Jen Plays Ukulele

So now that we understand a little bit about what music theory actually is, I'm going to write a little bit about the thing that makes the ukulele world go 'round: CHORDS. But what is a chord? Simply defined, a chord is three or more notes that are somehow related to one another through their location on the scale in a specific key of music.  Did I lose ya? Here's what that means: every piece of music you play is made up of notes, or tones, on a scale. These tones are a whole or half step apart and repeat in a predictable pattern, depending on whether you're playing a major or minor scale, or some other type of scale. A C major scale is the most basic, consisting of 8 notes (an octave) that have no sharps or flats - if you sit down at a piano and locate the middle C, the next 7 notes you play are all the white keys. There are no black keys - the sharps and flats - in a C major scale, so it's usually the easiest one to play on any instrument.  You probably already ca

Whether or not you know it, by playing your ukulele or singing or doing any kind of musical activity, you're using the concepts of music theory to broadcast your vibration out into the world. When I was a music therapy major in college, I spent my first year taking classes called Tonal Harmony which were all about music theory. But what is music theory, exactly? Well, music theory is a set of concepts that try to explain and show just how music works. We all hear tones, sounds, timbre, and rhythm - but how do you capture those ideas and present them in a way that makes sense to someone? These are all abstract concepts that are meant to be felt, so how do you put them into visual form so that you understand what you're doing when you play a major scale or work through a chord progression? By using a set of symbols developed over hundreds of years, music theory does just that - it takes the ethereal concept of something like music and turns it into something you can read with you

Back in 1992, I started college as a music therapy major. I really didn't know shit about music therapy at the time, except that it seemed like something I wanted to do. I loved playing the piano and the violin and singing, but I hated the pressure of getting it perfect every time. And because I was being graded on my performance and my technical ability, which, to be honest, ain't all that great, I eventually dropped out because I felt like I just wasn't good enough to major in music. (Even on one of my auditions, one of the judges noted that I was going to have to work "very very hard" in order to keep up.) Years later, I found myself teaching kid's yoga a few times a week, and one of the exercises we did to get calm and centered was called deep listening. It's fun, really: I would ask the kids to sit cross-legged and comfortable, and put their hands on their knees. With their eyes closed, I would strike my little chime and as soon as they heard the tone

Since I started this blog, I've had a lot of people asking me what I think the best ukuleles are for absolute beginners. Not that I'm an authority on ukes (I mean, I've only been playing for what, 15 months now?), but I decided to put together my top 5 ukulele recommendations for beginners. If you've never ever picked up a ukulele before, here are a few ideas to get you started. Even better, most of them are $100 or less, so it's not a huge investment! 1. Kala Learn to Play Soprano This was the uke I got started on, and I can't recommend it enough. It's the perfect size for someone who has never touched a ukulele or a guitar before, it's a solidly built instrument, and the projection is really quite good.  2. Kala Exotic Mahogany Concert See a pattern here? (Don't worry, there are other ukulele brands out there besides Kala, I promise.) That said, this concert size ukulele is really stunning for the price. Like the Learn to Play series, it's a so

Chord melody is one of those things that I wanted to do from day one when I decided to learn how to play ukulele. So many of the great ukulele artists and musicians play these incredible arrangements of classic songs using chord melody.  But what is chord melody, anyway? Basically, chord melody is a way of taking your basic fingerstyle on the ukulele and adding in the chords for each note. This brings a beautiful rich, full sound to your song. While you're still playing the melody, you're adding in these deeper layers of tones and harmony.  If you want to play songs using chord melody, it's easy enough to find loads of books and sheet music out there that have the chords already written out for you. But if you're really up for a fun music theory challenge, learning how to write your own chord melodies for songs you love requires a little bit of effort in understanding your fret board. Meanwhile, if you're looking for a great book to help you get started with chord m

I'm a sheet music whore. Yep, I said it. I looooove to buy sheet music. I love to print it out, put it in plastic sheet protectors, and store it in binders. That said, sometimes my bank account can't handle big orders of ukulele sheet music, and I think I've bought and downloaded just about every ukulele book that I'm interested in from the Mel Bay website . (For now.)  So what's a musician to do when she wants some new sheet music for the ukulele?  Thankfully, the internet is full of great places to download sheet music that's 100% free and made available by generous and talented souls who patiently make ukulele tabs for hundreds of songs every year. Here are a few of my favorites: UkeEducation.org : This has a ton of great tablature for ukuleles of all kinds! There are also resources for chords, scales, music theory, workshops, technical exercises, and more - and it's all free to download. If you're just looking for lyrics to your favorite songs along

