys! I just looked at sample ages of this and it looks great, so I ordered it!

I have had my ukes for awhile but have only tinkered around with them - which I do with most instruments. I have ordered a Mainland Mango ukulele (yay for September teacher discount) and have decided that I want to learn one instrument well. This book will be perfect!

PhilUSAFRet · Sep 7, 2015

Yeah, don't know what they're called now. I like mine better. Cut and paste only what I want to know/see/where to stay,etc. etc. to a document.

DownUpDave said:
Completely off topic............You got to be 50 years of age or older to know what Trip Tickets are .............my how times have changed

Purdy Bear · Sep 7, 2015

Thanks for all your suggestions and links. I'll go look see.

ohmless · Sep 7, 2015

Sorry I don't have a perfect recommendation for you but one that is close. You can google a books title and very often there is at least one sample page online so you can see the format. I think the Hal Leonard Easy Songs for Ukulele by Lil' Rev fits many of your criteria.

http://images.esellerpro.com/2378/I/420/36/Easy-Songs-For-Ukulele-Book-CD-X2-Sample-Page.jpg

ricdoug · Sep 7, 2015

https://web.archive.org/web/20101011095501/http://ukuleletonya.com/files/beginner_lesson_pkg.pdf

Book Recommendations Needed

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