Do we have any Ukulele players here on ATS..?!

Hi all

Just received my first Ukulele in the post today..! I am very excited about it, I haven't played an instrument for years now... I stopped when we first moved to Scotland 12 years ago as the kids at school bullied me because I played piano, violin and recorder. I had even managed to get to a grade 4 on violin and grade 5 piano... I have tried over the years to pick it up again - but it won't come back to me.

So I decided to buy a Ukulele as I've always wanted to play one - they always sound so happy..! And I thought it would be a fantastic project for myself over the winter months.

Anyways... If there are any Ukulele players out there I would greatly appreciate some advice..! Like what would be the best book to buy, the best tuner. I've done a bit of research, and the majority of the best books, tuners etc are quite expensive, and I don't have much money...

So if you have any tips or advice please make a post I would so massively appreciate it..!

Thanks for reading

P.S. Here's a song that I absolutely love and one day hope to be able to play it..



Peace
fluffx

reply to post by fluff007

Here's a song that I absolutely love and one day hope to be able to play it..

Here.
www.gotaukulele.com...

A chord chart for you as well.
www.ezfolk.com...

Have fun...i hope that helps you.

reply to post by DrumsRfun


thanks very much..! i appreciate you taking the time to find that

i did find a good chord library earlier, but my brain feels a bit mashed from looking at so many different sites.

OMG!!! that video is amazing!!!

i play guitar,bass,banjo,mandolin,fiddle.
i own a uke.,but i didn't learn to play it!
i always pictured uke music like don ho, or isreal doing somewhere over the rainbow!
(my ignorance,sorry).
sorry i cant help with the musician side of things
they are tuned A E C G from the bottom up,so the chords are 'backwards' to playing a guitar.
maybe opposite would be a better word!
any way,loved the story,stayed for the music!!!
great!
good luck with your pickin'

reply to post by fluff007

Do we have any Ukulele players here on ATS..?!

Nope, but I will share a few thoughts that you just caused me to have.


#1. Id' be willing to bet that this particular question has NEVER been asked on ATS before.


#2. Iz




#3.

I had even managed to get to a grade 4 on violin and grade 5 piano... I have tried over the years to pick it up again - but it won't come back to me.

She is gone now, but I still remember the first time I went to see my grandma, after she went to the 'Old Folks Home'. She could very easily forget who you were(even her own children), even during the middle of a conversation with you. You could tell her, but then 30 seconds later, she may not recognize you.

She also did not know that she could play the piano, but if you sat her down in front of one, she would immediately start playing, and playing very good. As far as I could tell, she never missed a note.

reply to post by reficul


Lol..! thanks

its a great song huh..?!

yeah i have managed to tune my uke (finally) and have played 3 basic ukulele chords; C, F, G7...
so if or when i manage to play a song i shall make a video and upload it..!

reply to post by BrokenCircles


yeah agreed with you on number 1..!

number 2, yes excellent song but i love george formby more

number 3. aw, wow thats quite amazing. i wonder why it wont come back to me...?

reply to post by fluff007


just a short(i hope!) response.
i learned to play guitar at about 14. (rock'n'roll,ya know!)
i first learned how to play by 'ear'. i heard the note,i could find the same note on my guitar.
i was a 'natural'!
that got me by for a bit,showing off to people with my solos! (thank iron maiden for that!)
next,i found beat & rhythm.
this changed my whole musical outlook,and changed the way i listened to music!
this is important! you can mimic any score of music,
but if you 'feel' the beat,you will always bring it to the table!
mistakes don't count unless you let them!
keep playing.
listen to BB kink,he can play one note and melt your heart!
listen to hendrix,and he will blow your mind.
listen to your self,and play what you hear! practice first,perfection later!
peace

I have a baritone uke that I bang on now and again. I need to practice more.

I also play violin and mandolin (which I don't practice enough).

