Starting Tips

wh0sth3d4me

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It's probably been asked before, but I can't seem to find it.

For you veterans, what do you think the best way to start playing the uke is? Like from scratch.

The only instrument experience I've had was flute in the 4th grade (I'm going into 11th now).

Any Advice?

Oh and I don't want to go to an instructor, I see learning how to play the ukulele as more of a free time

practice thing than a force myself to become a skilled player thing.
 
What I did was learn how to strum and chunk properly. After that you should learn some basic chords such as C, G, Am, F and go wild.
 
Start with Aldrine's lessons here. There are TONS of ukulele videos out there. Get a couple of books. I've been playing for 2 and a half years. I just learned how to chunk. I'd learn some chords and learn some strums. Do you sing? If you don't sing it seems to me that you'll have to learn how to finger pick.

I'd check out the top 50 ukulele sites. It's a box on the main page of UU. You'll find tons of stuff to get you started.
 
Start with Aldrine's lessons here. There are TONS of ukulele videos out there. Get a couple of books. I've been playing for 2 and a half years. I just learned how to chunk. I'd learn some chords and learn some strums. Do you sing? If you don't sing it seems to me that you'll have to learn how to finger pick.

I'd check out the top 50 ukulele sites. It's a box on the main page of UU. You'll find tons of stuff to get you started.

I second that! I'm a beginner as well (guitar player first) but I still learned most of my ukulele skills from Aldrine's great videos. He has them on just about everything. Also check out vids on youtube. You can learn just about anything on youtube these days.

-Tiffany
 
I've been playing for 2 and a half years. I just learned how to chunk.

Phew, now I don't feel so dumb for not learning how to do it when it seems like just about the easiest thing to do. I can't even freakin' strum properly yet.

What I did was take songs I knew how to play on the guitar, and put them to the ukulele. Then the chords get hammered into my head, and various placements and so on. I've only been playing a short time, myself. So make a multi track of yourself playing the same songs on ukulele and flute, if that works for you.
 
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Play what sounds good. Spend lots of time just fooling around and picking out things like "twinkle, twinkle". Learn some basic chords and a strum or two to learn some sing along songs. Just play. It doesn't matter if you "don't have a good ear" or "don't know how to play". Just make music however you can. You can do no wrong by making mistakes. You learn faster by trying something and failing than doing it right because you were too "sterile" about it.
 
I started off with C, Am, F and G7 chord progression. It's real easy, because your fingers don't move around so much, so you can practice that, and even use it for a Hell of a lot of songs, just chane the tempo and strumming pattern.

Code:
C;

| | | |
| | | |
| | | 3
| | | |

Am;

| | | |
2 | | |
| | | |
| | | |

F;

| | 1 |
2 | | |
| | | |
| | | |

G7;

| | 1 |
| 2 | 3
| | | |
| | | |

Just do that a whole ton, play and sing a simple song, like this chick.

Also, YouPoop guys like Ukulele Mike, Pnaigrlrizz and a host of others are REALLY helpful.
 
Wow, thanks for all the advice! I'll be sure to check out all of those.
 
Try focusing on all the different kinds of strumming patterns. There are a lot of reggae styled strums out there.. Once you know a couple strums, try looking for tutorials for songs on youtube. The most common notes you might want to stick with are A, Am, F, G, and C. The most basic song and first song I learned was Surf. It includes the notes Am, F, and C in it. I'm Yours by Jason Mraz has C, G, F, Am, and F in it too. So does the chorus for Over The Rainbow I believe.
 
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