Where to begin?...

JunkyardEddie

JunkyardEddie

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Co. Derry, N. Ireland
Hi folks.

I'd been playing guitar for 13 years and started to get a bit bored with picking up and playing the same old tunes day after day. A few weeks ago after trawling through youtube for a while checking out muso wizkids i came across Jake Shimabukuro. I had never realised what could be achieved with such a small seemingly basic instrument! A few days later i bought a Kala KA-MT mango tenor and fell in love.

I've been lifting tabs of this and that off the net but feel i lack any real direction in my learning. My left hand and music theory are fine but i really need to discover what the instrument is capable of.

Are there any good books/dvds/sites that i can use to get things up and moving for me?

Thanks a million!
 
JunkyardEddie said:
I'd been playing guitar for 13 years...
Click to expand...
Then you already know all the basics. Just play guitar chord shapes and picking styles on your uke. Sure, the names change... you play a D-chord and we call it a G; you play B7, we call it E7 and so on. Think of the uke as the four bottom (highest in pitch) strings of your guitar and you can play.

The high-G tuning on some may be a bit confusing at first, but it doesn't limit chords. And you can always change it to low-G if you're used to some runs that require that string.

Welcome!​
 
Cheers for the replies!

I hear what your saying ichadwich about the guitar shapes and it does help a bit. The right hand strumming techniques are giving me trouble as i'm used to using a pick for strumming on the guitar.

It's difficult for me to know what to do and what to play on it as its not exactly a popular instrument in Ireland... ;)
 
JunkyardEddie said:
It's difficult for me to know what to do and what to play on it as its not exactly a popular instrument in Ireland... ;)
Click to expand...

Play anything you like on it!

Strumming will take you no time at all if you're used to playing guitar. (Just remember to strum much further up the neck--like around the 12th-14th fret or so--instead of over the sound hole.)

If you're looking for something challenging, try picking up a copy John King's The Classical Ukulele, or any of the Lyle Ritz jazz stuff.

JJ
 
Cheers folks your a helpfull bunch. I dont have access to the net. Only here at work and we cant stream vids so the video lessons wont be an option for me seeso. I think il go for a tuition book from the Lyle Ritz range. Thanks for the idea Ukulele JJ. What do you think is the best one to go for?

Also any ideas, other that Jake shimabukuro, for inspiration?
 
JunkyardEddie said:
I think il go for a tuition book from the Lyle Ritz range. Thanks for the idea Ukulele JJ. What do you think is the best one to go for?
Click to expand...

Lyle Lite is the easiest of the bunch. I guess "least hard" would be a better way of putting it. :p

Oh, and Mark Kailana Nelson's Learn to Play Fingerstyle Solos for 'Ukulele is a good one too. Probably easier to learn than the Lyle Ritz and John King stuff.

I find that SheetMusicPlus.com has a better chance of offering sample pages to view than Amazon does, so it might be worth looking them up on there. (Although I usually wind up buying from Amazon because the prices are better.)

JJ
 
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