My main instrument, though, is a four string tenor guitar that is tuned like a mandolin (GDAE). I guess that's kind of like a big, fat, giant uke.

reply to post by reficul


awh dude you are ace..!

listen to BB kink,he can play one note and melt your heart! listen to hendrix,and he will blow your mind. listen to your self,and play what you hear! practice first,perfection later!

that is sound advice my friend - pardon the pun..!
thanks so much for your response i thought it might be a bit of a shot in the dark, this thread..!

happy day to thee
fluffx

reply to post by incoserv



Cool..! i dont think ive seen a 4 string guitar before. Lots of my friends play guitar and one friend does play the uke but she lives hours and hours away frome me...

Seeing as you play a Baritone uke do you know what the best strings for a beginner to learn on..? Soprano, Tenor or Baritone...?

Thanks for your response

reply to post by fluff007


just to finish,i'd like to present a video!
this song is well known BUT! its the beat that makes the song,not the music! the music follows,
his voice is the solo,back up singers harmony, and the music just carries it!
take away the lyrics,and the music just drones away to boring.
add the vocals , and that drone ignites the fire of passion in the singers voices!
enjoy!

reply to post by reficul


this is fantastic song too..!

ive always liked this one - and yeah its always been the beat that ive really liked..!
listening now

Originally posted by fluff007


Seeing as you play a Baritone uke do you know what the best strings for a beginner to learn on..? Soprano, Tenor or Baritone...?

Hi fluff

Congrats on your new baby, you'll have many hours of fun with it.

Not sure if you've worded your post right, or maybe i've misunderstood it....the strings aren't called "soprano, baritone or Tenor", thats the different sizes of the ukes.

I started off with a little soprano, the Aquila strings are great for these, not sure if they are the best but they are plenty for your needs. So yeah, my girlfriend and i had tons of fun with ours, but in the end i wanted something a little less "tinny" sounding, and something less fiddly to hold. The soprano was very small for me.

So i got a baritone. Love the size, love the sound. Sounds very much like a lute or a deep mandolin to me, especially when finger picked. The strings on a baritone are two stel wound ones at the top (nearest your head), and two nylon ones at the bottom.

What i liked about the baritone was that i had been teaching myself the guitar for the past year, and the baritone is tuned exactly the same as the bottom four strings of a guitar. DGBE. So you can just use guitar chords mostly, but you just forget about the top two strings that would usualy be on a guitar, and the fingers you would use for them.

Anyway, you have your soprano and you won't be sorry. They are great to travel with too.

I know the basics, but an always learning, so i'll keep an eye on this thread with interest and wish you all the luck with yours.

CX.

Another thing, i wanted a strap for my little soprano, but didn't like those clip on ones with the string strap you can get so i did this...

Go to a cheapy clothes shop, or a thrift store and find a thing soft belt, i found a nice leather lattice effect one. Chop off both ends as much as you are able to without it falling apart, then using either string or nicer looking suede or leather thonging, tie one end to the top of the neck, and the other to the end strap button on the bottom of the uke.

If like most ukes you haven't got one of the strap buttons, i just bought a guitar one in either chrome or gold, whichever suits your uke better, drill a guide hole for the screw and stick it on.

Any probs with this, if indeed you ever want a strap on it, i'll post some pics.

CX.

Originally posted by fluff007

P.S. Here's a song that I absolutely love and one day hope to be able to play it..

Here you go fluff....if you like that song, you may like the recent documentary about him and the whole uke community here in the UK. Fascinating video which changed my opinion of him. I always thought of him as a bit cheesy and that was it, but he was a great musician who was paid shedloads in his hey day.



CX.

reply to post by CX

Not sure if you've worded your post right, or maybe i've misunderstood it....the strings aren't called "soprano, baritone or Tenor", thats the different sizes of the ukes.

