Jen Plays Ukulele

Babette was my very first ukulele, purchased from the L.L. Bean website as a birthday gift from my in-laws for my 45th birthday. At the time, I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into, but man, I'm really happy I made that purchase. Babette is a Kala Learn to Play Soprano ukulele. She was the perfect beginner ukulele for me, because she is easy to hold, the action is low enough that chord changes are pretty easy, and the frets are close enough together that I didn't have to do too much work stretching my fingers as I was learning to play. Plus, she sounded beautiful - the Kala ukuleles are known for their excellent tone and their low price.  When she arrived, the package came with a drawstring bag for storage that I quickly replaced with a colorful padded gig bag. I also bought my first ukulele strap with a hook that attaches to the sound hole and a strap that fits over my head. But I quickly found that I was more comfortable playing Babette without a strap, as sh...

Before I get to today's little mini-fingerpicking lesson, I just want to say that writing some of these tutorials is one of the hardest thing I've ever done! Why? Because some aspects of playing the ukulele are so intuitive to me, when I have to sit down and actually explain how I do what I do, I start to wonder how the hell I figured this out without a teacher.  But it's a good exercise for me to have to try to communicate what I do and how I do it, so for today, we're going to do a couple of simple exercises to start moving our fingers around the strings when we're fingerpicking on the ukulele. Fingerpicking Patterns Part of learning how to do fingerpicking is practicing using different fingers on different strings, and plucking the strings in different orders. You might think that with just four strings on a ukulele that there wouldn't be too many fingerpicking combinations to learn - but you would be wrong. It feels like there could be thousands of different...

Alright, so remember how I said don't rush it, take your time when it comes to learning new techniques on the ukulele? Well, here's a quick tutorial on how to do fingerpicking on the ukulele.  The most important thing to remember when learning fingerpicking is to do a tone check. That means, make sure that the finger(s) pressing down on the strings between the frets are firm enough so that the string isn't muted (unless you want to mute the string), but not so firm that you cause buzzing. A lot of this depends on the action of your ukulele, meaning how far above the fretboard the strings hover. So if you have lots of problems getting a nice, clear tone out of your ukulele, you might want to have a professional luthier just take a quick peek and make sure that the saddle and bridge of your instrument are properly positioned. Start learning how to do fingerpicking by practicing plucking each string, one at a time, without pressing down on the fretboard, until you get a clear,...

When I decided I was going to learn how to play the ukulele, I started out learning how to strum. And being the novice that I was, I figured there really wasn't a heck of a lot more than that to learn. Just some strumming and maybe a little fingerstyle, right? Well, woo hoo, once I fell down the rabbit hole of ukulele music, I found out there was a ton of different techniques for me to learn! The best part was that I didn't even feel any pressure to learn everything at once - I was just focusing on making music like I've wanted to my whole life. Ukulele Strumming So, there's a whole lot more to strumming than just an up strum and a down strum. There are different rhythms to master like a pop music strum, a bunch of different Hawaiian traditional strums, triplet strums, finger rolls, scratching, muting, chunking, and a few more that I know I'm forgetting right now. I was blown away by all the amazing strumming techniques out there to learn!  Oh, and don't forget ...

A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet, or something like that...right? Well, in the world of ukuleles, there are four basic sizes of uke, ranging from soprano to baritone. Each one has their own advantages and disadvantages, and if you're just learning how to play the ukulele or want to know how to choose your first ukulele, here's a little rundown on each of them: Soprano Ukulele This is arguably the most popular size of ukulele, or maybe just the most well-known. Starting around the 1920s and 30s, the ukulele became wildly popular in the United States, and most folks who played had a soprano ukulele.  My first ukulele was actually a sweet little Kala soprano ukulele, and I played that thing for hours every day. It was easy to hold, sounded beautiful, and had a light, sweet tone to it. Sopranos are pretty easy to carry with you, and with the right strings, they sound wonderful.  Soprano Ukulele Specs: Size: About 20 inches Scale length: About 14 frets (there are ...

Holy crap, you guys, I got so excited about having you make music with your ukulele that I forgot probably the most important thing about playing your uke: tuning the ukulele! You could have the most flawless technique EVAH, but unless your uke is in tune, you're gonna sound like crap. So let's talk about it. First of all, remember from my post about how ukuleles are tuned , it's good to know what notes your strings are, and whether you have a re-entrant uke with a high g, a low G, or a baritone uke which is (usually) tuned like the top four strings of a guitar.  There are other ways to tune a ukulele, sometimes called drop tuning, and alternate ways to tune a ukulele by doubling up on some notes (for instance, 2 G notes and 2 E notes), but that's another post for another time when I've had a chance to play with some of those. For now, we're going to stick to our basic gCEA tuning, or if you have a baritone uke, DGBE. How to Tune a Ukulele: Using a Tuner So, unl...

