How hard to learn ukulele?

reckless

reckless

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Is it easy-ish? Brian has expressed interest more than once and I'm not sure whether to buy one for him. He hasn't played string before, sax was his instrument.
Welcome your opinions
Karen
 
Like many things easy to do but difficult and requiring a lot of practise and skill to do well. :)
 
It is a brilliant instrument played well but I guess, based on my guitar playing efforts it wouldn't be hard to learn a few chords. Proper finger picking would be a different matter. An electronic gizmo to tune it would be useful.



 
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reckless said:
Is it easy-ish? Brian has expressed interest more than once and I'm not sure whether to buy one for him. He hasn't played string before, sax was his instrument.
Welcome your opinions
Karen
Click to expand...

I've struggled to make the transition from flute (pretty good at school and college but not played since then) to uke.

In all honesty though, I'm probably not consistent enough in practising regularly, which as with all things is important. You can get fairly cheap ones (as I did) just to have a go to see if it's something that you can get on with.
 
it is easy to play a tune in 10 mins; after that only dedication and practice, plus the all important earplugs for anyone else around. Not to everyones taste but can become addictive.

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It is quite easy to learn enough chords to be able to strum along to many songs (y) After all,more songs have been written using C,F and G than any others.
It is an ideal instrument to carry in a M/Home,the Funsters Band plays at many of the main Show rallies and Barrie and Janine often give workshops.
There are 2 main problems to contend with-it is addictive :) and there is a dreadfull disease called Ukulele Aquisition Syndrome-there is no known cure :LOL::LOL:
 
Thanks for replies, I'll watch vids when he's out and see how I feel.
Karen
 
I think they may be catching. SWMBO has bought one, together with the electronic tuning gizmo. That's about as far as she's got.

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Reallyretired said:
I think they may be catching. SWMBO has bought one, together with the electronic tuning gizmo. That's about as far as she's got.
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This is what I'm afraid of.....that it will be something else that seemed like a good idea at the time!
 
It appears to me to be pretty easy to play a uke...

Just pick it up... put fingers on frets in random places... with other hand "strum" the strings at will and wail along with the other, ear bashing, hooligans.

(Many choose to prop a sheet of music up in front of them in order to give the impression they know what song they are "playing".)

Aided by copious amounts of brain cell killing liquids, all of which have been bought for pennies and smuggled through customs after wintering abroad, your Funster audience will scream in approval, sing along with you (sometimes with the same words as you but not often) and throw money into the hat which will passed around at 2.45 am after 6 hours non stop noise.

Later on in the morning, players and audience members will emerge from their (or other people's) motorhomes, mingle and tell each other what a fantastic night they had.

The show organisers will be so impressed by the goings on that next year they will provide the Funsters with a free marquee which, because of some mistake in the office, will be pitched well away from any normal show visitors.

You know it makes sense...

Everyone should have a hobby

(And, as Funster Janine so cleverly suggested, leave an empty uke case on the step outside your van and no one will park anywhere near you as they will assume you might start "practising".)


JJ :cool:
 
JJ said:
It appears to me to be pretty easy to play a uke...

Just pick it up... put fingers on frets in random places... with other hand "strum" the strings at will and wail along with the other, ear bashing, hooligans.

(Many choose to prop a sheet of music up in front of them in order to give the impression they know what song they are "playing".)

Aided by copious amounts of brain cell killing liquids, all of which have been bought for pennies and smuggled through customs after wintering abroad, your Funster audience will scream in approval, sing along with you (sometimes with the same words as you but not often) and throw money into the hat which will passed around at 2.45 am after 6 hours non stop noise.

Later on in the morning, players and audience members will emerge from their (or other people's) motorhomes, mingle and tell each other what a fantastic night they had.

The show organisers will be so impressed by the goings on that next year they will provide the Funsters with a free marquee which, because of some mistake in the office, will be pitched well away from any normal show visitors.

You know it makes sense...

Everyone should have a hobby

(And, as Funster Janine so cleverly suggested, leave an empty uke case on the step outside your van and no one will park anywhere near you as they will assume you might start "practising".)


JJ :cool:
Click to expand...

JJ-you are awfull,but I like you :LOL::LOL:(y)
 
Go for straight to the guitar, then you'll feel you can play any "lesser" instrument lol
 
eddievanbitz said:
Go for straight to the guitar, then you'll feel you can play any "lesser" instrument lol
Click to expand...
Problem with guitarists is that they tend to indulge in a lot of 'Fret board W***ery' We of the "lesser" instrument enjoy the simplicity of a well constructed chord progression. :D

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They are so easy to play at the side of guitar. A chord that would take at least three fingers on a guitar can often be managed with just one finger on the uke. Finger picking is certainly harder,but there are hundreds of good songs that can be played with three chords. Like all instruments though, it time and dedication the decides how good you are. You can buy a really good uke for under £50.
 
