Good Starting Point?

So I've been helping out with a group guitar class at church and there has been talk of adding a ukulele class to the mix. Nothing's set in stone yet, but I'm a greedy instrument hoarder and pounced on it as an excuse to look into getting myself a shiny new toy to play with. Long story short, I have no impulse control and ordered two ukuleles, which are on their way to me and should arrive soon.

I wanted two sizes, so I ordered a soprano and a tenor. For the soprano, I went with a Kala, because everything I read seemed to suggest they're a solid brand. I picked the KA-EBY-S, because I saw the ebony and thought it was lovely, and had an "I have to have it!" moment. The tenor I ordered is a Lohanu LU-MAGE-T. Until last night I had no idea electric ukuleles existed, so I saw this one with the electric pick up and was very intrigued. And from all the reviews I read, most people seem to love them, and it seems like their customer service really tries to do right by their customers and rectify any problems.

Anyway, I was wondering if you had any thoughts on a good starting point for learning how to play? I've studied voice for a long time, and I play piano and guitar, so I read music and have a solid background in theory. I'm hoping that helps! And also curious if you have any thoughts on the models I bought and whether there are any potential issues I should be on the lookout for when they arrive?

Where did you buy them from?

i ordered the Kala from Reverb and the Lohanu from Amazon. They're both new and are supposed to come set up with strings. I hope that's not misinformation, because I'm not good at putting on nylon strings. I tried changing the strings on my mom's classical guitar, but I ended up giving up because I just couldn't get the knot right.

Writing out a fretboard map sounds super helpful. I didn't do that with the guitar, and I still have to think about some of the notes as I get further up on the neck. Especially since when I play the guitar, it's mostly strumming chords to sing along with. I don't do much finger picking, but I watched a couple videos of finger picking on the ukulele and it looks really cool! I definitely want to give it a try.

Welcome.

You know the guitar, you know the Uke, put a Capo on fret 5 on a guitar and the tuning on strings 1-4 become that of a Uke.

As for electric Ukes there are cheap ones on eBay/Amazon then there are models by Vorson and Risa.

I have a Risa ST which is like a baby Strat.

I love it.

I have a small Boss Kata Mini amp and Zoom G1X Four pedal, both of which are battery powered for ease of use when out and about.



Sorry but no idea how to rotate the image to disply it correctly.

My Kala ebony soprano ukulele came today! Only managed to play for a little bit because it's been a busy day, but so far it seems nice! The re-entrant tuning is going to take getting used to and my fingers still want to form guitar chords but I'm excited! And I can't wait for my tenor ukulele to arrive tomorrow!

Got my Lohanu tenor today. The intonation on the Kala is definitely better, although the Lohanu isn't unplayable. So far, I've found that tweaking my finger position compensates a bit. It's also much more noticeable when I try finger picking instead of strumming. The two have very different voices. The Kala is brighter, while the Lohanu is much mellower. The electric tuner on the Lohanu seems to work well and it's a very attractive looking instrument. It's supposed to have a lifetime warranty and a satisfaction guarantee behind it, so I contacted the company about possibly swapping this one out for a different unit to see if the intonation is an issue with just this particular instrument or if it's a problem with a brand. We'll see what they say! But all the reviews I've read have raved about their customer service, so I'm hopeful. And in the mean time I can just use the Kala if I want to practice finger picking and strum on the Lohanu.

They're such fun little instruments! And so easy to pick up! I've already learned a handful of songs and I'm super excited to learn more!

Congrats on your two new babies! Enjoy....