Beginner Ukulele Lessons: 10 Tips
April 14, 2009
By Al Wood
More and more people are picking up the ukulele for the first time. But where should a beginner start? What do they need to do to make sure that they get in good habits from the beginning? So they don't end up stuck in a rut. Or don't get frustrated and give up.
In this article, I'll give you ten quick tips to make sure your ukulele playing gets off to a great start.
1. Don't buy a cheap ukulele - although it's tempting to buy a cheap ukulele, in the long wrong a higher quality uke will serve you much better.
2. Build your repertoire early - it only takes three chords to play a whole bunch of songs. Once you have a few songs under your belt you'll be able to play for people.
3. Get in tune - nothing is going to make your playing sound worse than having your ukulele out of tune. So make sure you learn how to tune up.
4. Learn to hold the ukulele - make sure you don't smother all the tone out of it.
5. Join a group - the fastest and funnest way to get better at playing the ukulele.
6. Play slowly at first - get the moves under your belt and a slow speed, then increase the tempo. The brain learns much better this way.
7. Get some new strings - all too often new ukuleles come with very low quality strings. A better make, such as Aquila, will serve you better.
8. Listen carefully to your favorite music - what do you like about it? How can you incorporate that into your own playing.
9. Watch carefully - there are hundreds of ukulele videos online. Take a close look at the players you admire and how they play. How do they hold the ukulele? How do they strum? How do they sit? You don't have to ape them exactly, but take pointers from what they do.
10. Have fun - it's called PLAYING music for a reason. You don't 'work' music. It should be enjoyable and rewarding. Find ways that you can practice and still have fun. This is definitely the most important tip of all.
In this article, I'll give you ten quick tips to make sure your ukulele playing gets off to a great start.
1. Don't buy a cheap ukulele - although it's tempting to buy a cheap ukulele, in the long wrong a higher quality uke will serve you much better.
2. Build your repertoire early - it only takes three chords to play a whole bunch of songs. Once you have a few songs under your belt you'll be able to play for people.
3. Get in tune - nothing is going to make your playing sound worse than having your ukulele out of tune. So make sure you learn how to tune up.
4. Learn to hold the ukulele - make sure you don't smother all the tone out of it.
5. Join a group - the fastest and funnest way to get better at playing the ukulele.
6. Play slowly at first - get the moves under your belt and a slow speed, then increase the tempo. The brain learns much better this way.
7. Get some new strings - all too often new ukuleles come with very low quality strings. A better make, such as Aquila, will serve you better.
8. Listen carefully to your favorite music - what do you like about it? How can you incorporate that into your own playing.
9. Watch carefully - there are hundreds of ukulele videos online. Take a close look at the players you admire and how they play. How do they hold the ukulele? How do they strum? How do they sit? You don't have to ape them exactly, but take pointers from what they do.
10. Have fun - it's called PLAYING music for a reason. You don't 'work' music. It should be enjoyable and rewarding. Find ways that you can practice and still have fun. This is definitely the most important tip of all.
About the Author:
If you want to learn more about the ukulele, check out Al Wood's blog where he talks about how you can buy a ukulele and learn ukulele chords.
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