Learn How to Play the Ukulele: What Ukulele Techniques Do You Want to Learn?

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 about chord melody, which is a neat combination of strumming and fingerpicking.

Fingerpicking

This is another very basic skill, but the sky's the limit when it comes to fingerpicking on the ukulele. At first, I just started with some basic C major scales. And then I found some exercises that included notes in between each note of the scales. And then  found some different fingerpicking techniques like hammer-ons and pull-offs (that are still the bane of my existence on the uke, but I'll get there), and then I started playing around with different fingerpicking patterns. And then I brought in some chord melody techniques. And trills. And accent notes. And slides. And WOW. So, so much to learn!

Oh, and harmonics. I discovered harmonics accidentally one evening when I was messing around with Iz's version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow and discovered that I could make my strings ring out like bells. Thought I was on to something new, but, no. I had just discovered another ukulele technique to add to my toolbox!

Music Theory

Although this isn't just a ukulele technique, my understanding of music theory has just gotten better since I picked up my first uke a little over a year ago. When I was a music major in college, we had to take tonal harmony, i.e., advanced music theory. As a piano player, it was hard for me to make sense of a lot of what I was learning. But with the ukulele, suddenly chords and music theory started to make a lot more sense. I still visualize the difference between full steps and half steps on a piano keyboard, but it's much easier for me to hear intervals when I play my uke.

Take Your Freaking Time

So, yeah, a couple of months ago, I found this piece of music that I absolutely fell in love with, but it was classified as "advanced", and there's no way on God's green Earth that I would consider myself an "advanced" uke player. 

That said, I didn't let that stop me - I listen to this piece played at the correct tempo (speed), but when I play it, I still slow it down and savor the melody. Slowing the piece down also gives me a chance to practice the techniques that go into it, and I've decided that I'm not gonna rush myself when it comes to learning this piece. I don't have to learn it all in one day, or one week, or even one year. When it comes to learning new techniques and skills on the ukulele, keep in mind that the journey is just as important as the destination!