if you knew then what you know now...

janeray1940

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This comment and my response to it in another thread got me to thinking about what might be an interesting discussion, particularly for newbies: if you could go back in time and tell your beginning-ukulele-player self a few helpful bits of advice, what would they be?

A few that come to mind:

Never say never. You may be so sure that you will "never" play anything but a particular size or wood or brand, but needs change over time. For instance - when I started playing I thought I wanted only mahogany, soprano, and vintage. Fast forward five years and I'm all about koa, concert scale, and brand-spankin'-new.

Don't believe what you read. Always try it yourself and come to your own conclusions. Trust your instincts (and trust that they may change over time!).

Put a strap on it. Don't explain, don't justify, just do it :)

12 frets is not enough. The more, the better, and you want a 14-fret join if at all possible.

That's just for starters. Anyone else??
 
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After years of not liking mahogany guitars and really not liking mahogany mandolins, I just assumed I wouldn't like mahogany ukes, so I avoided them. Boy, was I wrong-- mahogany makes awesome ukes!
 
Don't buy too cheap. You probably ARE going to like playing it, so get something a little better than the cheapest thing you can find.

I was lucky, and found UU before I bought my first one, so I didn't fall into that trap, but I very nearly did.
 
Spend some time playing with the lights off. I don't care if it's musically correct, just experience and explore the finger board and really listen. Having a bit of a scientific and analytic mind I tend to try to understand things too deeply. When I started feeling the music my playing improved immensely.
 
What ever I think now is almost certainly what I won't think a year from now.

Be very skeptical of forums. Beware that even the veterans have strong biases and reasons for those biases. A lot of people on the forums with strong opinions have not formed those opinions out of experience.

Hard cases are worth the investment.

Pay attention to humidity levels. A Vornado room humidifier is a great investment.

A cheap hobby store bead works as well as a bridge bone bead (and doesn't look so ridiculous).

An "expensive" custom or K brand uke bought used can usually be resold for something equal to or within a few $$ one way or the other of the purchase price. A cheap ukulele in most cases has little to no resale value.
 
An "expensive" custom or K brand uke bought used can usually be resold for something equal to or within a few $$ one way or the other of the purchase price. A cheap ukulele in most cases has little to no resale value.

Oh good one! Although my experience has been that K brands hold their value far better than customs, and I can see at least one good reason: it's a known quantity, more or less, and fairly safe to buy sight unseen, whereas any one-off/custom is really best experienced in person.
 
What Chuck said.

And...I wish I'd learned piano and music theory in my teens. It would help especially now that I'm playing jazz arrangements of standards and such.
 
Spend some time playing with the lights off. I don't care if it's musically correct, just experience and explore the finger board and really listen. Having a bit of a scientific and analytic mind I tend to try to understand things too deeply. When I started feeling the music my playing improved immensely.

I do something similar - I play with my eyes closed sometimes. I think it improves my listening ability (although I may be imagining it!).
 
I wish I had retained the ability to read sheet music (I never did it well but used to be able to a little bit), and I wish I had retained music theory. I took piano and guitar lessons years ago, and learned both of these concepts with both instruments, but I have now forgotten most of all of it...to my chagrin. I think I would definitely be a better uke player if I had kept up with it, and probably should try to regain that knowledge.
 
What Chuck said.

And...I wish I'd learned piano and music theory in my teens. It would help especially now that I'm playing jazz arrangements of standards and such.

Same here, but realistically when I look back, I'm certain I wasn't capable of it then. I did take piano in school, but I was far too impatient and just wanted to memorize and play songs rather than understand what I was actually doing. Now I'm the complete opposite - I really enjoy theory and could care less about memorizing. I'm far more capable of enjoying the journey than I ever would have been as a young person.
 
Pay attention to humidity levels. A Vornado room humidifier is a great investment.

This is so true. I see a lot of people freak out about humidity management when they get their first solid wood instrument, but the truth is, humidity management really isn't that hard. A few relatively inexpensive tools, and the tenacity to keep up with it is all it takes.
 
I wish I had retained the ability to read sheet music (I never did it well but used to be able to a little bit), and I wish I had retained music theory. I took piano and guitar lessons years ago, and learned both of these concepts with both instruments, but I have now forgotten most of all of it...to my chagrin. I think I would definitely be a better uke player if I had kept up with it, and probably should try to regain that knowledge.

If you keep at it, it will come back! When I started playing uke, I hadn't looked at a piece of sheet music in over 30 years. I still can't sight-read chords but have gotten back the ability to sight-read melody passably well - now I feel lost without standard notation.
 
I would second the advice to get a decent uke. I had a couple for years, but until I picked up my first 'real' uke, a 6-string tenor Lanikai, nothing clicked.

I would also say "Just play". Just make some musical sounding noise. And then again, and again. In a little while, things will start to fall into place.
 
One way to improve is to record yourself playing, and listen critically to it.

If you can't honestly hear any need for improvement you're either a professional level player, or you really need an instructor. :)


I didn't realize when I started how bad my rhythm was until I recorded myself. I was awful. I'm now less awful. :)
 
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Join a group and play with others, it is the fastest way for improvement.
Get you nose out of the book and listen to what you are playing.
Have fun keep playing and singing, every once in awhile you will find the right note.
 
I'd probably tell myself to bet £ 100,000 on Germany to beat Brazil 7-1. Then I'd spend the proceeds on Chuck's entire output for the next 20 years.
 
1. Rewind time and start playing ukulele at least 20 years sooner!!!

2. Star a ukulele club about 20 years sooner, too!

3. Opt for the concert size, because that is going to be your sweet spot!
 
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