Where beginners should begin and a Christmas present idea

Kimosabe

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I know that in this day and age one must be very polite and not try to impose one’s opinions on others, but what the hell, you only live once.

Here’s where I think beginners should begin and it’s also what I think you should get friends and family for Christmas or whatever winter holidays you celebrate:

Stuart Fuchs’ Rockabilly Ebook/video course, about $25 or less and perhaps an inexpensive beginner’s ukulele of your choice, notice your choice.

Why? Well, for one this is where those guys the Beatles began, Rockabilly. Three chord songs following mostly the 12 bar basic blues progression. You learn lots of songs in three or four keys and you learn the blues progression. But what really makes this course cool is that Stuart gives you those added boogie notes that really make your playing come alive. Within weeks you’re sounding like a musician and you don’t even have to really like Rockabilly but it is lively and upbeat and fun.

I’m not related to Stuart and I’m making no money off this but what I’m telling you is where I wish I had begun when I was twelve. The videos are great. The instruction is great and Stuart gives a lot away free on his Ukulele Zen website. I recently joined his Patreon page at five bucks a month. What a deal for what you get and the guy is a great player and teacher. One funny thing is that he often demonstrates on relatively inexpensive ukuleles and he sounds great. He is also a jazz musician with classical interests.

Couple all of this with all the free material that’s available from Jez Quayle and his free tutorials and great Rockabilly and Skiffle videos and you’ll be moving and grooving in no time. Shake, rattle and roll!

So, take a good look at that son, daughter, grandchild or cousin and think for a paltry sum you can change his or her life and quite possibly keep the said person out of jail, and give them a lifetime of music.

The Beatles had the E and A chords down but they had to take a long bus ride to get a guy to teach them that dominant B7 chord to finish off the blues progression. I’m telling you that you can take that same bus ride with Stuart Fuchs’ brilliant Rockabilly course.

Point in fact, I started the course and worked out Carl Perkins’ Boppin’ the Blues. There was a break in the show at the recent Waikiki Ukulele Festival and the MC asked if anyone wanted to get up and play. I got up and bopped the blues. I got very nice applause and was told by the guys operating the sound system that I was a sandbagger. I didn’t know the term and was pleasantly surprised to learn it was a compliment. The performer who followed was a fellow by the name of Jake. My friends told be that on my first gig I had opened for Jake Shimabukuro. Not too shabby and all thanks to Stuart Fuchs.

Best wishes to you and your loved ones and I’m happy to have solved your holiday shopping.
 
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I joined Stu Fuch's Patreon a few weeks ago and love his material and teachings. Guess I am going to have to purchase and learn his Rockabilly stuff now.
 
There are Pros & Cons in the online approach.

On the other hand I firmly believe that face to face tuition is the way to go.

Other options?

A visit to a local Musical Instrument Store a talk with the sales staff and face to face lessons could be organised as would the purchase of a starter Uke and lessons.

An online search and maybe visit to the local library to find uke groups in your area who will welcome a newbie and they will help get you started.

If you are of a more mature age and there is a U3A group near you then they may well have a uke group or a uke group can be started.

Learning with others is far more enjoyable than going solo and new friends are made.
 
Yep, nothing like playing live with others. Take the course with a friend and play together. Part of the course is learning lead parts that can be played while someone plays the rhythm part. You learn those classic shuffle and straight eight patterns, riffs that follow the chords, basically moving up and down the neck. Also, at a certain level of membership you can have live tutoring from Stuart at a reasonable price. I haven’t done that.

I’m getting together soon to play with a friend who plays nice lead on both guitar and ukulele and we will most likely include a drummer and a slap bass player. These Rockabilly songs really lend themselves to group playing.

I’ve learned a lot from this course that my five year Berkeley Ukulele Club involvement never taught me. What I’ve learned I can now bring to a club to benefit others.
 
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Yes, the latter. I didn’t know about the former. The course which has an ebook and many videos is called Rockabiily, Ukeabilly, vol. 1, available at the Ukulele Zen Site.

A few comments about learning. Some of what Stuart teaches takes several days for me to learn. I memorize the songs and work to get the timing and rhythm just right and then I go back to the particular video and watch it again.
This is hard to do with a live teacher and it can cost a lot of money. One challenge was learning the timing change in the Beatles version of Chuck Berry’s Rock and Roll music. The song alternates between straight eight beat and a rhumba beat. This took practice and having a demonstration video let me go back time and time again to make sure I was getting it right and hearing it right. Learning the Bo Diddley beat was also a challenge. You can fake it and not really get it right. Only Bo plays that beat. His backing band is playing a shuffle that he is playing against. If the whole band is playing the clave beat it comes out as turgid. There is a lot of subtlety to some seemingly simple songs. I’m learning.

I remember when I was adding a math degree that I would go to a three hour night class and after about an hour of new material I really wasn’t ready for more. What I needed to do was really get the first hour down and then I would be ready for what followed. I did eventually do well with my calculus courses but I often had to teach myself at home because too much at one time was just too much.

Stuart gives you pdf material of what he teaches which helps. Not all teachers do. One particular piece I’ve been working on now for a while is a Chuck Berry intro to Johnny B. Goode. I’ve broken it down into phrases and often just spend a day practicing one little section. This lesson is a supplement to the course and not necessary but it’s something I’ve always wanted to learn.

Remember what I said: the course only costs about $25. What does a live teacher charge per hour? Learn the hours worth of material from the ebook/video course and then go to a live one on one teacher to learn more.
 
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I am a current fanboy of online lessons via youtube. I have 24/7 access and can pick and choose the lessons and instructors that interest me. My teachers include James Hill, Cynthia Lin, Aldrine Guerrero, Chee and Maisel, Andrew Hardel, and Stu Fuchs! I enjoy each of them for what they have to teach (and their patience) and can stop and pause to get clarity. They do not ask me if I have practiced daily or have been slacking off.

Piano lessons in childhood cured me of a desire to seek out a weekly lesson with someone that may differ in opinion on what I should learn versus what I want to learn. I go to a meetup group, but finding someone with my interests and matching my ability level is difficult if not impossible.

On to Rockabilly!
 
There is nothing to stop a few newbies getting together on a regular basis and collectively hiring in a teacher.

Self help and sharing of online resources used by group individuals will aid the learning process and the interaction a great benefit.

There is no right or wrong way to learn anything, there is what works for you and your group if that is the way forward.

A Uke group in the City where I live (I am not a member of it) meets weekly and for an hour before the general meet is newbie time.
 
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