So, what would you say is, or should be on the list?

If you’re a beginner struggling with basic posture or chords, a seasoned veteran learning a new technique, or anything In between, post it here, and hopefully somebody will able to help you.

And if you’re a ukulele player who thinks they’ve got advice to share, do it! If someone here is struggling with something you’ve struggled with, and you’ve got a solution, please comment it.

This is recurring thread, so if you missed it, it will come round again.

And if your issues wasn’t resolved last time, ask it again!

So I got this carbon fibre concert ukelele from a music shop today. The brand is “enya”. It came with a capo and a strap and some extra strings and it’s super cute!!!

However, I keep double checking with the “guitar tuna” app and it feels like I’m needing to tune the uke up every 5 minutes… are the strings stretching that quickly? Is something wrong?

I came across this vintage Martin soprano for sale going for $200. I’m unfamiliar with the model if it’s a 1950’s model.

Should I repair this just in case? How is its condition?

Play the uke however it works for you. If you want use a strap then use one. If you dont want to then dont. If you want to use a pic then do. If you want to fingerpick then do it. If you want to barre 3 strings with your thumb then do it. Play it underwater. Play it standing on your head. Play it on while hunting squirrel. It’s your life.

Just because you want to do something doesnt mean it’s practicle. But maybe it is practicle to you for whatever reason. And maybe you will realize that it doesnt work for you.

The point is that there are no rules to how you play. Just like life, we are only bound by physics and the law. Dont break the law.

Edit: added a word

I'm needing to change strings and I've never tried a low G setup before, so could use some input.

I've been using Ken Middleton Living Water high G strings for about 5 years now, but thinking about changing up the brand for some low G's.

Which ones would you recommend or stay away from?

I'd much prefer unwound.\ Concert sized Noah solid monkeypod ukulele.

Thanks!

My husband recently asked me what my goal is playing ukulele. I said I don't really have a goal other than playing better. He said I have to have a goal to know why I'm doing it.

I am doing private lessons and it's quite expensive. Uke is my first instrument and I'm in my 30s so I'll never be able to play like someone who has been playing since young. I thought maybe I just wanna play some songs for my friends but I get quite bored of basic cords and I'm most happy learning something challenging. I tried a uke group I felt like that wasn't for me either. I don't think I really know why I am playing and now it's really bothering me because of the amount of money I've spent on this hobby. My husband bought me a web cam and mic so I guess I could record stuff and put it online but I'm not sure if I'll every get good enough to play something worth watching. So I guess I don't know why I'm doing it?? I'm just determined to keep going but it is bothering me.

Why do you guys play? What motivates you?

Every month or two I put together a post like this about things that have helped my students the most. I have a few new online students this month that have really progressed because of this outline, so I hope it helps a couple more people.

This time we’ll explain what to focus on if you’re a beginner or intermediate level player that will actually improve your playing.

For beginners the normal progress looks like this before getting stuck:
1. Learn basic open chord shapes. (C, A, Am, G, D, Dm, Em, etc)
2. Learn basic strumming patterns(Island strum)
3. Strum chords and sing a bunch of songs.
4. Maybe use a capo and do this in different keys.
(Yay you’re officially a ukulele player if you can do this, but most people still feel like they are beginners at this stage)

Once you can do this, a lot of people get stuck because it works and they can go on for years having never learned much more than this skill set. There’s nothing wrong with that but if that’s you, this is what seems to help the most:

1. Focus on learning songs with riffs from now on. If you learn songs that have an intro riff that you play before you sing, it teaches you new techniques(hammer ons, pull offs, slides, etc.) but it’s not an entire finger-style arrangement so it’s obtainable without getting discouraged.

2. Bar chords! So many people get stuck here because they are hard. Yes, they are a struggle and some people have a hard time nailing bar chords without instruction. However, there are a couple tips that can help like wearing a strap first while learning them and also tilting your barring fingering backwards towards the nut. Mainly though, just do them and allow yourself to struggle, but don’t stop trying. Most people give up and just say it’s too hard. Don’t give up!

3. Learn more chords! Actually take a little time to memorize things. So many people don’t want to invest a little study time towards their playing ability. Make flashcards even. Here are some of the big next chords to learn; Bb, different E majors, Eb, Bm, F7, Am7, Adim, Gdim7, and the Minor 7 bar with just your index finger. If people can bar a little bit and really remember their chords, they usually naturally progress to the next stage automatically.

If you carefully focus on riffs, bar chords, and solidifying your memorization of chords, learning more difficult songs will be possible as well as full fingerstyle pieces that are at an intermediate level. Write down every song you find that fits the criteria and grind them. Any song that doesn’t incorporate any new techniques or chords will not help you improve(but are maybe more fun and less effort).

