intro to ukulele
by mags baker
welcome, pal!
I am so glad you are here! I'm so excited to be sharing my love of ukulele and singing with you through learning some of the basics of ukulele. You're already doing great!
the supplies
1. ukulele
Nothing fancy needed. In fact, my whole first year I played on a $30 kids uke.
I recommend heading to your local music shop and trying out a few that feel good to hold and look cute to YOU.
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$50-$100 is a reasonable price for a first uke.
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Here's my current favorite ukulele that is carbon fiber (don't have to worry about humidity!) and cute as can be.
2. tuner
Having a tuned ukulele is essential (and one of the first things we'll learn together). I recommend buying a clip on tuner at your local music shop (or linked below on amazon) and tuning your uke before every practice session.
There are also tuning apps you can install for free (although many will try to trick you into paying for them) that work in a pinch. But, again, I recommend a physical tuner.
that's it! you're ready to jam!
what about a pick?
No need!
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Some ukulele players like to use a felt pick - and if that's you, great!
BUT: finger strumming and fingerpicking is an excellent way to play and makes it even easier to get started. I recommend no pick.
let's get started, shall we?
watchfirst
Here's my pep talk of the most important thing for all beginners to know before they even pick up their uke. Including WHY I tried to play when I was 20 and quit within a month only to wait another 15 years before I picked it up again and found success the second time around.
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You thought you were just learning how to play an adorable instrument? WRONG. ;) It's so much deeper than that.
tuning your uke
Here is the basic for tuning your ukulele every time you play. New ukuleles go out of tune very often, so have this be the first step of every play session.
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The 4 strings on the ukulele represent the following notes (from the top down)
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--------------------------------G--------------------------------
--------------------------------C--------------------------------
--------------------------------E--------------------------------
--------------------------------A--------------------------------
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My favorite way to remember this is the phrase "Good Cows Eat Apples" but feel free to come up with your own cheeky tuning phrase.
yourfirstchord
The foundation for so many songs is the first chord we'll learn - and it's only one finger on one string: the C chord! In this video I'll show you how to read the chord sheets, where to put your fingers on the frets (and what frets are!), and how to make this chord the foundation of all other chords.
strummingpatterns
Strumming patterns are what makes songs sound interesting and unique. This video will teach you the most basic and universal strumming pattern that you can use to play so many songs (including the one we will learn together in this course).
D D u U d u
threemorechords
Now that you're a pro at your C chord and the basic strum pattern - let's learn three more basic chords. These may feel tricky and sticky at first, but with a little practice (and a lot of positive mindset) you'll have the most popular 4 chords in your tool belt and you'll be able to play SO MANY SONGS. Just like that.
yourfirstsong
WOW PAL! We're already playing our first song together! I'm so proud of you for learning something new, creating new neural pathways, and sticking with it through the "I'll never be able to" thoughts. And voila: here we are with our first song: One Day by Matisyahu.
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Follow along the following chord progression with our basic DDuUdu strum pattern and keep going round and round and round with me.
i'm so proud of you!
Thank you for joining me in this course. I hope you loved learning as much as I've loved teaching.
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Ready for more? I've got 9 more songs in my next course: Ukulele Jam Along that you can play along and practice with me and learn even more chords and strum patterns.
