Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Foolish Assumptions 2
Icons Used in This Book 2
Beyond the Book 3
Where to Go from Here 3
Part 1: Getting Started with the Ukulele 5
Chapter 1: Exploring the Ukulele 7
Understanding the Uke’s Advantages 7
Loving the sound 8
Joining a vibrant community 8
Appreciating the uke’s practicality 8
Sizing Up the Ukulele 10
Meeting the family: Daddy uke, mummy uke, and baby uke 11
Deciding which uke is best for you 11
Taking a Tour: The Anatomy of the Ukulele 11
Becoming a Well-Versed Ukulele Player 15
Strumming along to hula in Hawaii 15
Swinging and picking across the USA 16
Rockin’ and rollin’, and getting down with the blues 17
Diversifying into ever more styles 17
Chapter 2: Tuning Up to Sound Great 19
Knowing Some Musical Terms 20
Notes as letters 20
Half steps and whole steps 20
Chords and scales 21
Major and minor 21
Pitching into Tuning Basics 22
Unravelling Tunings for Your Instrument 22
Exploring the most common tuning: gCEA 23
Using other tunings 24
Choosing a Tuning Method 24
Going hi-tech: Tuning with an electronic tuner 25
Listening and repeating: Tuning to the audio track 26
Stringing along: Tuning to a guitar 26
Seeing in black and white: Tuning to a piano or keyboard 26
Tuning your uke to itself 27
Chapter 3: Discovering How to Handle Your Ukulele 29
Holding On to Your Ukulele 29
Positioning yourself to play 30
Standing up 31
Sitting down 31
Holding your uke left-handed 32
Developing Your Strumming 32
Strumming in the right spot 33
Strumming in the right way 34
Refusing to use a pick! 34
Pressing On to Fretting 35
Positioning your fretting hand 35
Locating where to fret 36
Discovering how strongly to fret 36
Adjusting when things don’t sound right 37
Playing and pain 37
Part 2: Starting Out with Chords and Strumming 39
Chapter 4: Playing Your First Ukulele Chords and Songs 41
Playing Music without Reading Music 42
Reading chord diagrams 42
Deciphering chord diagrams for lefties 44
Playing a Song Using Two Chords 44
Creating a C chord 44
Fingering an F chord 45
Starting your first song: “Li’l Liza Jane” 46
Developing Your First Strumming Patterns 47
Using strumming notation 48
Filling in with ups and downs 48
Finding an easy way to follow rhythms 49
Discovering Seventh Chords 51
Getting to grips with G7 51
Adding the E7 chord 52
Taking off with your second song: “I’ll Fly Away” 53
Practicing Minor Chords 55
Attempting A minor 55
Moving on to D minor 56
Majoring in E minor 56
Playing your first minor-chord song 57
Chapter 5: Drumming Up More Strumming Patterns 59
Pocketing the Ever-Useful Swiss Army Strum 59
Adding Pep with Some Strumming Variations 64
Changing chords within bars 64
Strumming strongly and weakly 65
Introducing the time signature 66
Checking out chnks 71
Strumming for Various Genres 72
Getting down with blues strumming: The shuffle 72
Becoming upbeat about the reggae off-beat 73
Rocking without strumming 75
Rolling your strums 76
Deciding on an Appropriate Strumming Pattern 77
Chapter 6: Meeting the Chords and Their Families 79
Getting to Know Chord Families 79
Practicing the Three-Chord Trick: The I–IV–V Progression 80
Fingering Barre Chords 82
Going flat-out for B flat 82
Deciding to play D7 85
Playing B minor 85
Moving Chord Shapes 87
Budging up barre chords 87
Discovering new moveable chord shapes 88
Inviting Round More Chord Families 92
Geeing up the G chord family 93
Finding out about the F chord family 94
Playing according to the A chord family 94
Discovering the D chord family 95
Easing the Chord Changes 95
Changing D and A the easy way 96
Refingering E minor 96
Shuffling B7 97
Breezing through D7 97
Part 3: Picking and Single-Note Playing 99
Chapter 7: Coming to Grips with Tabs and Notation 101
Tapping into Tabs 101
Stringing notes along in tabs 102
Fretting notes in tab 102
Sequencing notes in tab 103
Playing simultaneous notes in tab 103
Chording in tab 104
Strumming in tab 104
Reading Rhythms 104
Splitting into quarter notes 105
Holding on for half and whole notes 106
Dividing further: Eighth and sixteenth notes 106
Dotting and tying notes 107
Resting and Repeating 109
Taking a rest 109
Repeating and repeating 110
Putting Everything Together 112
Starting with a simple tune 112
Moving up the neck 113
Shifting positions 113
Chapter 8: Discovering Fingerpicking Patterns 117
Introducing the Fingerpicking Technique 118
Picking Up Some Picking Patterns 120
Getting the lowdown on the up pattern 120
Rising and falling: The up and down pattern 123
Playing all together: The simultaneous picking pattern 123
Thumbing around: The alternate picking pattern 125
Chapter 9: Combining Melodies and Chords When Playing Solo 131
Strumming Melody and Chords Together 131
Thumb-strumming the melody 132
Using up strums 134
Strumming between the melody 134
Finger-strumming the melody 137
Picking Out Melodies and Chords 139
Faking a strum 139
Fingerpicking to combine melody and chords 139
Chapter 10: Picking Up Some Soloing Techniques 141
Getting Articulated on the Frets 141
Hammering-on 142
Pulling-off 143
Sliding between notes 144
Bending notes 147
Producing vibrato 149
Putting everything together 150
