I'm coming up on a month of playing the ukulele. I had played guitar and mandolin for about 20 years prior, but the ukulele was new to me. I really love this instrument and thought I'd share some observations from a newcomer:
1) You'll play a ukulele more than a guitar or mandolin. The guitar is too big, and it's tough to play quietly. I get at least an hour of practice in every night while watching TV with the wife and small kids. I even bought my 5 year old daughter a Kala KA-15S Soprano so she thinks she is playing along (she actually can play C, Am, and F already). This keeps her and the 2 year old from grabbing the strings and halting all playing! The mandolin is essentially the same size, but they're just not as versatile, and I'm always nervous having them out around the kids since they are so expensive. I leave my Kala out on the table and pick it up and play it all the time.
2) You can get a pretty damn good instrument for $100-150. This is not the case with guitar or mandolin. The first uke I bought for myself was a Kala KA-TG. I got lucky and it was actually set up well when I received it, but my brother wasn't as lucky. That said it will only take 10 minutes and a piece of sandpaper to get his saddle where it needs to be and then his will be fine too. Order from a place with setup and you don't have to worry about it. That Kala is a supreme instrument for what it costs! If you are a beginner and wondering what to start out with, go with the Kala KA line. When/if you get better move up to solid wood. If you never do, you're not out very much money. If all you're ever going to do is strum just buy one of these and call it good. The string spacing is a little narrow at the saddle, but again is you're only going to strum it doesn't matter.
3) Strings make a HUGE difference on ukuleles! The second ukulele I bought was a Pono RTC(S) PC. It looks awesome, but when I played it the first time I almost sold it immediately. With the strings that came on it (Ko'olau golds), it didn't sound ANY better than the Kala. I thought I'd give it a chance and replaced the strings with a new Ko'olau Mahana Low G set with wound 3rd and 4th and....BOOM! Different instrument. I LOVE that Pono now. It's loud, it resonates, and just overall sounds awesome.
4) Solid wood is better if/when you can afford it. A lot better. This is universal with guitars, mandolins, basically everything that gives you a choice between laminate and solid. I've heard the Mainlands are really good and are all solid wood for a very reasonable price. Again, something that is unique to Ukulele. You can't buy solid wood anything for a couple hundred bucks in guitar or mandolin. I have the Pono, so I probably won't get to find out much about other brands. I have no UAS now or in the foreseeable future.
5) String spacing at the nut is always mentioned, but string spacing at the saddle is almost always left out of the description of ukuleles online. It is important. The Kala and Pono are the same at the nut, but vary by over 1/4 inch at the saddle. This has a major impact on flatpicking and especially fingerstyle. My fingers don't fit between the strings on the Kala, but there is plenty of room on the Pono. I'd ask about this metric if considering different brands.
6) There is a lot of information about the "proper" way to play a ukulele. Play with your fingers only...it's NOT a little guitar...don't use a pick. It's all bulls...it's poppycock
I like people to be able to hear me, so I play with a flatpick and it sounds AWESOME! I can be heard at a jam and it gives clarity that the fingers take away. I'm good at flatpicking, so that's how I play it most of the time. And it IS like a little guitar if that's how you want to play it. The intervals are exactly the same as the top 4 strings of the guitar tuned up 5 half steps. In low G tuning, it is essentially a small tenor guitar. I'm currently playing a lot of bluegrass straight out of a Steve Kauffman guitar book, and it sounds great (I can read standard notation, so that helps). I still play fingerstyle, but don't throw away your picks because you read about the traditional way to play the uke and think you have to follow suit.
7) Ukuleles sound awesome. The mandolin is too short and bright for playing along with popular music, and the guitar is great but its loud and not at all convenient to keep on top of a coffee table for easy access.
8) Ukulele is easy to fall in love with. If you are thinking about getting into it, DO IT! You can buy a Kala KA tenor mahagony laminate for $79 and it's going to be a good instrument if properly set up. If you don't like it, you're out $80 and you can probably resell it for $60. $20 is a pretty light gamble on picking up a new instrument. I bought the Kala KA-TG for around $139, quickly found out I loved ukulele and bought a solid spruce/rosewood Pono a week later. That said, I have a backup that sounds good and I don't care if I ding it up. Tough to go wrong getting in with the laminate Kala or something similar.
Anyway, this covers most of the information that I spent hours researching or wondering about before I bought a ukulele. Hopefully it will save some time for some newbs and help pull the trigger on getting into the ukulele! Happy playing!
