Private Lessons vs. UU+

amandadverse · May 31, 2012

If this has already been answered, I apologize! I tried searching the forums and didn't find exactly what I was looking for.

I took guitar lessons for 6 years, and 4 of those were wasted on bad teachers. Private lessons can be expensive, and once a week is about all you can do. I am an extremely quick learner, but I also don't want to rush my way through. I want to learn everything properly, but without spending ages on theory (one of my guitar instructors did this, an entire year with the guy and I only learned one song and so much theory I almost quit. It was way too complicated for a 14-year-old!)

So I was hoping for some opinions and advice from people who have done either type of learning, or even both. There are three uke instructors in my area that I have contacted for more info, so I know I have a few options in that department.

PoiDog · May 31, 2012

First off, Aloha and e komo mai to UU -

Now, to being my personal two pennies: I first learned the 'ukulele from my wife's uncle in O'ahu. He put the thing in my hands, and basically said "you put these fingahs on da strings wen you want make dem buggahs high or low, den you use da oddah hand and wen go strum da kine."

In other words, official lessons may be all fine and well, but the uke is the people's instrument, and in my humble opinion informal lessons are the way to go. Therefore, you go with either Aldrine's free lessons on the Uke Minutes vids, or the UU+ lessons and forget about getting a private instructor.

bombbuddy · Jun 1, 2012

I personally like as PoiDog said informal lessons. I have learned how to play decently (with no prior experience with stringed instruments) solely on Uke minutes UU+ and websites such as this one.

gyosh · Jun 1, 2012

PoiDog said:
First off, Aloha and e komo mai to UU -

Now, to being my personal two pennies: I first learned the 'ukulele from my wife's uncle in O'ahu. He put the thing in my hands, and basically said "you put these fingahs on da strings wen you want make dem buggahs high or low, den you use da oddah hand and wen go strum da kine."

In other words, official lessons may be all fine and well, but the uke is the people's instrument, and in my humble opinion informal lessons are the way to go. Therefore, you go with either Aldrine's free lessons on the Uke Minutes vids, or the UU+ lessons and forget about getting a private instructor.

"Jus Press"

janeray1940 · Jun 1, 2012

It really comes down to your learning style. Are you really self-directed and able to learn from books and videos? Then you can probably teach yourself just fine. I haven't done UU+ but my attempts to learn from video tutorials have all been dismal failures.

On the other hand, some folks - I'm one of them - benefit from actual hands-on instruction. Even though I've never been able to learn a darned thing from a book or a video, I've made considerable progress with weekly ukulele lessons over the past few years. I think the important thing is to find an instructor who is a good fit - I've been lucky to have two of them.

jonyoon · Jun 1, 2012

janeray1940 said:
It really comes down to your learning style. Are you really self-directed and able to learn from books and videos? Then you can probably teach yourself just fine. I haven't done UU+ but my attempts to learn from video tutorials have all been dismal failures.

On the other hand, some folks - I'm one of them - benefit from actual hands-on instruction. Even though I've never been able to learn a darned thing from a book or a video, I've made considerable progress with weekly ukulele lessons over the past few years. I think the important thing is to find an instructor who is a good fit - I've been lucky to have two of them.

I agree with this. However, there are some really cool things that are nice to get hands-on instruction with. (e.g. Learning how to do harmonics). I've taught a few people myself (nothing too fancy, very similar to PoiDog's experience but without speaking Pidgin

) but my lessons usually end up being a one-time thing since I was able to convey enough of the basics to get people to have the confidence to start learning on their own.

amandadverse · Jun 1, 2012

After finding out how ridiculously expensive private lessons are these days, I'll be signing up for UU+. $25 for a half hour lesson? You've got to be kidding me. 5 years ago I paid $15 for half hour guitar lessons. That's some steep inflation.