Thanks so much for your response CX..! Yeah i didn't realise that it was the size lol..!

i got mine off ebay and it came with real bad strings - so yesterday i ordered some Aquila strings
i've been learning some basic chords but i cant do much till i get my new strings, it just sounds so bad with the ones it came with..!

im not too fussed about a strap at the moment - but maybe after awhile i'll want one - so i will definitely keep your advice in mind..! and thanks so much for your post..!

im going to try learn a simple song and maybe make a wee video and post it up for you to see - and hopefully i wont sound too bad..!

also one more thing, do have any advice on what would be the best book for me to get as a beginner..?

many thanks again
peace
fluffx

Originally posted by fluff007

also one more thing, do have any advice on what would be the best book for me to get as a beginner..?

many thanks again
peace
fluffx

Really not too sure to be honest. I did get a Uke chord book, you know those ones that have all the chords in in all the different keys as well, but to be honest i haven't delved that much into it.

I also found when i looked through some books in a music shop, with most learner books, once you've learnt the basic chords, they teach you a couple of songs, a lot of which you may never have heard of, so you're struggling to know the tune as you learn.

What i did was to make a word document, "Basic uke chords". Copy and past images of all the basic chord diagrams into your document, i then laminated it and that was my practice sheet whilst i learnt.

Every night for a few minutes before bed, or whenever you want, go through each chord. They will become second nature.

Next, get yourself into Ultimate Guitar Tabs website

Guitar tabs

You will find many thousands of your fave songs. The lyrics and chord will be there, and the chords are marked above the lyrics. Obviously the chord patterns will be different because they are for guitar, but you just use your sheet to convert the finger shapes. If you find the chords to hard or not matching the tune, there are other versions you can choose from. If you get stuck with this, give me a shout.

Saying that, silly me, just go onto any of the many Uke tab sites and they will give you loads of songs to play too.

Uke tabs

Ukulele hunt

I started off with these chords...

A, Am, C, D, E, Em, F, G

That got me through thousands of songs.

Most learner books are so basic, you pay out for something you'll use for a few weeks, then never again.

I would use the net for learner sites, and print off anything of use.

So i would say, pick a song you love, find out the chords for it, and just strum. Knowing how the song goes in your head will be a major help. You'll pick up little embellishments like hammer-ons and pull off later on.

If you get really stuck with the chords to a song, let me know the song and i'll try and work them out for you. I'm not that advanced, i don't play up the other end of the neck yet or even bother with a capo most of the time, i just enjoy playing it.

Capo's (you know those clamp things that change the key that you play in) can be tricky on a uke too, especially soprano's because the instrument is so small. Worth trying before you buy later on if you are able to.

Hope that helps....meanwhile, heres one of my fave uke vids, only because i'm jealous that his technique and vocal skills are better than mine.



CX.

reply to post by CX


OMG...!!

he is soooooo cute..! and wow..! i wonder how long it will take me to get to that stage..?

thanks again for advice i did find this site;
www.ukuleletricks.com...

which has helped me. yeah i was wondering if i should maybe not even bother with a book as there's probably everything and more online..! having found a few sites that seem useful i think all i need to do now is get practising i've been playing around with my uke everyday since ive had it, but when i get my new strings then the real work begins..!

s for thee

oh and another thing (sorry) - whilst ive been using the chord library, i still dont understand what it means by the variations... there seems to be 6 different types..

and this is the song i want to learn to play..!
www.gotaukulele.com...

Originally posted by fluff007

oh and another thing (sorry) - whilst ive been using the chord library, i still dont understand what it means by the variations... there seems to be 6 different types..

To be honest. i get stuck on things like this too....sometimes you have another chord that will give you a very similar sound if you're struggling with another variation, you know what would probably help you a lot, go join a decent Uke forum, they'll be able to answer beginners questions a lot better than me and you'll get answers without the bad mistakes too Just realizing how little i know about it lol....i just strum the thing to a few chords.

Uke Underground

Becoming part of a Uke community, or any community like that gives you so much support and you'll come on leaps and bounds.

and this is the song i want to learn to play..!
www.gotaukulele.com...

Lol you would.

Just had a look at some of those chords and i haven't learnt them yet, or at least it would take me a while to sort the proper chords out for that song. You can simplify a song by missing some of the chords out to get you started off sometimes.

Have a look at this vid fluff, there are many like it on Youtube, shows you three basic chords and many songs that you can strum to, gives you a quicker start. Type in things like "three chord songs".



CX.