New to music

Hello everyone,

I am new to this community and it seems like a great community.

I've been watching a lot of ukulele songs and people playing it and I feel in love with the instrument.
It is affordable and it looks easy to learn.

I did a lot of research I just purchased my first ukulele as a beginner
(Lenikai LU-21T Tenor).

I am completely new to music and I don't have any musical
background. I read about scales, charts and stuff but I am so
confused when people try to teach them.

So my question is, what or how should I start to learn the Uke? I know I can just youtube a video and learn memorize an easy song.
But I want to be able to learn how to read cords so I can learn by
reading instead of by watching.

It would be awesome if someone can tell me what to do to start off
and learn.

Thank you all in advance for the help.

Welcome to the UU and a whole new world of music.

Download a copy of Uncle Rod's Ukulele Boot Camp here: http://www.4shared.com/document/KP2gt1kl/2011_revised_Ukulele_Boot_Camp.html

It's some exercises that will get you familiar with chords. There are some very good training videos in the UU+ or even the training videos from the link of UU's main page.

Some strumming info from Uncle Rod Higuchi can be had here: http://www.4shared.com/audio/QkFvKmOc/Strum_a_Ukulele.html

Thank you very much for the information.
I knew this was going to be a great place to be a part of!

When I said I didn't have any history of music I sort of lied. I cousin plays the guitar and 10 years ago I learned a song from Greenday (Time of your life/Good Riddance). I am pretty sure I played it wrong but it does sound a bit like it. HOWEVER, that was 10 years ago. I learned all of that by memory since it was a few cords over and over.
I know the basic strumming pattern down down up up down up down down...etc. But I was never able to sing and play at the same time lol.
Apart from that, I don't know how to read or anything so I hope this will help!

Thanks again.

++ on the Lanakai

jrockz said:

When I said I didn't have any history of music I sort of lied. I cousin plays the guitar and 10 years ago I learned a song from Greenday (Time of your life/Good Riddance). I am pretty sure I played it wrong but it does sound a bit like it. HOWEVER, that was 10 years ago. I learned all of that by memory since it was a few cords over and over.
I know the basic strumming pattern down down up up down up down down...etc. But I was never able to sing and play at the same time lol.
Apart from that, I don't know how to read or anything so I hope this will help!
Thanks again.

Click to expand...

Well then, the uke should feel right as rain (or easier?) since you have some guitar experience. Yeah, I couldn't sing and strum at the same time without going out of tune or forgetting the strumming pattern for at least the first 3mts! Sort of like trying to pat your head and rub your tummy at the same time. Finally I can sing (or croak if you like) and strum at the same time without having to concentrate much on fretting and strumming pattern. Now my next major hurdle is getting clear barre chords. Practice, practice and practice... ARGH!

Ditto on Uncle Rod's Ukulele Boot Camp. Combine this with Ukulele for Dummies and you should be good to go for quite a while. By the time you need another book, you'll know what it is and why you need it.

jrockz said:

So my question is, what or how should I start to learn the Uke?

Click to expand...

Everyone learns differently, so there's no one single best way. As they say in the running world, it's an "experiment of one". But here's how I'd do it:

1.) Pick a song you want to learn. Preferably an easy one with just a few basic chords.

2.) Find the "letter names" of the chords to that song. The name of a chord is universal--it doesn't matter whether you're on guitar or ukulele or piano or whatever. So you can find chords to song all over the place. Officially published sheet music, out there on the internet, right here on UU, from your guitar-playing friends, etc. It doesn't have to be a special "ukulele version".

3.) Get a chart of ukulele chords. You can google "ukulele chord chart" for this. Here's one example.

4.) The diagram on the chord chart is showing you where to put your fingers on your uke. It doesn't matter which finger you put on which string, athough you'll find certain fingers work better than others and your fingers will "naturally" fall a certain way most of the time.

5.) Look up the letter name in the song with the chord in the chord chart. Play that using whatever strum you like (down-up-down-up is fine).

6.) Repeat for each chord. Have fun!

7.) Pick more songs and play those. Post here on UU when you have questions.


If you do this, you will learn chords simply by playing songs that have those chords in them. There's nothing wrong with the "boot camp" approach, and you might find that works better for you. Or do a combination of both methods.


JJ

Awesome responses, I will definitely try all theose methods to see which
is the best way for me.

Try this for some easy but useful strumming techniques. This guy "Ukulele Mike" has tons of lessons, very many of them are good for beginners.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_dIPS9R8kU

I agree with all that's been said, but if you haven't heard the song before, I don't think you can learn it by just chord charts. That being said, by the time you get through with Uncle Rod's and Ukulele Mike you'll already know a ton of songs. Oh yeah, welcome to UU. You've definitely come to the right place.

Welcome! I just bought my first uke a few days ago... a Lanikai LU-22 CMF... I've been having so much fun with it! I wish you the best of luck!

Just FYI...
Did you know that Lanikai is currently offering two free sets of Aquila strings to new purchases at authorized retailers if they were bought between Oct (I forget the exact date) and Dec 31st? They didn't even require money for shipping. You can find the voucher on their website. Just something to consider Free stuff rocks!

australe said:

Welcome! I just bought my first uke a few days ago... a Lanikai LU-22 CMF... I've been having so much fun with it! I wish you the best of luck!

Just FYI...
Did you know that Lanikai is currently offering two free sets of Aquila strings to new purchases at authorized retailers if they were bought between Oct (I forget the exact date) and Dec 31st? They didn't even require money for shipping. You can find the voucher on their website. Just something to consider Free stuff rocks!

Click to expand...

Haha! That's awesome, thats for the heads up! I can use some free strings!

Can you provide me with that website link for the voucher? I couldn't find it on the website.

Thanks!

My 2¢. Find a teacher and take some lessons. As a beginner it's best to have someone that knows what they're doing show you the basics so you avoid developing bad habits. Our try something like meetup.com to see if there are any uke groups in your area you can go and get some pointers from.

Trying to hit some notes today but its kinda hard.
Maybe its something I am not used to. For example trying to play F#, it requires a ton of pressure on the string to be able to play it.

I'd stick with the key of C. Learn C, F, Am, G and G7 and you have a third of all songs licked already! The rest will come later. Find a song you like in that key and jam away. Later ease into theory. Just keep having fun

Yeah, if the song is asking you to play an F# at this point... pick another song.

JJ

PhilUSAFRet said:

Ditto on Uncle Rod's Ukulele Boot Camp. Combine this with Ukulele for Dummies and you should be good to go for quite a while. By the time you need another book, you'll know what it is and why you need it.

Click to expand...

I would add the UU Plus videos.

Heres the link for the free Aquila strings..

http://lanikaiukes.com/laniblog/2011/10/lanikai-now-has-aquila-strings/

Thanks for the link.
Does anyone know the type of string that comes with the Lanikai? Its wwhite and feels like plastic.

Also i have a small problem with my tuner. For example i tune the G string then tune the rest. When i test out the G again the tuner says its a bit off again so i readjust.
Is this normal?