Once you have your basic technique for strumming down, it's time to talk about rhythm. Rhythm is the big ol' bugaboo that I see so many people talking about in the ukulele forums and groups on social media, and for good reason: understanding how rhythm works can really take your playing skills up a notch. But just like anything else when you learn how to play the ukulele, it takes a little bit of time. We can start talking about rhythm with a little bit of music theory. You don't necessarily have to know the names of all the notes on the staff, or whether it's a bass clef or a treble clef, but understanding the value of each note will give you an idea of the rhythm in each piece of music you want to play.  For some of us, rhythm is just instinctual. If you've ever participated in a drum circle, you know what I'm talking about. Rhythm is just one powerful way to tell a story with music. So let's talk about the basic theory behind note value. Whole Note, Half ...

Ho boy, now that we're really into it, let's talk about strumming, shall we? Strumming is how most ukulele players learn how to play the ukulele - by moving one finger on your right hand across all four strings while pressing down on the strings on the fretboard with your left hand. Sounds easy, right? But there's so much more to strumming than just that! So let's start with some simple strumming. These very basic techniques for playing the ukulele give you a strong foundation on which you can build other skills in rhythm and some cool sound effects, but just like anything else, if you don't have the basics down, you can't really do much else. How to Strum A Ukulele Because most ukuleles don't have steel strings like a guitar, you don't need a pick to strum a ukulele. Using your fingers is the best way I've found so far to strum a uke, and you've got options. Try each and see which one feels right to you! Strumming a Ukulele With Your Index Finge...

So, you've got your uke, and you've been practicing how to hold it, right? Now we get to play chords! I began teaching myself how to play the ukulele from the second I picked it up. After I tuned it, I flipped through the little instruction book of chords that came with it. There were six chords and about a dozen songs that used those chords. By the end of the day, I had memorized all of them and was ready to rock 'n' roll! (Har har har.) I'll go into the theory about how chords are formed in other blogs, but for now, let's just start playing and make some music. First thing to know when you're learning how to play the ukulele is how to press your fingers on the fretboard in order to get a clear tone from your uke. It might sound silly, but too much pressure will cause buzzing and too little pressure won't give you that beautiful clear sound you're looking for. So when you're pressing your fingers on the fretboard, aim for the center between the ...

When I started learning to play the ukulele, I started out with a sweet little Kala soprano uke. The soprano is the smallest of all the ukes (unless you're getting a sopranino or a pocket uke, and I'm not gonna go there right now), and learning how to hold a ukulele was, for me, a combination of trial and error and instinct. (But what else is new?) Holding the ukulele is a little different than holding a guitar. For starters, there are a lot of ukuleles that don't have a strap button, so you can't just use any old guitar strap. There are lots of great uke straps out there (and I'll write more about those in another blog), but for now, let's just assume you're going to hold your uke without a strap.  How you hold your ukulele also depends on whether or not you're right or left handed. For now, I'm going to show a right-handed hold (because that's how I hold it). If you're a left, you can also find ukes that are tuned for left-handed people or ...

This is all about why you shouldn't practice the ukulele. Sounds crazy, right? I  mean, even that old joke: How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice!  We've always been told that in order to do anything musical, we have to practice, practice, and practice some more. And when I was studying music in college, I had to keep more than one practice log, and it was expected of me that the more I practiced, the more progress I was supposed to make. I mean, practice makes perfect, right? Well, I began to loathe my practice time. Like, seriously loathe it to the point that I felt so much resistance, I gave up playing the piano altogether for a while and dropped out of college for a couple of years.  When I started learning how to play the ukulele last spring, I told myself that I wasn't going to use the word "practice" to describe what I did while I was learning new songs. Instead, I decided to use the word "play". I mean, think about it: for some of us, practic...

