Beginner from Michigan, never played a string instrument.

Hey whats up guys this is my first post. I just came back from Maui and my mom got me a Mele Pineapple Ukulele for my birthday from the shop in Lahaina.
One problem I have never played a guitar or any kind of string instrument besides a piano (7yrs). I'm having a bit of trouble learning how to play it. i can kind of play over the rainbow but not perfectly. I don't want this to be the only song i know haha. So I was wondering if there was anyone in Ann Arbor, Michigan (or close to) willing to teach me the basics and what not. i really want to be good at this but i am more of a visual learner.

I am willing to pay for lessons.

thanks,
Jason

if you don't have any luck with actual lessons, youtube will take you very very far. There are some killer channels out there that taught me everything I know. I'd look to our own Aldrine, who's channel is ukuleleoversoul among the first. Best of luck, and congrats on the mele, thats a sweet uke!

You're in luck! Of all the instruments I've tried, there is more teaching material online on Ukulele than any of the others.

Just hang around here and visit Aldrine's Youtube channels and you'll be jamming in no time. Also look for musicteacher2009 on Youtube.

Welcome fellow Michigander! Unfortunately...I live about 3 hours from you (over in St. Joseph). But, I believe iamdanielle lives over by you. Maybe she'll see this thread and respond.

Like others have mentioned...Aldrine had some excellent video tutorials on this site. Check here: http://ukuleleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7224

I don't know of anyone from over there, but I learned a lot from MusicTeacher2009.

http://www.youtube.com/user/MusicTeacher2009

thanks for the youtube suggestions guys. Ya ukuleleoversoul and musicteacher2009 both seem to fit the bill for what i'm looking for hopefully.

A uke is nice 'cause if you learn three basic chords you can play tons of songs. That way, you'll have some satisfaction in your learning curve pretty quickly. Of course from there you can take it as far as you want.