Picking Your Way to Great Solos 150
Being all fingers and thumbs (in a good way!) 151
Picking alternately: The running man 151
Using a pick 151
Strum blocking 152
Inventing Solos the Easy Way 153
Soloing using chord shapes 153
Playing all the chord shapes 153
Soloing with scales 154
Part 4: Discovering Genres and Styles 157
Chapter 11: Rocking Out with Your Uke 159
Rocking Out with Chords 159
Keeping it simple: Three-chord punk 160
Adding a fourth chord 160
Powering up with 5 chords 160
Building tension: Suspended chords 161
Strumming Rock and Punk Rhythms 162
Bo Diddling 162
Iggy Popping 163
Making Your Uke Talk: Soloing Tips 163
Phrasing like speaking 164
Articulating questions and answers 164
Moving up the fretboard for tension and release 164
Chapter 12: Playing the Blues to Lift Your Spirits 167
Playing Blues Chord Progressions 168
Performing a simple 12-bar blues 168
Varying the 12-bar blues 168
Shuffling the blues 172
Turning the Blues Around 176
Leading the Blues 178
Soloing with the Blues Scale 179
Discovering the first position blues scale 180
Using the second position blues scale 180
Scaling the heights with solos 181
Chapter 13: Saying “Aloha” to the Hawaiian Style 185
Strumming in the Hawaiian Way 185
Turning Around, Hawaiian-Style 188
Progressing to the Hawaiian turnaround 188
Soloing the Hawaiian turnaround 189
Stretching Out to Play “Alekoki” 190
Chapter 14: Jazzing Up Your Uke Playing 193
Turning Around, Jazz-Style 193
Using Hot Jazzy Chords 195
Strumming in That Jazzy Way 196
Playing a ragtime tune 196
Hitting the split stroke 198
Chapter 15: Strumming Up the Jawaiian Style 201
Starting Up Some Jawaiian Strumming 202
Practicing the touch strum 202
Drumming up the thumb ’n’ strum style 203
“Jamming” with Bob Marley 205
Chapter 16: Getting Classy: Classical Masterpieces for Ukulele 207
Strumming Up the Classics 207
Picking the Classics — Classical Guitar Pieces for Ukulele 210
Playing Campanella Style 213
Chapter 17: Ukuleleing the Holidays 217
Playing the Twelve Days 217
Ringing in the New Year with “Auld Lang Syne” 219
Making a Noise with “Silent Night” 220
Part 5: Buying and Looking After Your Ukulele 223
Chapter 18: Weighing Up Your Options When Buying a Ukulele 225
Buying Your First Uke 225
Assessing how much to spend 226
Picking a size 226
Avoiding problems 227
Deciding Where to Buy 227
Buying from a shop 227
Purchasing online 228
Obtaining Your Second (and Third, Fourth, Fifth ) Ukulele 228
Thinking about solid versus laminated 229
Considering types of wood 229
Plugging In: Electric Ukuleles 231
Lowering the Tone: Bass Ukuleles 232
Chapter 19: Splashing Out on Essentials and Accessories 233
Picking the Right Strings 233
Getting Hold of Optional Accessories 234
Clipping on a tuner 234
Bagging a case 235
Recording your performance 235
Leaving it standing up or hanging down? 236
Strapping on your uke 236
Capturing the right capo 236
Feeling for a pick 237
Going Mobile 238
Finding uke chords 238
Tuning up 238
Keeping time with a metronome 239
Recording tunes 239
Chapter 20: Restringing, Maintaining, and Adjusting Your Uke 241
Restringing Your Ukulele 241
Deciding when to restring 242
Removing the strings 242
Tying the strings at the bridge 243
Looping the strings round the tuning pegs 245
Stretching the strings 246
Maintaining Your Ukulele 246
Cleaning after playing 247
Storing your ukulele 247
Tackling humidity 247
Diagnosing and Solving Uke Problems 248
Adjusting strings that go out of tune 248
Deciding that the strings are too high: Lowering the action 248
Fixing a buzzing sound: Raising the action 249
Fighting against out-of-tune strings high up the fretboard 250
Part 6: The Part of Tens 251
Chapter 21: Ten Ukulele Players to Know 253
Ernest Ka‘ai (1881–1962) 253
May Singhi Breen (1895–1970) 254
Roy Smeck (1900–1994) 254
George Formby (1904–1961) 255
The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain (1985–) 255
Israel Kamakawiwo‘ole (1959–1997) 256
Jake Shimabukuro (1976–) 256
Amanda Palmer (1976–) 257
James Hill (1980–) 258
Zach Condon (1986–) 258
Chapter 22: Ten Ways to Get Involved in the Ukulele Scene 259
Joining a Ukulele Club 260
Visiting a Ukulele Festival 260
Making a Video 261
Playing Live 261
Going Online 262
Spreading the Uke News 262
Entering a Contest 262
Teaching Someone 263
Writing Your Own Songs 263
Seeing a Show 264
Chapter 23: Ten (or So) Tips for Improving Your Playing 265
Playing Very Slowly 265
Refusing to Rush Things 266
Recording Yourself 266
Playing with and for Others 267
Practicing in Sections 267
Knowing When to Stop Practicing 267
Stealing from Everyone 268
Varying Your Inversions and Verying Your Invarsions 268
Opening Your Ears 269
Enjoying Yourself 269
Busting a Rut 270
Chapter 24: Ten Greatest Ukulele Chords 271
Invigorating C (with a High Note) 272
Shimmering A Minor 7 (High Up) 272
Melancholy F Major 7 273
Complex G9 273
Chilled Out G6 274
The “Hawaiian” D7 274
Uncomfortable A Augmented 7 275
Jazzy C9 276
Menacing F Minor 9 276
Nostalgic E Diminished 7 277
Part 7: Appendixes 279
Appendix A: Chord Charts 281
Appendix B: Reading Standard Musical Notation 285
Appendix C: Audio Tracks 291
Index 297
