Learning to play the ukulele is a fun and charming experience that can bring joy to your life. Whether you're a beginner or looking to brush up on your skills, this video guide will help you get started on your ukulele journey.

Welcome! My name is Bernadette and I'm a certified music teacher. I have a bachelor's degree in music and a master's degree in education. I will try my best to help you get started on your ukulele journey! To download a PDF that will support you with today's lesson, follow this link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/7714949...

First and foremost, it's important to choose the right ukulele for you. Ukuleles come in four different sizes: soprano, concert, tenor, and baritone. Soprano is the smallest size and is perfect for traveling, for children, or for those with small hands. Concert ukuleles are slightly larger, making them a great choice for beginners of all ages and sizes. Tenor ukuleles are even larger, making the fret spacing wider. If your fingers are short, you may feel like the tenor is too big. With that said, one of the benefits of having a tenor ukulele is that it is easy to rest on your lap as you play. Baritone ukuleles are the largest and have the lowest pitch (they sound more like guitars than ukuleles). Baritone ukuleles also require you to learn new chord charts and shapes.

In this video I was playing a concert ukulele by Enya. This ukulele has fluorocarbon strings, which feel much easier on the fingers and have a sweeter sound. You can see this ukulele here: https://www.ukelandia.com/listing/110...
Most ukuleles are shaped like a figure 8, but if you're interested in a pineapple-shaped ukulele, you can see a great one here: https://www.ukelandia.com/listing/127...

Once you've chosen your ukulele, it's time to learn the basics. First, learn the parts of the ukulele. The headstock is the part of the ukulele where the tuning pegs are located. The neck is the long part of the ukulele that runs from the headstock to the body. The body is where the sound hole and sound chamber are located. The sound hole is where the sound comes out, and the sound chamber amplifies the sound. The frets wires are the metal bars that run along the neck.

Next, learn how to tune your ukulele. The strings of the ukulele are tuned to G-C-E-A (from your nose to the floor). You can use a tuning app like pano tuner or a clip-on tuner to help you tune your ukulele. Here's the tuner that I was using in my video: https://www.ukelandia.com/listing/133...
It's important to keep your ukulele in tune, so make sure to check the tuning often. If you'd like to see my more in-depth tuning tutorial, you can find that here:    • HOW TO TUNE YOUR UKULELE & USE A CLIP...  

Once your ukulele is tuned, you can start playing! The first thing you should learn is how to play a few basic chords. There are many chords to learn, but some of the most common chords for beginners are C, Am, F, and G7. Start by learning these chords and then move on to more advanced chords as you become more comfortable.

Another important aspect of playing the ukulele is strumming. Strumming is when you use your hand to make the strings vibrate in a rhythmic pattern. We will learn a strumming pattern in this video, but if you need a slower course for this, I have linked one down below.

Today's lesson was a crash course. If you'd like to learn how to play ukulele with me here on YouTube, here are the courses I recommend in this order:

How to Strum Ukulele
   • HOW TO STRUM THE UKULELE FOR BEGINNERS  
30 Day Uke Challenge
   • 30 Day Ukulele Challenge  
Strum & Sing Challenge
   • How to Strum & Sing Challenge  
15 Uke Song Challenge
   • 30 Day Uke Song Challenge  
Songs Uke Should Know
   • Uke Should Know Challenge  

If you'd like to support the channel, the best way to do that is by joining the patreon community here   / bernadetteteachesmusic  . You'll get access to free PDF printables, live lessons, and exclusive video tutorials.

You can also support by shopping in my store https://www.ukelandia.com or by donating a tip on PayPal here: https://paypal.me/bernadetteplazi

TIME STAMPS
(Move ahead or come back to a point in the video)
0:00 Introduction and overview
0:43 Tuning
4:11 Holding a soprano
5:24 Holding other ukuleles
5:50 Foot stool mentioned:
6:42 Hand placement
9:02 How to strum
12:07 Chords
24:23 More chords
30:09 Stand By Me
36:27 Review
39:07 Lion Sleeps Tonight
45:48 Down & Up Strums
47:48 Song & Strumming
49:27 Strumming Pattern
51:21 Homework
52:50 Lion Sleeps Tonight with a strumming pattern
54:20 Next Steps

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  / plazi