Any ukulele players??

esther11

Sun, Nov 27 2016, 4:47 pm

U totally should, I'm having a blast!! There are a lot of great resources online and I love how it's so portable, it takes so little effort to take out and put away (would rather my toddlers not get a hold of it!) Very Happy

amother

Periwinkle

Sun, Nov 27 2016, 6:08 pm

OP, how funny...I just started teaching myself the ukelele through youtube as well! May I ask which instructors you like? Im in middle of learning somewhere over the Rainbow by IZ, and am very slowly getting it, but as soon as I try to sing at the same time it totally flops Smile

MagentaYenta

Sun, Nov 27 2016, 8:56 pm

I've played the uke for about 40 years. It's not hard to learn, I learned in college.I own 3 ukes one of which I built myself. I also play around with a cigar box guitar I made. I prefer the uke since it is more forgiving.

esther11

Sun, Nov 27 2016, 9:45 pm

SweetBlossom wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBXKkF2UX5s

here is a must watch for every ukulele player. wouldn't be surprised if she inspired u to start playing.

Just wathed and enjoyed Smile

esther11

Sun, Nov 27 2016, 9:49 pm

amother wrote:

I really just started, so I don't have a specific instructor yet. I have a slight background in guitar so I think that helped me pick up the basics very quickly. For strumming songs I basically just google the chords and figure it out from there. I'm going to check out that version of somewhere over he rainbow!

I'm working on here comes the sun by the ukulele teacher - it's hard because it's strumming with picking/rifts thrown in...

ETA I just checked out that version of rainbow. I have been working on a mix of that version with what a wonderfully world (not because I specifically wanted to, rather because those were the chords I found!).

Last edited by esther11 on Sun, Nov 27 2016, 10:00 pm; edited 1 time in total

esther11

Sun, Nov 27 2016, 9:54 pm

tigerwife wrote:

Do you play guitar as well? If yes, how similar is the technique?

I do/did play guitar. I kinda self taught in seminary and I always had a guitar with me then! It is very similar in the fact that one hand is doing rhythm and strumming patterns while the other forms chords. It definitely gave me a big push ahead on the uke.

If your considering it I vote to go for it, you'll probably pick it up fairly quickly if you've have a guitar background.

esther11

Sun, Nov 27 2016, 9:56 pm

MagentaYenta wrote:

That's so cool!!! I never even considered building my own instruments...when I'm ready for my next hobby I'll have to give it a try Wink

MagentaYenta

Sun, Nov 27 2016, 10:03 pm

esther11 wrote:

That's so cool!!! I never even considered building my own instruments...when I'm ready for my next hobby I'll have to give it a try Wink

It's no biggie. A local community college had a uke building class that a local luthier was giving. I just followed a YouTube when it came to building the cigar box guitar.

FranticFrummie

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 2:34 am

I love this thread! I have fond memories of my grandfather playing the ukulele for me when I was little. He used to perform in the USO when he was in the military. He also sat in on a lot of recordings with Spike Jones and the City Slickers.

DD, just yesterday, told me that she wants a ukulele she found on Ebay, and wants to learn.

Please post or PM me the links that helped you learn how to play, and I will send them to her!

esther11

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 8:25 am

Magentayenta that's still cool even if u went to a class for it Wink

FF the basic chords you can find in so many sources, I don't think there are any that stood out specifically.

For how to strum this video really broke down the basics nicely:
https://youtu.be/JKtPE3HfL5c

I also liked this one for a few different strum patterns:
https://youtu.be/gAScCO3Mb-w

amother

Seashell

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 4:46 pm

amother wrote:

That's me! I can play a few songs, but as soon as I start to sing...disaster!
I'm thinking that fingerstyle would work better than strumming if I can't sing along.