What instrument for a newbie?

Lasagna

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Hi!
I want to buy ukulele for myself. I was thinking guitar but my hands are kinda small and when I tried classic guitar I struggled. So ukulele it is! My question is: does it matter what I buy? Is it new or used? Or is there an instrument dedicated for the beginners? As you can see my knowledge is very basic. I don't want to spend too much because I have no idea if it clicks with me but I am hopeful!
 
Buy from a reputable dealer, (ie, not through Amazon), as you will more likely get one that will be set up ready to play.

(Southern Ukulele Store in the UK, Mims is a good one in USA, there are others, just read some of the beginner post on here.)

I always suggest to start out with a concert scale, it's a bit easier to play than tenor or soprano.

(Some names to consider - Ohana - Kala - Baton Rouge - Flight)
 
Yeah. If you're in mainland USA just contact Mim. Tell her what you said here and give her a price range. https://mimsukes.com/

It might be helpful to Google different sizes (soprano vs concert vs tenor vs baritone), but concert sized is probably a safe place to start.
 
Yeah. If you're in mainland USA just contact Mim. Tell her what you said here and give her a price range. https://mimsukes.com/

It might be helpful to Google different sizes (soprano vs concert vs tenor vs baritone), but concert sized is probably a safe place to start.

This is great advice. I bought an Ohana CK-50MG from Mim and it's a great instrument. I've upgraded since, but the Ohana still sounds great and is fun to play. My daughter has a laminate Ohana soprano, also from Mim, that's also totally reasonable.
 
All good suggestions. If you buy used you most likely have to pay less for a similar quality instrument. But you also take a chance that it's damaged. For both new and used instruments it is usually better to buy local than online, but local choices are sometimes smaller or not there at all.
 
I was in this situation earlier in the year and I spent hours researching, trying to figure out what to buy!

The first piece of advice you see is usually go to a shop and hold all the different sizes to see what feels right. But in England we were in lockdown and all non-essential stores were closed so that option was out for me.

The next advice was going for the middle size, a concert ukulele.

At first I too thought I wanted to spend as little as possible but the problem with that is how can you tell as a beginner if your playing is awful because the uke is cheap or because you need more practice?! If the uke isn’t set up correctly no amount of practice will make you sound good.

So in the end I spent as much as I could afford (gbp120) and bought from a reputable online store (Southern Ukuleles) along with a digital tuner and went for a concert size.

I love my uke. You can put in just a few minutes practice a day and soon, just like riding a bike, you’ll realise you’re doing it without thinking.

Many people say that it doesn’t matter what size uke you first buy to get you started because sooner or later you’ll probably want to get one in every size and I definitely have a yearning in that direction! Let’s just say I know what I want for Christmas :)
 
Yeah. If you're in mainland USA just contact Mim. Tell her what you said here and give her a price range. https://mimsukes.com/

It might be helpful to Google different sizes (soprano vs concert vs tenor vs baritone), but concert sized is probably a safe place to start.

Definitely! One-stop shopping. Just be aware that after she sells her limit each week, she pauses till the following Friday (I think). You can't do any better in terms of advice and setup.
 
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