Whether you’re a musician or not, learning how to play an instrument is fun. It is even more fun when the instrument is a Ukulele. It is Hawaiian and quite easy to learn. We all know anything Hawaiian is fun. At most times, one doesn’t even need a class to master the art of playing a Ukulele.
You just need to know the basics and practice regularly. Within no time you’ll be a master in playing this instrument. It’s much more fun to play the songs you like rather than just listen to them being played. Today we’ll be giving you the basics of learning how to play a ukulele. Stay with us and learn.
Get yourself a Ukulele
Every profession requires that you have the right tools for you. It is not any different in the music world. If you’re to learn how to play an instrument, it helps to have it for practice. When you’re new to this, you need a soprano ukulele.
Why do you choose this one? Because it is the easiest to play and the cheapest. You do not want to start out with something complex. An easy to play instrument increases the chances of you learning much faster and efficiently. An alto ukulele is more favorable for people with bigger hands.
The moment you get the ukulele you need, focus on familiarizing yourself with it. Know all its parts and what each part is used for. By the time you move to playing, you won’t have a hard time following written instructions.
Tune the ukulele
I believe you have now inspected your ukulele and known every part of it. The next thing you need to do is tune it so that when you start playing it’ll produce a good sound. This is the very first step of learning how to play the ukulele.
Tuning simply means tightening the strings that are a bit loose or loosening those that are too tight. You do this using the tuner knobs that are positioned at the top of the head. Usually, the tighter the string, the higher the note.
Most of the times though, you’ll only tighten strings because they tend to loosen when plucked over time. After tuning you pluck each one of them to make sure they sound okay. An electric tuner could help you with tuning correctly. Clip it at the head of your ukulele and you’ll know whether the string you pluck is in tune or not.
How to hold your Ukulele
This may pass like an obvious thing but it’s not. It is very important to know how to hold the ukulele. If you hold it the wrong way you’re likely not to make the sound you want. Learn to straighten your back and shoulders when playing.
You want to do it without straining any part of you. Use your strongest hand to strum the strings and the other one to hold the neck. When seated, it is okay to let the ukulele rest on your lap and when standing holds it close to your chest. A strap could also help to keep it in position.
Make sure whichever position you choose, you feel comfortable enough to play. It is also important to how tight it needs to be. Too tight will affect the sound and too loose could make it fall off your hands when it’s not strapped.
Learn the Chords
You now know how to choose and tune your ukulele. The next step will be to learn some basic chords. Playing more than one note together to create a harmony is what we refer to as a chord. You can use chord boxes to help you make a chord.
These are just representations of the frets on the neck of your instrument on a graph. On that graph, the vertical lines are the strings while the horizontal ones are the frets. They guide you on where to put your finger in order to make a chord. Once you learn the basic chords then you can go to the more complex ones now. At this point, you’re not clueless about playing your ukulele. In fact, you just need one other step to know all the basics.
Strumming on time
You have learned how to tune your ukulele, hold it correctly and the chords. Now it’s time to add icing to it. You need to know how to strum it. This is very easy. All you need to know is how to create a rhythm. You should play on the beat.
A melodic and cohesive tune requires rhythm. A metronome could help you here to give your strumming pace. Ty to match the clicks produced by the metronome. You should also try not to have any breaks when you’re adjusting your fingers to different notes.
The only thing that will help you here is patient and practice. Start out slow then pick pace as you move along. Once you get used to it you’ll find yourself doing it with your eyes closed.
Additional tips:
- Do not rush-give yourself time to learn and be patient until you’re good
- Have fun-music is fun and you ought to have fun while making music
- Practice-it’s true what they say: practice makes perfect
- Learn alongside friends-when you practice in a group, you tend to learn more than you do on your own. Here you get to observe and see what others do
- Do not overdo it-rest and exercise your fingers before a session
- Keep your fingernails short
Conclusion
A ukulele is an easy instrument to learn but it all depends on your willingness to learn. Something could be easy but if you’re not passionate about it no amount of time can make you learn how to do it. Be driven by your desire to learn and the outcome will be amazing.
You’ll find yourself holding the ukulele every other time and looking forward to your sessions. You could join a group of other learners and practice together for better understanding. With all the information above, you can get that ukulele and get on with it.
Make sure to practice your favorite songs and players. That way it will be fun and entertaining to learn.
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