hola, aloha, and hey y'all

Hey everyone! My parents got me an ukulele for Christmas this morning! It's a soprano/standard from Oscar Schmidt (she's a beauty), along with case and learner's book one. I'm very excited to start learning this instrument. After one day, I can play the simple melodies to "Frere Jacques," "Mary had a little lamb," "Twinkle twinkle little star," and "oh Susanna," as well as the C Major Scale. Tomorrow I plan on learning a few more notes and songs and slowly progressing into chords.

I really want to learn how to play "real" songs as soon as possible, but I'm having a problem knowing where to start online. I played French Horn and Mellophone in high school, so I'm already accustomed to treble clef music, but everywhere I look for sheet music online, all I can find are tabs. Can anyone help me out?

Anyway, I guess this wouldn't be a proper intro without a little about myself (though most of this can be found in my profile already)... I'm a student at the University of Kentucky, majoring in Natural Resource Conservation & Management. Yeah, I'm one of those hippies who's into environmental sustainability and saving the earth (but I've always been like this, even before it was hip to be green). I love kayaking, traveling, spelunking, reading, hiking, camping, and (of course) music! I also ramble a lot.

I hope to get to know the community better over the next several months as I'm simulataneously becoming more familiar with my uke. Tschüs!

Welcome to UU!! There are some great lessons right here on this sight. It may actually be easier to start with chords. Learn 3 chords and there are literally thousands of songs that can be played. Check out this thread: http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7224

Edit: Also check out Ukulele Mike...he has some awesome videos for learning to play. http://www.youtube.com/user/musicteacher2009?blend=1&ob=4

You have found the perfect place to ramble on. Welcome to UU. Mele Kalikimaka and Happy Journey.

Hello and welcome to UU! We love 'ukulele playing hippies and rambling on and on is one of the things we do best around here. Follow the links that KC8AFW posted and have a great time learning that new uke of your's.

Aloha, Sanmarie. Your sig is hilarious. My advice to you is to dive right into learning chords. With just a few chords, you can play thousands of songs and sing along. That's where the fun is.

Start with C, G, Am, and F. This chord progression is the basis for reams and reams of songs:

http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8683

Unfortunately, you're not going to find a whole lot of music notation on the web for ukulele. Most of it will be tablature. Dominator, a UU member, has an excellent tablature site. His tabs also include the music notation above, so that should help you correlate the fretboard to the treble clef.

Happy Uke Journey! :shaka:

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome and helpful links! I'll be sure to put them to good use.

Welcome to the Underground!!