1) You'll play a ukulele more than a guitar or mandolin. The guitar is too big, and it's tough to play quietly. I get at least an hour of practice in every night while watching TV with the wife and small kids. I even bought my 5 year old daughter a Kala KA-15S Soprano so she thinks she is playing along (she actually can play C, Am, and F already). This keeps her and the 2 year old from grabbing the strings and halting all playing! The mandolin is essentially the same size, but they're just not as versatile, and I'm always nervous having them out around the kids since they are so expensive. I leave my Kala out on the table and pick it up and play it all the time.
2) You can get a pretty damn good instrument for $100-150. This is not the case with guitar or mandolin. The first uke I bought for myself was a Kala KA-TG. I got lucky and it was actually set up well when I received it, but my brother wasn't as lucky. That said it will only take 10 minutes and a piece of sandpaper to get his saddle where it needs to be and then his will be fine too. Order from a place with setup and you don't have to worry about it. That Kala is a supreme instrument for what it costs! If you are a beginner and wondering what to start out with, go with the Kala KA line. When/if you get better move up to solid wood. If you never do, you're not out very much money. If all you're ever going to do is strum just buy one of these and call it good. The string spacing is a little narrow at the saddle, but again is you're only going to strum it doesn't matter.
3) Strings make a HUGE difference on ukuleles! The second ukulele I bought was a Pono RTC(S) PC. It looks awesome, but when I played it the first time I almost sold it immediately. With the strings that came on it (Ko'olau golds), it didn't sound ANY better than the Kala. I thought I'd give it a chance and replaced the strings with a new Ko'olau Mahana Low G set with wound 3rd and 4th and....BOOM! Different instrument. I LOVE that Pono now. It's loud, it resonates, and just overall sounds awesome.
4) Solid wood is better if/when you can afford it. A lot better. This is universal with guitars, mandolins, basically everything that gives you a choice between laminate and solid. I've heard the Mainlands are really good and are all solid wood for a very reasonable price. Again, something that is unique to Ukulele. You can't buy solid wood anything for a couple hundred bucks in guitar or mandolin. I have the Pono, so I probably won't get to find out much about other brands. I have no UAS now or in the foreseeable future.
5) String spacing at the nut is always mentioned, but string spacing at the saddle is almost always left out of the description of ukuleles online. It is important. The Kala and Pono are the same at the nut, but vary by over 1/4 inch at the saddle. This has a major impact on flatpicking and especially fingerstyle. My fingers don't fit between the strings on the Kala, but there is plenty of room on the Pono. I'd ask about this metric if considering different brands.
6) There is a lot of information about the "proper" way to play a ukulele. Play with your fingers only...it's NOT a little guitar...don't use a pick. It's all bulls...it's poppycock
I like people to be able to hear me, so I play with a flatpick and it sounds AWESOME! I can be heard at a jam and it gives clarity that the fingers take away. I'm good at flatpicking, so that's how I play it most of the time. And it IS like a little guitar if that's how you want to play it. The intervals are exactly the same as the top 4 strings of the guitar tuned up 5 half steps. In low G tuning, it is essentially a small tenor guitar. I'm currently playing a lot of bluegrass straight out of a Steve Kauffman guitar book, and it sounds great (I can read standard notation, so that helps). I still play fingerstyle, but don't throw away your picks because you read about the traditional way to play the uke and think you have to follow suit. 7) Ukuleles sound awesome. The mandolin is too short and bright for playing along with popular music, and the guitar is great but its loud and not at all convenient to keep on top of a coffee table for easy access.
8) Ukulele is easy to fall in love with. If you are thinking about getting into it, DO IT! You can buy a Kala KA tenor mahagony laminate for $79 and it's going to be a good instrument if properly set up. If you don't like it, you're out $80 and you can probably resell it for $60. $20 is a pretty light gamble on picking up a new instrument. I bought the Kala KA-TG for around $139, quickly found out I loved ukulele and bought a solid spruce/rosewood Pono a week later. That said, I have a backup that sounds good and I don't care if I ding it up. Tough to go wrong getting in with the laminate Kala or something similar.
Anyway, this covers most of the information that I spent hours researching or wondering about before I bought a ukulele. Hopefully it will save some time for some newbs and help pull the trigger on getting into the ukulele! Happy playing!
