Suggested Studies

Okay, I've been watching vids of James Hill all day and now I'm mad that I have a lot of time on my hands and nothing to "better" my skills with so that I can give him a run for his money! (Yeah, right. I'm dreamin'!)

Anyway, I do want to see if anyone has some suggested studies for ukulele that isn't beginner theory. I already have Ukulele Fretboard Roadmaps but I need more.

I'm looking for resources that will work on chord usage, fingering technique, soloing, chord soloing, etc. Basically, anything that could potentially pave a player's way to ukulele rock-stardom. (Not that we should limit ourselves to rock styles.)

So, what would you recommend?
(Specific reviews of material is helpful.)

~DB

The Book List:
Ukulele Fretboard Roadmaps - Jim Beloff
Mel Bay Presents Classics for Ukulele - Ondrej Sarek
Mel Bay Learn to Play Fingerstyle Solos for Ukulele - Mark Kailana Nelson

Web Resources with books and ebooks:
Ukulele Hunt
Ukulele in the Classroom
Fret Toolbox Ukulele C-Tuning Edition
Curt Sheller Uke Player
Pebber Brown Practice Schedule (Guitar)

Curt Sheller has some scales on his site , that would be useful to learn. Im working on them. I can solo in any key on guitar, but have a hard time soloing anywhere on uke. I know folks will say its just 4 fret up or something ,,, but it hasnt clicked with me. The high G makes stuff different too, Im still searching for the key that will unlock the similarities box
Good Luck , maybe we can help each other along the way
Steve

Taking into consideration that everyone's goals and learning styles are different, I'll let you know what I'm doing and you can see if any of it sounds like what you're looking for.

1. Ukulele Fretboard Roadmaps
2. Fretboard Toolbox Ukulele C-Tuning Edition
3. Classics for Ukulele
4. Mel Bay's Learn to Play Fingerstyle Solos for Ukulele

You've already got the Roadmaps book, which I think is great for learning the 'uke. It not only lays out theory but gives you plenty of material to work with. This book is excellent in my opinion for learning chords all over the neck, inversions, theory, scales, etc.

The Fretboard Toolbox is very visual. It's an easy way to see the theory as it applies to the fretboard. I think it's a great companion to the Roadmap book.

I use the Classics for Ukulele book to work on my sight reading skills. I can read music, but having learned it for piano and guitar, I'm now learning it for the 'uke.

My preferred style on guitar was fingerstyle. I'm a major fan of Travis Picking. The last book is good for developing fingerstyle for 4 strings while learning a repertoire of songs.

Beyond that, I just learn all the songs I can. My band plays folk/Caribbean style so that's what I learn and play for my professional side. For fun I like to learn the older mainland style songs...not sure what genre you'd call that. Formby style maybe? And also for fun, I belong to a 'ukulele club locally that focuses on Polynesian style 'uke.

So I learn as much as I can from the books to be as well versed as possible, learn what I have to for my band (which I enjoy), and learn other styles to expand my fun.

Your mileage may vary.

I guess I'm going for a general list for everyone.

Me personally, I'm working on the following (both on ukulele and guitar):
1) Reading music (no, not tablature; music notation)
2) Soloing; both improvisational and "planned/written" melody lines.
3) Chord voicing (which includes chord soloing)
4) Repertoire (in various styles)

I'd welcome websites that have resources as well (as long as they leave out the words "secrets the pros use").

~DB

Curt has a lot of info on his site. Here's the link. He has a few free ebooks you can download that have lots of theory and such and other books you can purchase, e-book and print format.

One of my favorites is this one: Understanding Ukulele Chords.

It's very well written, and starts at the beginning. It surprises me how much I learned from this 48-page book.

I also have Fretboard Roadmaps and I honest think I have learned more from Understanding Ukulele Chords. Now, it doesn't have lessons on the scales and such, like Fretboard Roadmaps does, but I think it's better for learning chords and how to use them. It touches on theory, substitutions, chord soloing and more as well.

I've recommended this book many times. It's a great buy for $10.00.

Jason

Daily Practice Routine

Pebber Brown has a daily practice schedule for guitar that can be found at http://pbguitarstudio.com/pdf_files/GUITAR_PDF/Guitar_Daily_Practice_Routine_4-22-10.pdf
I have tried to convert it for ukulele, and have found several sites useful for learning uke stuff. The file (in zipped format) is here:View attachment Daily Ukulele Practice.doc.zip - Pebber Brown suggests 10 minutes on each activity, or 70 minutes/day.
Some books/sites of interest:
For right-hand strums - Woodshed's "How to Play Ukulele Strums"
For left-hand exercises, UU has some - search for "Left Hand Exercise" on UU
For chord practice, download "Uncle Rod Higuchi's Boot camp" at http://www.4shared.com/file/RJISsOhb/Ukulele_Boot_Camp_rev.html
A great book for understanding chords is "Ukulele Breakthrough" by Calvin Chin
For scale practice, look at Lambchop's blog at http://lambchopukulele.blogspot.com/2010/05/how-to-learn-13-of-ukulele-fingerboard.html
Kauai Rainbow also has some interesting info on scales - http://www.kauairainbow.com/Ukulele/Scales/scales1.html
For ear training, go to the Toneway Project - http://toneway.com/, or Musicawareness - http://www.musicawareness.com/
Ricci Adam's Musictheory.net has ear training exercises at http://www.musictheory.net/exercises
For arpeggio practice, try http://ukuleleunderground.com/2009/08/uke-minutes-58-arpeggios/ or http://www.fingerstyleuke.com/arpeggios.htm
There are many sites for tunes and repetoire, but a couple of the best are Dr. Uke - http://www.doctoruke.com/songs.html and Ukulele Mike http://www.youtube.com/user/MusicTeacher2010
If you want to learn classical songs transcribed for the uke, try http://ukeclassicaltabs.blogspot.com/ or http://www.microshare.net/tri-tabs/
Finally, if you want to learn some music theory (non uke-centric) go to Ricci Adams http://www.musictheory.net/ or Gary Ewer's Easy Music Theory http://www.musictheory.halifax.ns.ca/lessons.html (free lessons are at the bottom).
Happy Uke-ing