Complete and Utter Beginner!

Hey all in the UU world!

I wanted to introduce myself to what appears to be the best online community for the ukulele in all aspects. My draw to the uke came from a dude I met in Cuba who would not stop talking about his Ohana uke at home and how he wished he had brought it with him. I decided to pick one up when I got home.

I was totally misled by a local music store into selling me an over priced low end ukulele. My ignorance to music and the ukulele had me leaving the store excited as hell to start playing! Needless to say a month of playing I was becoming super frustrated with the sound and decided to cut my losses and purchase something more sustainable for the long term. Thus my new Kala SLNG!

I love the new instrument and have learned a few cords that seem to be the standard for ukulele players. However enough about me and my ukulele (name pending) hahaha.

Here is where I require some assistance from the community in progressing my skill set and knowledge. I plan on making the ukulele a long term hobby, something I'll be playing for my grand kids one day haha. However that being said I have zero experience in the art of music.

Where do I start? I want to understand musical theory as well as all ways to read and play music on the ukulele. Do I buy some training books from the music store to help me with the fundamentals? Use the internet for theory? This is where I am stuck. I don't have enough background to even begin to search for anything as I am not comfortable with terminology yet.

Thanks for everyones time and effort to help me. I am just looking for a point in the right direction, whether its a website or a book to look into. What's worked for others in this same vote as me? Should I invest in lessons? So many fun, fun questions to be answered.

Thanks all again!

PimoneNTumba

welcome! a good place to start would be on this site (see top of page). Ukulele for Dummies and Music Theory for Dummies are pretty good also. i like Uncle Rods ukulele boot camp, he is a member of this forum and has a fairly complete start course. you could spend days just roaming the sites that start here. where in Cuba were you, was it Guantanamo?

:agree: Great advice. Additionally: You must get this now. Learn uke and have a great time doing it. Normally $12 and a bargain at that.

$1 download beginners lessons, no gimmicks, this weekend only:

http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/f...D-Download-for-1-this-weekend&highlight=bartt

Sounds to me like you are off to a good start. My only advice it to try to play a little every day. There are a ton of resources on this site and online. Great books out there too. My husband is using Absolute Beginners Ukulele, by Steven Sproat. And we have Uncle Rod's Ukulele Boot Camp - wonderful resource! Here's the link:
http://ukulelebootcamp.weebly.com/ Once you get comfortable with some chords, you can find a ton of tutorials online. There is a ton of theory online as well - scales and modes, and all kinds of stuff.

Welcome to UU and welcome to the uke!

Howlin Hobbit has some good theory on his site http://www.howlinhobbit.com/ukulele/
and a good chord progression lesson http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1125378/ukulele docs/uke_chord_progressions.pdf

Also check out Jim d'Ville's site http://www.playukulelebyear.com/

Have fun and keep us posted

I have been playing for 2 1/2 years and I had the same questions you are asking now. It will all unfold for you as you delve into the uke world. youtube has been my teacher. There are literally hundreds of tutorials for all levels and styles of playing. The good thing about it is you can rewind and stop at any time. There are a few song sites that are great such as www.druke.com, www.scorpex.net/uke, www.ukesterbrown.com and Rrichard G's songbook. There are many beginner 2 and 3 chord songs to help you get started. By the way, I just bought my fourth uke and it is a georgous Kala SLNG. It's my second kala. You can't go wrong with Kala. Private lessons can be pricey but if yo can afford them, go for it. You may want to check out any meetup groups in your area. go to www.meetup.com and type ukulele into the search bar. They are like getting free uke lessons. Best of luck to you and welcome to your new addiction!

Thanks to everyone for the useful information. I picked up the ukulele for dummies book to start with and will check out some more if the sites and resources you guys listed and posted on the site don't already answer those questions. Again thanks for the help and motivation to keep truckin'.

Pimonentumba