Any Ukulele players out there?

[Dayvo]

Well the Edwardian definition of a gentleman is 'a man who owns a banjo... But doesn't play it.'

That sounds like me!

I've had my banjo over 10 years and have strummed it about half a dozen times. Must do better.

 

[Night Train]

The more I read of this thread the more I think that this clip, I posted earlier, is the most suitable one for most of you to play.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

[QUOTE 2298508, member: 45"]I had a mandolin for Christmas once. Played it a few times, then sold it and bought a proper coffee machine.[/quote]

You were using the mandolin to make coffee?

 

[nickyboy]

Never sure the difference between banjo and ukelele. Anyway, top drawer cover

 

[Arch]

Never sure the difference between banjo and ukelele. Anyway, top drawer cover

Ukulele looks like a little guitar. Banjo looks like a frying pan.

 

[Marshmallow_Fluff]

A bit more inspiration (maybe?).. Pearl Jam's über-voice Eddie Vedder in Rise. Actually in most songs of the album (soundrack for the film Into The Wild, directed by Sean Penn) he is playing the ukulele.. Worth listening IMO.

 

[Salad Dodger]

User13710 thanks for your link to the "Uke at the duke" website. The uke songbooks on their website have got some stuff that I haven't seen arranged for uke before. I will pass some of that on to my colleagues at the guitar/ukulele group that I go to on Tuesday nights.

I have never been to the Shoreham group, but if it is like some of the other "ukulele in a pub" meetings that I have witnessed, then you will have a great time, even if you are not a particularly accomplished player. Just go and have fun!

One of the things which has amazed me about ukes is the amont of freely available songbooks on the web. Guitar clubs don't seem to make stuff available like uke clubs do.....

 

[Salad Dodger]

C'mon, own-up!

Just got one for my Birthday. Any tips guidance, good tutorials or books?

Turned-out nice again asn't it ....

Welcome to the wonderful wacky world of the ukulele. You will find that a new uke will keep going out of tune to start with. The nylon strings keep stretching to start with. After a while, they will settle down. But don't think that, just because it may keep going out of tune initially, that there's anything wrong with the uke.

If you haven't got one, buy a electronic "clip on" tuner. You can get them from ebay for about a fiver. It makes life a lot easier when you are having to re-tune a lot to begin with......

There are loads of "how to" type videos on youtube, covering everything from tuning to strumming to simple songs and much, much more. Have a browse and see what you can find. There are lots of websites with songs all written out for ukulele, with the chord shapes drawn in for reference. Taunton Ukulele Strummers Club have a website with links to lots of their songbooks, which they are very happy for people to refer to. Likewise lots of other ukulele clubs.

I am not sure if you already play any other instruments. If not, you may not realise that a great many songs only require about 3 or 4 chords. So even if you only master a very few simple chords, you can still knock out quite a few songs. It will impress the hell out of non-musicians (which is probably 90% of people). I guess what I am trying to say is, don't set your sights too high to start with. Learn about 3 or 4 chords, use them to play things like "Happy Birthday to you" or "Rudolf the red nosed reinder" or some other song that you know really well, and then gradually build from there.

Above all, practice frequently. Maybe literally just 5 minutes a day. More if you can spare the time. But please, please, please keep plugging away and with the uke you will see (hear?) progress quite quickly. I guess it's a bit like cycling. A beginner should just do a couple of miles every day and gradually build from there , not try for 20 miles just once a fortnight and get frustrated when it doesn't go right.

The uke can be a very serious and technically complex instrument. But it certainly doesn't have to be. Just keep on practicing. Little and often will bring surprisingly quick results.

Enjoy yourself!

 

[Black Country Ste]

Started playing last April. Love it but I refuse to play Formby. He's totally off limits. I play metal on mine.

I play in a local ukulele group and we get to do little gigs like this:

 

[EltonFrog]

This is nice

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puSkP3uym5k

 

[Black Country Ste]

Nobody thought to record them, but at our last meet on Thursday, we had a crack at The Final Countdown and Total Eclipse Of The Heart. My throat still hurts.

On the subject of playing position, my Polly has strap buttons. I stole my Guitar Hero strap for it and play at a similar height to as you would a guitar. Chest height is for Formbyists and deviants.

 

[ComedyPilot]

Not quite the same, but a mate is building me one of these:

 

[Black Country Ste]

That is beautiful. I name it a cigar box electric guitulcimerlele.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

[QUOTE 2317433, member: 45"]Right, so I'm after buying a couple of these. I know you can get beginner's kits for about twenty quid, but I can afford something a bit better, probably up to fifty.

Any recommendations?[/quote]

I've bought a few bits from Eagle Music - the owner's great for advice if you give him a buzz, nice bloke.

http://www.eaglemusicshop.com/Ukuleles

 

[Black Country Ste]

Go to your LMS and try out a few within your budget. If the shop's any good they'll tune them up and show you a couple of chords so you can have a half-decent strum on them. The Makala Dolphin at about £30 is a decent starter uke and leaves cash over to put some Aquila Nylgut strings on it.