need a good suggestion

scubatrevor1024

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Hey guys,
Im looking to get a Ukulele music book but I dont know what ones are good and what ones will help the most. I have been playing for the lat six months so im okay but still need some practice, I usually play the same stuff over and over and over again so im looking for new material. I would use the internet but i have a room mate and I dont want to make his ears bleed. So i usually go to the music room or somthing I cant read music at all so something with tabs would be perfect, but im willing to learn to read some ukulele music. So any suggestions would be awesome!
Thanks
Trevor
 
g'day scubatrev

To some extent I guess it depends on what exactly it is you want to learn - types of songs, style of playing etc

But for me, the best book is "Fretboard Roadmaps" by Fred Sokolow and Jim Beloff: a little daunting at first, but well worth persisting with and is a resource that you'll keep dipping into for a lifetime of ukeing...also comes with a demonstration CD which is helpful.

Aside from that, there's heaps of different themed song books around, that you can choose based on what you're interested in. For example, the "jumpin Jim" songbooks you can get here:

www.fleamarketmusic.com

and if you're looking for a book outlining many uke chords I think the best one is Roy Sakuma's "Treasury of Ukulele Chords"

Mel Bay has lots of great stuff too (several by Ian Whitcomb are great), then there is the Hal Leonard tutorialbooks by Lil' Rev etc etc...

have a look around and see what suits your needs best. happy hunting! Cheers mate. eugene
 
If you're in to Hawaiian mele, the Hawaiian Style Ukulele books are hard to beat. There are 3 books in the series and the come with great CD's. Book 1 starts out with very simple two chord songs and then work you up to more complex songs. If you are intrested in finger picking Mark Nelson's Fingerstyle Solos for Ukulele is another great book.
 
All very good suggestions. I have the Fretboard book...excellent and yes daunting at first. I have heard very good reviews about the Hawaiian Style books and am putting those on my Christmas wish list!
 
I'll second the "Jumpin' Jim" series of songbooks. They're not really instructional books, per se, but they're chock full of fun songs, with (accurate!) ukulele chord diagrams along the top. Perfect for just jammin' along to new tunes.

For that matter, you could pick up pretty much any nomral (non-uke specific) collection of songs that looked interesting to you at your local bookstore or music shop. There are Beatles ones. Broadway. 80's Rock, Chistmas... you name it. They're almost always arranged for piano/vocal, with guitar chords along the top. But a chord is a chord. So just keep a ukulele chord chart handy to "translate" the chord names into finger positions, and you're all set.

If you do want to learn some new trick though, Learn To Play Fingerstyle Solos for Ukulele by Mark Kailana Nelson is a good one.

JJ
 
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I'll second the "Jumpin' Jim" series of songbooks. They're not really instructional books, per se, but they're chock full of fun songs, with (accurate!) ukulele chord diagrams along the top. Perfect for just jammin' along to new tunes.

For that matter, you could pick up pretty much any nomral (non-uke specific) collection of songs that looked interesting to you at your local bookstore or music shop. There are Beatles ones. Broadway. 80's Rock, Chistmas... you name it. They're almost always arranged for piano/vocal, with guitar chords along the top. But a chord is a chord. So just keep a ukulele chord chart handy to "translate" the chord names into finger positions, and you're all set.

If you do want to learn some new trick though, Learn To Play Fingerstyle Solos for Ukulele by Mark Kailana Nelson is a good one.

JJ

I agree. The Fingerstyle Solos is a very good book and the Fretboard Roadmap is excellent. The Fretboard Roadmap will get you playing chords all over the fretboard, especially if you are looking to play songs above the fifth fret.
 
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