Beginner s Ukulele Guide Just A Little Quick Start Reference To Get You On Your Way You Will Need: A good ukulele, that will hold tuning Tuner hromatic is the most flexible Portable music stand Uke case or padded gig bag ring binder for song sheets Patience with yourself! Relax! Have patience. All things are difficult before they become easy. --Saadi It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. --onfucius brainyquote.com
Ukulele BOOM! Headstock Body Neck Tuning Pegs Nut Frets Fretboard Soundhole Top Bridge Strings Welcome to the wonderful world of the ukulele! The ukulele is a small instrument that is easy to learn and carry. We are in a ukulele boom of people. The humble instruments are flying off the shelves. ontemporary artists have had blockbuster hits with the ukulele making the instrument cool again: Israel Kamakawiwo'ole Vance Joy Jason Mraz Twenty-One Pilots Train George Harrison was a major proponent of the ukulele. Twelve-year-old Grace Vanderwaal won a million dollars and a recording contract on XFactor with her wonderful songs and simple uke ing. Jake Shimabukuro, James Hill and The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain are all ukulele superstars. You don t have to be a superstar to enjoy and play the ukulele. With a few basic skills, you can join the movement! The uke will open up a world of music and friendship that will last a lifetime. The GEA ukulele is not a little guitar. It has its own voice and abilities. So, let s get you started on your ukulele journey. One Thing At A Time There are a lot of things happening at once when you play the ukulele: hanging hords Singing Lyrics Knowing the Melody Keeping Even Rhythm Working with a Style Breathing! Make it easy on yourself. Work on each element by itself.
Standard Tuning Soprano, oncert & Tenor Ukes String Numbers Note Names Notes on Staff Tab Fret Number String Numbers Always tune your uke before playing. New s take a while before they will hold their tuning. A small electronic tuner is essential and easy to use. Follow the instructions that come with the tuner. Buy a hromatic Tuner instead of a Ukulele-only tuner; it detects a wider range of notes. Piano Keyboard rd middle hord Name hord Diagrams How to Remember E 2nd 6 6 or G 4th A 1st Am7 Am7 My Dog Has Fleas!
hord Diagrams Fret number when needed hord Name Open Strings Frets Fingering A hord Diagram shows where your fingers need to be to play a chord. As you progress, you will not need chord charts, but they re nice to have when a song uses a chord that is new to you. 4 2 1 G E A Websites There are many sources for chords and lyrics. Be aware, many of these are peer to peer which means anyone can write them and no one has checked them. Both chords and lyrics are often loaded with mistakes. As you progress, you will learn to recognize when a chord is off. It will sound sour (dissonance) when two notes conflict. It is fun to find songs online, just be aware, they are not all created equal. Some sources of quality chord sheets: Doctor Uke doctoruke.com Scorpex (Richard G s Ukulele Songbook) scorpexuke.com Ukulele Hunt ukulelehunt.com ukutabs.com (no PDFs) Jim's Ukulele Songbook ozbcoz.com Other online tools: Uke Buddy ukebuddy.com - Database of chords Books Jumpin' Jim's Ukulele Songbooks The Daily Ukulele (Fakebook) ( Yellow Book ) The Daily Ukulele - Leap Year Edition: 66 More Songs for Better Living ( Blue Book ) by Jim Beloff & Liz Beloff Hal Leonard Ukulele Method Book 1 Hal Leonard Ukulele Method Book 2 by Lil' Rev Strings String Numbers Standard Tuning Resources YouTube An excellent source for finding lessons for the ukulele. When you start, try searching: Beginners Ukulele Tutorial. Try searching for a particular song that interests you. Popular uke songs often have many tutorials. Pick the one you like best. There are many great players out there that share their knowledge. There are many free lessons, but if you would like to delve deeper, there are reasonable fees for more detailed lessons. Some of the best are: ynthia Lin The Ukulele Teacher TenThumbs Ukulele Underground Ukulele Mike Lynch Lil Rev James Hill Jake Shimabukuro lubs, Jams, Festivals Look for Ukulele Meetups and clubs. Ukulele Meetup groups, such a Philadelphia Main Line and Funky Frets are a great place to start. There are other clubs if you are looking for a closer venue. Your local music store may also have resources. Funky Frets Ukulele Festival funkyfrets.com Ukulele Harmonic onvergence New Jersey Uke Fest folkproject.org/njukefest
Strumming To practice learning a new strum without worrying about chords, mute the s with your left hand. Practice slowly and steadily. Use a metronome or play along with a song. When you feel comforable, try playing and chords. Experiment with the emphasis. Strum slightly harder on the first beat. Then try strumming harder on the 2nd and 4th beat (known as back beat). 4/4 time Strum down once for 4 counts. Down Two Three Four Once you become more comfortable with changing chords, strum DOWN 4 beats per measure. Down Down Down Down Start adding rests and up strokes. This can be done in many variations, but this is a common strum. Down-rest Down-Up Down-Up Down-Up 1 2 4 1 2 4 1 & 2 & & 4 & Another common variation. Down-rest Down-rest Down-Up Down-Up A common strum used throughout popular music is often called the Island Strum. Down-rest Up-Down-Rest Up Down-Up 1 & 2 & & 4 & 1 & 2 & & 4 & /4 time The strums above are for 4/4 time music. /4 music (waltz) drops the 4th beat. 1 2 1 & 2 & & 1 & 2 & & You can practice strums with these I-V-vi-IV (1, 5, 6, 4) chord combinations, or play a song you are learning. ( Hey Soul Sister and many songs use this chord progression.) Key of Key of G G Am F G D Em
ommon Uke Major Keys Root of Key Subdominant Dominant Key of Dm Em F G7 Am B dim 7 * Fingering* 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 4 G Am Bm D7 Em F# dim 7 2 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 4 D G A7 Bm Em F#m # dim 7 1 2 2 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 A Bm #m D E7 F#m G# dim 7 4 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 2 1 1 2 4 F 7 Gm Am Bb Dm E dim 7 2 2 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 2 Bb m Dm Eb F7 Gm A dim 7 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 1 2 4 * These fingering schemes are suggestions to get you started. As you progress, you will learn what works best for you and what works best with movable bar chords.