Recommended ukulele songbooks for beginners?

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silveraven

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Hi, it's been almost five months since I got my uke and I figured I should start putting in a bit more time to practice and learn new songs on it. It's really good timing since I currently in a bit of a limbo and have some free time on my hands. Therefore, I'd like to ask all of you who started from zero: what books have you used to learn and/or play songs with?

I've heard a lot about "Ukulele for Dummies" and Jumpin' Jim's 365/366 songbooks. Would those books be enough to start off with?
 
As someone who owns no ukulele books other than a songbook or two, I can't recommend any... I can however recommend the many lessons on this site, and lessons on youtube. I have also read good things on Jim Beloff's "Tips and Tunes"

Let us know which book(if any) you get and how it works for you !
 
Milla said:
As someone who owns no ukulele books other than a songbook or two, I can't recommend any... I can however recommend the many lessons on this site, and lessons on youtube. I have also read good things on Jim Beloff's "Tips and Tunes"

Let us know which book(if any) you get and how it works for you !
Click to expand...

Did you mean UU+? I've been thinking of signing up but not sure if it's a good investment since I tend to travel to places with no internet (which is ironic because I tend to have a lot of free time at such places!). Which YouTube accounts do you follow though? If you don't mind. :)

I also nearly forgot about Uncle Rod's Ukulele Bootcamp. I downloaded his free songbooks and practices but haven't really gotten round to checking them out. Here are his links as per his signature:
MP3s: http://www.mediafire.com/?50db7nls4o6m6
Ukulele Boot Camp, FREE Songbook & More: http://ukulelebootcamp.weebly.com
Holiday Songbook: http://www.mediafire.com/?0p02c7ttpqe2g

Was actually hoping for more senior/learned members to contribute though, but maybe everyone is still mourning MGM's lost. :(
 
About a gazillion songs with chords and lyrics for uke online. Just pick the songs you like and print. Google - ukulele chords and/or tabs, lyrics, and the song name.

Ukulele Songs for Dummies
The Daily Ukulele I & II
 
Around here the standard is Ukulele Daily. Personally, I'm not a fan. Mostly because I'm not a fan of about 80% of the music in it. The songs I DO like generally have lousy arrangements. I'm resisting buying it, but I play with a group of about 20 people. It's better to have the same music, so I'm afraid I'll eventually have to buy it.

I find the music I play everywhere else from online collections or the library. If you ferret out good sources you will be amazed at what you find out there. You can find books of collected works by year, artist, and genre that contain the artists actual sheet music. Many of these original piano arrangements include the chords for accompaniment, which is the information that most of the ukulele songbooks are based on.
 
I recommend you go to a ukulele club. That is where you will learn songs and how to perform them. Tutor books are good if you want to learn fingerstyle playing, but clubs are good for chords and strum patterns.
 
Phluffy the Destroyer said:
Around here the standard is Ukulele Daily. Personally, I'm not a fan. Mostly because I'm not a fan of about 80% of the music in it. The songs I DO like generally have lousy arrangements.
Click to expand...

YES, THIS. This is why I resisted buying The Daily Ukulele books in the beginning too. But looks like those books may be the best out there so far, along with the Dummies book.

phil hague said:
I recommend you go to a ukulele club. That is where you will learn songs and how to perform them. Tutor books are good if you want to learn fingerstyle playing, but clubs are good for chords and strum patterns.
Click to expand...

Thanks for recommending ukulele clubs. However, there's no such clubs where I am. I do play the ukulele with a friend whenever we meet up, but we're both newbies as well. Kinda like blind leading the blind. :p

To everyone who actually replied to this thread, thank you! I really appreciate the feedback and advice.
 
I would suggest mastering a song or two until you become very good. Then, you move on to other songs.

By the way, which part of Malaysia are you from? There are many ukulele groups around. The most prominent one is MUG (Malaysia Ukulele Group). There are others in KL. There are at least one or more clubs in the major cities, Penang, Ipoh, Melaka, JB, etc. If you are near the causeway, you can crossover to Singapore as well.
 
sugengshi said:
I would suggest mastering a song or two until you become very good. Then, you move on to other songs.

By the way, which part of Malaysia are you from? There are many ukulele groups around. The most prominent one is MUG (Malaysia Ukulele Group). There are others in KL. There are at least one or more clubs in the major cities, Penang, Ipoh, Melaka, JB, etc. If you are near the causeway, you can crossover to Singapore as well.
Click to expand...

I'm from East Malaysia - Sarawak. Either the clubs are hiding or I'm just not in touch with the 'scene'. :p I know of MUG, but I don't go to KL enough and when I'm there, I normally can't make it for their picnics and meetups.
 
I recently started going to a monthly players group, and they give out a song book at each meeting. Great way to build up your library would be to get copies from the various clubs. Search online, join, and get access to their songbooks.
 
There's a lot of info in Ukulele for Dummies. As for songbooks, our club uses The Daily Ukulele. However, we are all pretty lazy so the book is good for convenience so that we can all (literally) be on the same page. Have you tried Dr. Uke's website? Many songs there.

As to "arrangements", they are changed to suit taste all the time. If an arrangement really bugs you, you can either not play the song or change it to suit yourself. If you are an independent learner, you can just learn the chords, and learn/play whatever song you like.
 
I like the song book from the London based club "Ukulele Wednesdays". It's 200+ songs, nicely formatted on clear single pages w/ chord diagrams. I just put it on my iPad but you can print it and it's FREE! Lots of good sing/strum alongs.
 
I have the Daily Ukulele too, not a book I will ever recommend. Check out sanjoseukeclub.org lots of good stuff. Look in the Tabs And Chords section sticky, you'll find a great selection of songs too.
 
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Woah, thanks for all the suggestions of sites I can visit to get chords for songs. Will definitely check them out. Since most of you seem to think that the Daily Ukulele isn't as great as I thought it would be (haha), I won't buy it for now. But I'll probably get the Ukulele for Dummies book for easy reference. :)

HBolte said:
I have the Daily Ukulele too, not a book I will ever recommend. Check out sanjoseukeclub.org lots of good stuff. Look in the Tabs And Chords section sticky, you'll find a great selection of songs too.
Click to expand...

Thanks HBolte! I don't know why I missed that sticky. /facepalm
 
Phluffy the Destroyer said:
Around here the standard is Ukulele Daily.
Click to expand...

I have the first of these and I've found it very reliable with plenty of variety. The layout is good, easy to read etc, and it contains lots of old favourites that most people will know. This is always a problem buying anthology books, I've bought guitar books in the past full of songs I never heard of.

So I've found it very useful to get me started. Yes, you can find tabs online and I've done that for specific songs I want to learn, but they are often badly formatted. My Daily Ukulele gives me something to work through with minimum fuss.
 
I also like the Daily Ukulele. It has playable arrangements of familiar songs and gives the chord formations at the top of each song, which I needed as a beginner. (Yes, there are lots of songs in there I don't know or would never play, but there are also many I do enjoy--collections are always a mixed bag.) It also taught me something about how songs are arranged. On-line, there are sites with song collections like Dr Uke and Ukester Brown, (both of which include audio files so you can hear how a song should sound) plus a multitude of sites with guitar arrangements (I've found these often need a lot of rearranging to make them work for a soprano uke with re-entrant tuning).

As you get more comfortable with the chords in different keys, you might try arranging your own songs. I started with Jimmy Buffett songs, and have recently been having a great time arranging Tin Pan Alley classics that I couldn't find anywhere for free (I just had to have Cole Porter's You're The Top). Doing that has perhaps taught me more than anything I could have gotten from any songbook.

Whichever route you go, enjoy! :D
 
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