Lesson No1???

So I've unboxed my Ukulele, I've tuned it, I've strummed it a few times, (bit of a disaster) I've watched how to hold it etc, found out I'm tonely deaf and can't sing lol so what's the 1st lesson. (God help us)

Bob, some people are born with an aptitude for music - some aren't. The former find it easier to progress when learning an instrument. The latter will have to apply themselves diligently and will take longer to get to a similar stage. But get there they can. It's just a matter of how much you want it.

Same with singing. It may not come naturally to you, but it is said that anybody can learn to sing.

Best wishes - enjoy the process.

John Colter

BobUkulele said:

So I've unboxed my Ukulele, I've tuned it, I've strummed it a few times, (bit of a disaster) I've watched how to hold it etc, found out I'm tonely deaf and can't sing lol �� so what's the 1st lesson. (God help us)

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The first lesson is to enjoy everything you do with the ukulele. I hope it was fun first ordering, receiving and unboxing it. Then learning to tune it and retune it and retune it frequently for the first few days or weeks. Then trying strumming should have been fun, especially since it looks easy. Singing out of tune? Welcome to our world!

You will have fun getting better. Every day you play should result in more learning and incremental improvement.

On the more practical side, google "beginner ukulele lessons". A lot will come up. I liked and recommend Cynthia Lin's six beginner lessons (all her videos are free). Others seem to like Bernadette teaches Music". Or find the one that suits you and continue to have fun!

BobUkulele said:

So I've unboxed my Ukulele, I've tuned it, I've strummed it a few times, (bit of a disaster) I've watched how to hold it etc, found out I'm tonely deaf and can't sing lol so what's the 1st lesson. (God help us)

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Lmao, BobUke. Don't get discouraged! There are a couple of really good YouTube videos for "1st lessons". Bernadette Teaches Music, Cynthia Lin Music, and James Hill are all very good. You will probably learn a C or C7 chord first. Here's a link to get you started :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0mJxQbXWAc&list=PLODvOB1QB53XF7wKXG6pilnWA8c4raRrh

Oh, and strumming takes practice!

Cadia said:

Lmao, BobUke. Don't get discouraged! There are a couple of really good YouTube videos for "1st lessons". Bernadette Teaches Music, Cynthia Lin Music, and James Hill are all very good. You will probably learn a C or C7 chord first. Here's a link to get you started :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0mJxQbXWAc&list=PLODvOB1QB53XF7wKXG6pilnWA8c4raRrh

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Those are all good suggestions and there are plenty of decent free beginner lessons on Youtube, but if you check James Hill's website at Uketropolis you can buy his beginner course, Ready Steady Ukulele, for $1 which is just a silly price for a similar quality course as his other ones.

Also, you should probably check the Ukulele Resourced thread on this very board: https://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?15464-Ukulele-Resources-(Updated)

Really enjoyed ordering opening striking and tuning. I know it's a long road but I'm going to do this. Thanks for the info folks

BobUkulele,

What do you want to do? You need to know your goal in order to make baby steps toward that goal. For example, I consider myself a soloist (although I don't have the chops for it). So I make in-roads to that goal. Other people want to play a certain song, so they learn the three or four chords in the song and practice those chords and a strum pattern to accompany it.

Everything is going to feel a little awkward at first. Holding the uke. Placing your fingers on the frets to make chords or notes. Moving your finger or thumb across the strings to strum. Plucking a string to pick notes. Looking at the fret markers to see which fret you are placing your fingers.

But it all comes together fairly quickly with practice. It's a matter of muscle memory. Repeating an action until you no longer have to think about it because your muscles know what to do. Practice specific things. Break practices up into shorter sessions. 20 minutes. Half hour. An hour.

The closest analogy I can think of is driving a car. When you first start learning, you have to consciously think about everything. Your foot on the accelerator, the brake, the clutch. How much to turn the wheel. Where the controls are. How to back up. Etc. But after a while you don't have to think about how to do it. It becomes second nature.

Most of all. Remember to have fun.

The Ukulele Teacher is another free resource: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheUkuleleTeacher

James Hill's site is excellent. It places an emphasis on learning to read music which may or may not be of interest to you.

BobUkulele said:

So I've unboxed my Ukulele, I've tuned it, I've strummed it a few times, (bit of a disaster) I've watched how to hold it etc, found out I'm tonely deaf and can't sing lol �� so what's the 1st lesson. (God help us)

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Hi,

If you are trying to sing based on youtube videos, then just in case you don't know, the songs are keyed to the singer so you want to find a singer who has similar vocal range.

Trust me on this because I'm the worst singer in the world. Like a cheap guitar, I go out of tune all the time unless I constantly relearn it. So I have a lot of experience here. And here's what you do: tune your uke and hit a note, then sing that note (you can sing any sound, or solfege if you like). If you get it right, you'll hear a single note resonating. Repeat with another note. You'll find that you can sing after a few days.

As for lesson no 1, I'd recommend live instruction if at all possible (probably after COVID19); if not, then following a methods book/dvd instead of youtube because the methods book will guide you in the proper order. They are also cheap; and probably ends up saving you more time than hunting youtube vids.

Good luck.

I wanted to say "piano" but changed to "uke" because you have an ukulele. However, after thinking a bit more, piano would have been better since it has more range as the ukulele only has 2 octaves and may not have as many notes to match your vocal range.

Anyway, I hope you get the idea.