I can vouch for the fact that ukulele playing is addictive but collecting them is even more so. I started off by joining Kidderminster SUSA group who are very encouraging and bought a tenor as the smaller soprano and concert sizes were too small for my big hands. I then bought a baritone and restrung it to the standard GCEA tuning without telling SWMBO who just thought my tenor had grown ! Next I thought I would like to try the George Formby `sound` and found a banjolele but it was a bit harsh to the ears for my liking. This was then sold and replaced with a tenor guitar which has 4 strings rather than 6 and restrung it with baritone strings to give a guitar sound and sustain but without having to learn new chords ! A lot of beer and red wine has passed my lips since the age of 17 and I am too old to learn 2 sets of chords. Anyway, we have now moved down to Bristol and have found 2 bands down here to play with and looking forward to many more gigs. Give them a try, you can never have too many ukuleles !
 
You must have met the beautiful Geraldine (aka Funster @cliffandger ) at the Bristol uke jam?

This was the performance after a couple of workshops which we ran recently at the Acoustic Festival in Uttoxeter. Some people had just one hour's tuition before they got on stage with us :-)
 
@Janine - I accompanied Denise at Norden Farm - uke and accordion- what a combination! Your video is brilliant by the way! @Stollysmith - have you joined the Bristol Uke Jam?

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My main group is Bristol Ukulele Club and I went along to the Jam quite a bit last year until work commitments interferred. Bristol U3A have a couple of groups who meet during the day.
 
Just looked on Google and Bristol Ukulele Club doesn't seem to be active any more. I know quite a few of the members of the BUJ are also in the U3A groups as well.

We meet on a Wednesday night in Mangotsfield. I think there is also a group that meets on a Sunday night at the Criterion in Redcliffe, Bristol as well. I think we are really lucky in Bristol to have so many active groups. I was talking to a Funster at a meet in Thetford the other week who lives in Liverpool, and there are no groups there - he has to play with the Uke Orchestra there, who don't really jam, but rehearse for gigs, and are happy enough for him to join them! Also Funsters in West London don't have any groups there either.

I started to play at the Wrenbury Bring and Buy meet last year, where @Janine and Barrie did a workshop - the best workshop I have ever attended - I haven't stopped playing since! (y)
 
The BUCs are alive and kicking as they say, although the facebook page is being rebuilt at the moment. We meet at the Coliseum Pub in Redcliffe street at 7.00 every Sunday. Next gig is this saturday at ashton park school, all welcome, bring your uku !
 
The Coliseum - that's the pub I meant - not the Criterion! A couple of our guys play there as well - Andy and Dave - or the Ant and Dec of BUJ!
 
Saw this freebie today and thought it may be of use to someone here with a kindle and a uke!(y)

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As has been said already, compared with the majority of instruments it is relatively easy to get started. Obviously the more advanced you want to become the more you need to work at it. You can certainly get started with just a few chords, which can be quite easy and I find it great to pick up a ukulele and play something I can actually recognise! For me it all began when Jean did as you are considering and bought me one (after collaborating with Janine) as a present. I have to say getting along to a ukulele club might seem a daunting prospect but once you realize that playing along with a large group, many of whom are relatively new to it, gets you playing much better than sitting at home, trying a few chords and thinking, "no that's not right" and starting again. In such a group if you get a chord wrong no one will know let alone care and we all learn together and encourage each other. Jean then got my friend to come to a gig and he was keen so came to the next club night complete with a ukulele he bought en route and picked up the chords as he went. We have had several poeple join a meeting who have never played before and leave really chuffed with their acheivement. At Bridgnorth have a very good system, they start with the first hour of 'beginners' songs' then progress to 'intermediate' then 'advanced' for the last hour.
I would certainly suggest getting him one, after all it is a very small amount to spend for such an enjoyable hobby, it is very sociable and to quote Mike (of mikeandcarolyn) he's never had so much fun being bad at something!

Wyn
 
Stollysmith said:
My main group is Bristol Ukulele Club and I went along to the Jam quite a bit last year until work commitments interferred. Bristol U3A have a couple of groups who meet during the day.
Click to expand...
Is it just me or does that read on first glance as Bristol Kennel Club to anyone else? :)

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