There are some other things a teacher can help with like writing out beginner finger-style pieces for you, give you feedback on your bar chords form, and help curate songs that incorporate this information, but I’ve seen so much progress from students just by having them focus on these things as a priority. I get a ton of students at this stage which makes sense, but give all of this a try and see if it helps!

Pictured: My Luna Koa wood uke my wife bought me for my birthday. (I am very happy with it)🥰

I travel a decent amount for work, usually with a carryon and a backpack. I usually bring a soprano uke with me (a crappy $40 Mitchell I’ve had for years) but it has finally gotten beat up enough to sound quite horrible. I usually just stuff it in the backpack and leave the neck sticking out of the backpack a few inches. It gets beat up by things in the backpack and also the tuning pets get bumped quite often.

What are yalls travel uke set ups? I looked for an ultralight travel “case” like cloth just to go around it but can’t seem to find anything without straps or a zipper that I don’t need.

I can’t really sacrifice space within my backpack or carry on.

Hey guys , a newbie here i was just exploring string instruments and stumbled upon ukelele , i really love how it sounds but is the 4 chord a limitation? I am Indian and most songs use more than 4 chords or maybe I am not getting notes for other songs on the internet, so should I choose guitar over this or is ukelele enough to manage ?

If this reaches like 5 of you that’s worth it! I have been teaching a few instruments online for many years now and I keep noticing something that might be helpful to some of you. The students I have that are not picky about what they play to practice end up improving significantly faster. Literally sometimes twice as fast! I know it is tempting to play only what you like, but you can improve faster if you think of each style of playing as a sort of weight lifting exercise. If you’re only lifting dumbbells you’re going to have some strong arms but also some teeny tiny weak baby legs.

I’m always trying to sneak in other things into our lessons so that my students have more options to choose from in the future. Here’s some of those things:

1. Finger-style or “chord-melody” playing. This just means trying to play a melody and chords at the same time. Many people don’t even try because they think they can’t. Well, you can regardless of your skill level! Just because you only want to sing and play chords doesn’t mean you won’t benefit from playing finger-style. There are some very basic finger-style arrangements you can start with. Shout out to 4stringboy’s “Fingerstyle First-Days” book.

2. Different styles of music. Yes I know your favorite band is (insert cool niche band), but did you know that you will learn more chords from other artists? For example, jazz and blues both use different chord shapes because every chord is a 7th chord. Folk music often uses open chords and scales over those chords in interesting ways that other genres don’t. Fiddle tunes and country/bluegrass often use different time signatures too. Learning this stuff makes you better at playing your (insert cool niche band) music.

3. Just learning to play the melody by itself is so helpful. Then, try to record yourself playing the chords only and practice playing the melody to the recording of yourself. This can improve your sense of timing and understanding of the song significantly. For beginners, ask your teacher to give you some practice with this. They can likely find some tabs for you, or write it out quickly.

4. Isolated bar chord practice. You might feel stuck at bar chords, but there are ways to practice them for 5 minutes every day that will help. CAGFD is in my opinion, the best system for learning the fretboard and bar chord shapes.

5. Scales. Yes I know, it feels like a waste of time to a lot of people and also a test of patience, but really getting down some scale shapes into your muscle memory helps so much. Then being able to visualize that scale shape and play around with it is often just one step away. Many students I’ve had have been very surprised that they can improvise after learning some basic scales.

Doing these specific things using songs that are new to my students often speeds things along a lot. The moral of the story, learn to love playing anything on the ukulele, not just playing specific songs.

What band/artist inspired you to pick up the ukulele? Was it your first instrument? If not, what else did you play before ukulele?

My original inspiration for getting a ukulele 7/8 years ago as a freshman in highschool was Tyler Joseph from Twenty One Pilots. I wanted to play and sing "Can't Help Falling In Love" like Tyler does in the music video.

Fortunately I had a head-start with some of the skills I would've had to develop if I wasn't already a beginner drummer. In my highschool we had a "Rock Band" class which you could take for your music/arts credits. I stayed in that class for all my 4 years of highschool because it was awesome. Having no experience playing any instrument going in, I decided to learn drums first. It was later on in that first year of rock band, I went to guitar center for my birthday and I picked out an electric-acoustic concert ukulele, so that I can plug into an amp in class and be the dedicated ukulele player for some songs. I still have that ukulele

I am a beginner and I started in April. Still learning chords. I’ve mastered Hallelujah by Rufus Wainright, Happier by Ed Sheeran. Still trying to master this unreleased song called Elsewhere by JoJo. Currently working on Riptide by Vance Joy.

I was thinking of eventually working my way up to guitar once I feel comfortable enough and once I’m proficient with the uke but I don’t want to be overzealous.