Hi! I'm a raw beginner. I have trouble sticking with things, I can't sight read music, and I have no sense of rhythm. What I do have going for me is a love for the sound of a ukulele. I'm hoping that will be enough to keep me learning.
Welcome aboard! Love for the sound's a good way to keep you going. Practice will bring rhythm, and you can do most anything you're likely to want in the near term without reading music.
If you can build the habit of picking up your ukulele every day, even if it's only for a few minutes, you'll keep it going. That said, I usually find that forcing myself to play for 10 minutes doesn't work out that way, but I discover it after I've played an hour or so....
Here is how to stick with it. Ukulele is about three basic things to start, forming chords, learning to strum and keeping time, tempo or rhythm......if you can count to four you got this. As soon as you get a little bit competent in those pick a song you like. An easy song, one with 2 or 3 EASY chords and start playing it. There is no greater motivation then actually playing a song you like.
The most common and easiest chord progression is C, F, & G learn these first and there are literally hundreds of songs you can play. Add chords, A, Am, Dm and D which are close in fret board postion and fingering pattern to F and you are off to the races.
Remember we learn to stand........then crawl.......then walk......then run. Try something too complicated in the beginning and you will get frustrated and give up.
Thank you all for the welcome, and the advice! You're giving me hope. I'm working on my first couple of chords and have started looking up songs I know I want to learn, so I can find two or three that are basic enough for me to attempt when I've learned a couple more chords. I'm going slowly, not trying for flying chord changes, just trying to learn how they feel under my fingertips and making sure I'm placing my fingers correctly. And enjoying it so far!
(Edit 10/30: I have tried posting a new reply to this thread but keep getting an error message. Thank you DownUpDave and SpicySteve; this does seem like a very welcoming community and I look forward to being a part of it! If I can just figure out why I can't post anymore.... ;D )
(Edit 11/4: Thank you, stevejfc. I tried replying to your message, but I still can't post for some reason. Getting really frustrating....)
Thank you all for the welcome, and the advice! You're giving me hope. I'm working on my first couple of chords and have started looking up songs I know I want to learn, so I can find two or three that are basic enough for me to attempt when I've learned a couple more chords. I'm going slowly, not trying for flying chord changes, just trying to learn how they feel under my fingertips and making sure I'm placing my fingers correctly. And enjoying it so far!
Welcome to the Forum. Fabulous words spoken by DownUpDave.
You with find an enormous amount of kind individuals here willing to share knowledge, skills and experience.
The ukulele can bring quite a bit of joy to life. :music:
Welcome! Just learn a few of the easier chords, then a few songs you want to learn. Work at them and have fun. Less than 2 years ago, I was a rank newbie too. Now I'm just rank
You're going to love it! Start with a few basic chords and changing between them (which will feel like a mountain at first but will soon become easy as breathing!) and just keep going!
Thank you! That's what I've been doing (a few basic chords, and the chorus of a song I want to learn) and working on transitioning from chord to chord. I've added singing along, too. It's a slow song, so I'm not doing too badly singing and keeping my hands moving at the same time!
I've had my little impulse-buy uke for several years but hadn't picked it up since I bought it. Now I'm playing it pretty regularly. I got nicer strings for it and it does sound better. And I have an Ohana SK-10 on the way from Mim. I'm SO anxious to see how it sounds and feels compared to my "pick one off the stack of boxes" Guitar Center uke!
(I wind up hanging out around a lot of campfires and am seriously thinking about getting a Kala Waterman for that purpose...it's too soon to have UAS, isn't it??)
I'm enjoying it so far, buzzes and squawks and tender fingertips and all. I've tried learning a couple of instruments before, but I think I'm sticking with uke better than I did with any of them before. It's just such a fun instrument with a truly fascinating history...I'm just digging it.
And the community seems awesome. For an anxious socially awkward introvert like me, that's drastically important.