Play Ukulele Today! - A Complete Guide to the Basics Level 1 (Bk/Online Audio)

So I got a ukulele. Saw the movie "The Might Uke" and couldn't stop smiling, and that is what the ukulele can be all about really. Impressive performances by some of the virtuosi on the instrument notwithstanding, it is a heck of a lot of just plain fun for lots of folks. I know I need lessons though, so I combed the webs for a good book. This one is one of the books I purchased, and my hands down favorite. It starts with a rundown of the instrument, how to hold it etc., and a bit of musical generalities that any musician needs to know. I have previous musical training on a few instruments and some passing acquaintance with the guitar, so I am not a rank beginner musically speaking, but certainly am on the ukulele. The best part of this method is that it DOES start with chords and little melodies while you learn to plink the chords. Yet there is a good foundation. My one problem with this book and with the others I have is that I think they should group the chords by the key in which they are found most commonly, which although they do, they don't make this clear by naming the key. I am going to have to do some transposing and I think that key identification is really pivotal. If I were a rank beginner at music I wouldn't have a clue about key. My Hal Leonard method lesson book starts with notes. You play notes. Now that is fine, but most people want to strum chords. Now, the best part of all - the CD. I find it easy to follow along, and the tuning track is great - I do that one each evening when I start practice. I love that you can suck the CD into your iTunes and play each track over and over as you need it. I think this was a super good deal as to price and a tremendous value and so much better than than the Hal Leonard book for starting out for me. I actually use both books. First this one, and then I do several pages from the Hal Leonard book as well. It is more like your stodgy beginner piano book you might have bad memories of though! Luckily, at my age, no one is making me do this, so both books provide a balanced approach. This one's CD though makes it the ONE book you will enjoy the most if you only buy the one. As to buyers complaints about practice pieces, there are several really inexpensive books of just that - beginner songs. Hal Leonard one is the one I bought to accompany the Hal Leonard lesson book. Then there is a huge 365 songs song book that I have to admit I also purchased. AMAZON has a 4 for three deal going on and I got all three books here with another non-music book and got that deal. GREAT WORK AMAZON! Hal Leonard Ukulele Method Book 1 Easy Songs for Ukulele Supplementary Songbook to the Hal Leonard Ukulele Method

I bought this instructional book hoping for something that would teach me the basics on ukulele playing. I'm glad I did. This is a great book and it teaches learners in small increments so you can learn as much as you want to learn in the beginning stages. I love that it teaches you how to read music as well as play the chords. I started learning a week ago and spent the first couple of days practicing each chord, making sure I got down the mechanics of switching my fingers around for each note. I also watched youtube to get a better idea of how to strum and learn different strumming techniques and a few beginner songs. After a week of using this book and a ukulele for the first time, I was able to jam last night and be able to play to many of the songs on the radio. I don't know if it was the piano lessons that I took 22 years ago when I was a kid that has helped me to pick up the instrument so quickly, but I was shocked that I could actually play after a week of practicing. This doesn't replace actual lessons, so if you tried the book and still haven't learned to play, pay for lessons. I practiced the chords a couple hours for the first few days and looked to live (youtube) performances to get the rhythm down, which is something a book can't really teach you. I like this book and will use it as a resource for playing and because I was diligent with my practicing, I was able to pick up the playing fairly quickly. I never played before, but I do remember how to read music from piano lessons a long time ago. I haven't looked at any other book, so I don't know if this is the best, but it worked for me. You just have to practice and take your time.

which is exactly what I was looking for. This book starts with the very beginning and covers the basics of music theory and ukulele playing. I think the book is pretty comprehensive and well-written, if very basic. I like the fact that it teaches you how to "tune the instrument to itself" (relative tuning)in the beginning. After preliminaries about the ukulele itself, the reader learns all the basic stuff that everyone has to learn who took band in school or had music lessons--musical notation, rhythm, and so on. This music theory basis is added upon as the student progresses. For example, you will learn what makes up a scale--both major and minor--and what music "keys" are. The strong point of this lesson book lies in it's teaching of the individual notes on the strings. To me, this is very important. You will learn not only how to play chords and strum and sing along, but you will be able to pick out melodies on the strings and read from regular sheet music. New chords are also introduced as the student progresses through learning the notes on the strings. For example, you will not only learn the "F chord", but how to find and play the individual note "F" on second string. I think this type of thorough-going note reading instruction will form a good foundation for finger-picking. After learning the two-to-four notes in the "first position" (ie, first four frets), there is a series of practice melodies. These exercises are can get monotonous, since they aren't actually tunes, just a bunch of notes. Listening to the enclosed CD (which consists of someone reading the book, and then playing the exercises) should help you know if what you play "sounds right". With "Play Ukulele Today", you will only be playing a few notes at a time the first few days, but in a few weeks you will be able to play actual tunes, including "Red River Valley", "Home on the Range", and so on, in addition to the chords for the songs. You'll have a few dozen major, minor dominant and movable chords under your belt. The last lesson shows you how to change strings on your uke. In case you wore out your first set getting that far ! :) My only question is: where is book 2?

Bom guia para iniciantes. Muito útil e fácil de usar. O Método ensina inclusive a ler partituras. Recomendo a todos.

It gets to the very basics even how to hold a ukulele.im 13 and it's so simple to use.its split into lessons to make its Easy and if you get stuck the teacher on the cd explains it and once you hear what it should sound like its much more easy.

Excelente

This book was very informative on how to play the ukelele Thanks, Melodie Brock

Was very happy with this book as it was easy to understand and follow!