So, I wanted to get into some of the nuts and bolts of actually playing the ukulele, but before we go there, I thought I'd find some information to share about why the ukulele is tuned the way it is.  I've been a string player since I was about seven years old, and all the string instruments I've ever played have their strings arranged starting with the lowest string on top (to the left of the instrument when you stand or sit behind it, or closest to your face when you hold it in front of you like a guitar) to the highest (on the left if you're standing behind it or closest to the floor when you hold it in front of you like a guitar.) But, no, not the ukulele. Actually, there are quite a few other stringed instruments out there that are tuned the way the ukulele is, but none of them are really as mainstream as the uke. (Unless you count the sitar, the tonkori, or the charango as mainstream.) ANYWAY...the way a re-entrant ukulele is tuned is with a high g as the fourth s...

Yeah, because of course once you have a ukulele, you'll find that playing is easier and probably more enjoyable if you have a few ukulele accessories. Remember that everything is negotiable when it comes to outfitting your uke, but in the last year of playing the ukulele (and since I started playing the violin at the age of 7), I've found that it's the little things that make my musical life easier. A great tuner. So, just to be clear here, you don't necessarily need to go out and buy a tuner - there are plenty of great tuning apps you can find on your cell phone for free. (G Strings is my favorite tuning app, but there are lots of others that include things like metronomes.) That said, if you want a good tuner for your ukulele, I'd recommend a clip-on style tuner. These can be found in a wide range of prices, from around $5 up to $30 or $40. What you spend on your tuner is entirely up to you, but like I always say - you get what you pay for. Ukulele strap. You don...

So, you're totally hooked on the idea of learning how to play the ukulele, but you don't know where to start. Here you are! Let's talk about a few things to keep in mind when you're choosing your first ukulele. For starters, let your intuition guide at least some of your decision making process. As someone who is highly intuitive and teaches others to trust their intuition, I can assure you: you won't make the wrong decision when choosing your first ukulele. If you feel a strong pull towards a particular instrument, go for it - that instrument is there to teach you something, if you're open to learning. That said, it's important to also keep in mind things like price, brand reputation, features like built-in electronics and tuners, and design.  1. Brand reputation. Of all the things in the uke world that I've discovered, it's that some people are fiercely loyal to their favorite brand of ukulele. I started out buying all Kala ukuleles, but have branc...

Once upon a time, a long time ago in a galaxy far away, I was a music major with a concentration in music therapy. Because my main instrument was piano, part of the requirements for my major was two semesters of guitar class. Honestly, I was nervous as hell about the idea of taking guitar. It felt so HUGE, so overwhelming...and of course, with that mindset, I never did very well with that instrument.  So I have no idea what moved me to purchase a ukulele for my 45th birthday, but I knew, as soon as I had that instrument in my hands, that I had come home. I took to it instantly, and spent that entire summer learning chords and brushing up on my music theory from college and seeking out new music. (It pretty much blew up my Spotify algorithm.)  If you're a total beginner to music, here's why the ukulele is perfect for beginners like you: 1. Small size. It might sound crazy, but the uke is so easy to hold! Whether you're resting it on your lap or cradling it in your strumming ...

As far as stringed instruments go, the ukulele is relatively new. The history of the uke tells us that it was created as a variation of the traditional Portuguese machete, a small instrument with just four or five strings made from animal gut that resembles a guitar.  The word "ukulele" means "jumping flea" in Hawaiian, probably because of the way a player's fingers jump around the small neck and fretboard. It was introduced by Portuguese immigrants to Hawaii around 1879, and was quickly adopted as a national symbol of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Since then, it's popularity has waxed and waned, but beginning in the 1990s, the ukulele has become a beloved instrument of musicians and singers of all styles including bluegrass, jazz, and rock. Ukuleles come in several different sizes: the soprano is the most popular and widely known size, and is pretty perfect for beginners and kids. Slightly larger than that is the concert size, followed by the tenor, and finally th...

Once upon a time... Well, not really. This is a story that I've been wanting to tell for a while, and maybe I have told it in other places or other spaces, but tonight, for whatever reason, under the almost-full moon in the middle of a global pandemic and economic meltdown, here it is. In May of 2019, my mother-in-law gave me an L.L. Bean gift card for my birthday. Most other people would probably think about buying shoes, or boots, or clothes, or hiking gear, or just about anything else that L.L. Bean is known for and sells. But not this girl. No, this girl decided that she had enough boots and clothes and hiking gear and everything else that L.L. Bean sells, and instead decided to see what kinds of fun and interesting toys she could find. Somewhere in the dark recesses of the L.L. Bean website, I found...my first ukulele.  Now, I have no idea what made me think that buying a ukulele from L.L. Bean would be a good idea. When I was a music major in college (playing piano), I nearly...