Iolaus · Jun 2, 2012

I'm considering the same question. I'd like to learn, but I want to do more than strumming along with the chord charts - I know I can figure that out on my own. I am a woodwind player of several decades, and have played a little piano and a bit more guitar along the way. I took classical guitar in college a few years ago, and while I can't play that stuff anymore, I did pick it up fairly easily while I was practicing. I'd like to do the same with the uke - learn to read notes rather than tabs, and finger-pick complex music on the instrument.

I went into Island Bazaar and talked to some guy there, but he was a little vague about how to go about this (and the woman who owns(?) it wasn't there. He just pointed out some possible books to help me do it myself. I think he said there weren't really any teachers that he knew of; which I find difficult to understand, given that we were in Huntington Beach! You'd think that Surf City would have a few qualified uke teachers!

So, I'll ask the larger community. What are some good books/tutorials for taking it the direction I want to go? I haven't really explored the resources here yet; are there options for what I want to do?

Jcollazo · Jun 2, 2012

amandadverse said:
After finding out how ridiculously expensive private lessons are these days, I'll be signing up for UU+. $25 for a half hour lesson? You've got to be kidding me. 5 years ago I paid $15 for half hour guitar lessons. That's some steep inflation.

I have some friends that teach guitar at the university PhD level. $25 won't even get you their phone number!

I'm willing to bet my ex-wife that' at least, 90% of the the folks on UU just want to play for personal enjoyment and play with others. This is the place to be for that. Mix it up with some workshops at uke festivals and other uke gatherings and you'll have a pretty good understand of the ukulele. I really like that erm... The People's Instrument.

janeray1940 · Jun 2, 2012

Iolaus said:
I went into Island Bazaar and talked to some guy there, but he was a little vague about how to go about this (and the woman who owns(?) it wasn't there. He just pointed out some possible books to help me do it myself. I think he said there weren't really any teachers that he knew of; which I find difficult to understand, given that we were in Huntington Beach! You'd think that Surf City would have a few qualified uke teachers!

If you're in Southern CA IMO the best place for ukulele (and other stringed instrument) lessons is McCabe's in Santa Monica. You might also want to try getting in touch with Mitch Chang - I think he teaches more down the South Bay/OC way.

That actually surprises me that the guy at Island Bazaar wasn't more helpful - I've only been there a few times but each time the staff has been knowledgable and helpful. Here's a link to their lessons page on their website - I can't speak to how current it is though.

A few books you might want to look into: Ukulele Fretboard Roadmaps by Fred Sokolow (one of my teachers!), Fingerstyle Solos for Ukulele by Mark Kailana Nelson, and Understanding Ukulele Chords by Robbert van Renesse.

Jcollazo · Jun 2, 2012

Iolaus said:
So, I'll ask the larger community. What are some good books/tutorials for taking it the direction I want to go? I haven't really explored the resources here yet; are there options for what I want to do?

Here's one way. There are a number of places in SoCal where you can take relatively inexpensive music lessons, mostly on the piano. The notes on a piano are the same notes on a uke. So, learn about the staff, notes, rests, symbols and those odd Italian words. Those things apply to the uke.

Nownwhen it comes to the Internet, if you have the drive, you can find many resources on the net. It's more time consuming, but if you want cheap, that could be a way.

Someone here mentioned that James Hill has a book called, "ukulele in the classroom". I haven't seen it yet...... Yet.

Iolaus · Jun 3, 2012

janeray1940 said:
If you're in Southern CA IMO the best place for ukulele (and other stringed instrument) lessons is McCabe's in Santa Monica. You might also want to try getting in touch with Mitch Chang - I think he teaches more down the South Bay/OC way.

A few books you might want to look into: Ukulele Fretboard Roadmaps by Fred Sokolow (one of my teachers!), Fingerstyle Solos for Ukulele by Mark Kailana Nelson, and Understanding Ukulele Chords by Robbert van Renesse.

Thanks. A couple of those are ones I've looked at on Amazon. I'll look at them again after I've chosen an instrument.

janeray1940 said:
That actually surprises me that the guy at Island Bazaar wasn't more helpful - I've only been there a few times but each time the staff has been knowledgable and helpful. Here's a link to their lessons page on their website - I can't speak to how current it is though.