In general, ukulele players are pretty laid back folks. But there's one thing in the ukulele world that'll fire them right up: the debate over whether or not to use a strap when you're learning how to play the ukulele.  As a rule, most of the entry level ukuleles that I bought didn't even have a strap button, so the only way to use a strap was to  use one of those j-hook straps that attach to the sound hole and then go over your head. The more I used my j-hook strap, the more I disliked it.  First of all, I was worried that the plastic hook would eventually damage the sound hole. Even on an inexpensive uke, I didn't want to cause any more wear and tear than was absolutely necessary. Second of all, the strap didn't do anything to secure the uke. If I let go of the uke and it started to fall to the floor, the strap would do diddly squat to keep it secure. Finally, that particular type of hook strap didn't really do much to aid my posture or make it easier to h

I know, I know, I wrote a whole post about why you shouldn't "practice" the ukulele, but that said, there is something nice about having some sort of structure on days when I sit down to play and just feel scattered. Having a plan for what I'm going to play helps give me something to focus on and sometimes gives me a feeling of accomplishment when I finally master an exercise, study, or song. Have A List Of Exercises or Studies Handy One of my favorite ukulele books is called Ukulele Aerobics, by Chad Johnson. It offers 280 different short exercises in pull-offs and hammer ons, scales, fingerpicking, chords progressions, and more. Whenever I feel stuck and need something just to get my fingers moving, I reach for this book. The exercises are laid out from easiest to most challenging, so you can either work through the book in order, or jump around and pick out a few from each week. Either way, this is one book that every aspiring ukulele player needs to have in their

The short answer: an 8 string ukulele is a ukulele with 8 strings. Right? The long answer: it's a lot of fun. Similar to a 12-string guitar, the 8 string ukulele has doubled strings for each of the four GCEA. The top two strings, G and C, are an octave apart, and the bottom two strings, E and A, are simply doubled up in the same octave. This gives the 8 string ukulele an incredibly rich sound, with all the deep tones of a low G and a low C.  What Is an 8 String Ukulele Good For? Well, strumming, mostly. I find that my 8 string ukuleles are great for when I'm playing rhythm to accompany my singing, or to accompany my 12 year old's drumming. You can do fingerpicking on an 8 string ukulele, but it's a little tricky, and I still haven't quite mastered picking just one string.  That said, if you want to practice fingerpicking both strings at the same time, go for it! It's another fun skill to add to your ukulele toolbox. Tips for Playing the 8 String Ukulele Because

My favorite classes in college were all about anatomy. I loved learning about all the different parts that make up a body, and how they work together. Ukuleles may not meet all the biological criteria for being "alive", but they do have souls all their own, and they also have some amazing anatomy. As I wrote this post, I realized that I probably should have published it before the post on how to string a ukulele, but now Blogger won't let me reschedule my posts (grrrrrr!), so better late than never, here's some ukulele anatomy for you to help you learn how to play the ukulele. Ukulele anatomy is very similar to guitar anatomy, which is very similar to violin and viola and cello anatomy. So, if you've ever played any of those instruments in the past, what you read here will sound and look very familiar. Starting from the top down... Headstock This is the top part of the ukulele where the tuners reside. There are two basic different types of headstocks: solid and sl

There will come a time in every ukulele player's life where they will have to change the strings on a ukulele. Never fear! There are lots of reasons why it's a good idea to do this yourself, instead of paying someone to do it for you. For me personally, there aren't a lot of music stores within an hour's drive of where I live. I also have some experience in swapping out the strings on my violins over the years without the assistance of a luthier, so while I was a teensy bit nervous at my first attempt on how to restring a ukulele, I felt confident that I could do it properly. One of the reasons I learned how to restring a ukulele was because I am really not a fan of the standard strings that have come on most of my uke purchases so far. I'll be talking about the different types of ukulele strings in a future post, but safe to say that after I swapped out the strings on my Makala baritone ukulele, it played like an entirely different instrument, and I became a believ

As the mother of a 12-year-old aspiring gamer boy and the wife of a man who loves watching Sam The Cooking Guy (I'll be honest - we all love Sam), our feed on YouTube is pretty...diverse? When I started to get back into violin and wanted to teach myself back in 2000, YouTube wasn't even a thing yet. Now, if you want to learn how to play the ukulele, there are literally thousands of channels on YouTube where you can find free ukulele lessons.  Here's a rundown of my top 10 YouTubers for learning how to play the ukulele at home: 1. Uncle Mark's Ukulele : this is the YouTube channel I used when I first started learning how to play the ukulele. Mark Piper has some amazing videos that are simple, easy to understand, and got me playing pretty much within minutes.  2. The Ukulele Teacher : I love this guy. His creativity is just amazing, and his sense of humor is pretty good, too. Check out some of what he does when he mixes his own tracks on some classic rock and heavy metal