Oh, he was helpful enough when it was about the ukes - demo'd a couple of tenors for me (I liked the Mahogany Kala for around $250; it had a warmer sound than the other one he had for a bit more).

Jcollazo said:
Here's one way. There are a number of places in SoCal where you can take relatively inexpensive music lessons, mostly on the piano. The notes on a piano are the same notes on a uke. So, learn about the staff, notes, rests, symbols and those odd Italian words. Those things apply to the uke.

Ummm...

I am a woodwind player of several decades, and have played a little piano and a bit more guitar along the way. I took classical guitar in college a few years ago...

I know how to read music.

However, I am also cognizant of how difficult it is to unlearn bad habits after they develop - all too well!

Lori · Jun 3, 2012

Some helpful starters for tabs:

http://ukulelehunt.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/solobuch.pdf

http://pdfminstrel.wordpress.com/2-standard-high-g-ukulele-pdfs/

–Lori

Iolaus · Jun 3, 2012

Lori said:
Some helpful starters for tabs:

http://ukulelehunt.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/solobuch.pdf

http://pdfminstrel.wordpress.com/2-standard-high-g-ukulele-pdfs/

–Lori

Thank you! Both of those look intriguing. I couldn't read the German on the one, but Google translator gave me enough to figure it out.

beardco · Jun 3, 2012

I have played clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, flute, guitar, & now ukulele. The absolute worst experience was at the age of 10 with a teacher came right out of 'Throw Mama From The Train". She never even picked up the guitar. The best experience was in Shanghai at $3/hour. The guy just wanted to teach me songs. In 2 weeks I learned Hotel California, some classical tunes, etc...

Most music teachers are doing it for the usual reasons, and that's not a good thing. It's rare to find someone humble who actually wants to teach you to play. Out of the many teachers & cities in the world, I found one.

Why don't you try UU+? There's a money back trial period & nothing to lose. I think the UU videos are great & I can replay them as much as I need until I learn the material. And the computer never loses it's patience with me. You won't find that with a teacher.

Iolaus · Jun 3, 2012

janeray1940 said:
That actually surprises me that the guy at Island Bazaar wasn't more helpful - I've only been there a few times but each time the staff has been knowledgable and helpful. Here's a link to their lessons page on their website - I can't speak to how current it is though.

I have another response being held for review (apparently using a smiley on another hosting site triggered something?), but, in short, he was helpful, just not about that particular subject. He did pull a couple of tenors off the wall and demo'd them for me. I liked the warm sound of the mahogany Kala for around $250

One thing that did surprise me... I had assumed that set-up would be an automatic at a uke specialty shop; but when I mentioned it, he said they didn't do set-ups, and that there were a couple of local music stores that would do it for a charge. He did say that they weeded out inferior instruments to send back though.

I'm wondering if maybe a trip to Santa Monica might be more fruitful.

janeray1940 · Jun 3, 2012

Iolaus said:
One thing that did surprise me... I had assumed that set-up would be an automatic at a uke specialty shop; but when I mentioned it, he said they didn't do set-ups, and that there were a couple of local music stores that would do it for a charge. He did say that they weeded out inferior instruments to send back though.

I'm wondering if maybe a trip to Santa Monica might be more fruitful.

It's definitely worth a trip just to see a slightly different selection of ukes - I know Island Bazaar carries brands that McCabe's doesn't, and vice versa. As for doing setups - I don't think IB has a luthier on staff. McCabe's has several; I'm not sure whether a setup on a new uke would be an additional charge or not. I've bought two ukes there and neither came with a setup, but neither needed it either - both were perfect off the shelf.

Private Lessons vs. UU+

amandadverse

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PoiDog

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bombbuddy

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gyosh

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janeray1940

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jonyoon

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amandadverse

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Iolaus

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Jcollazo

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janeray1940

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Jcollazo

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Iolaus

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Lori

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Iolaus

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beardco

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Iolaus

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janeray1940

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