Ukulele Online Made Easy
by Libby W
I thought it might be helpful for those of you just starting your ukulele journey to know about some popular ukulele websites. There are many amazing free ukulele resources online. Here are a few that I enjoy.
1. World Class Ukulele Players:
If you want to be amazed at what a ukulele can do in the hands of masters, watch these three videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gaWuadgL3g (Jake Shimabukuro, Hawaiian)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2r0w30-TI4 y (James Hill, Canadian!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxnL0iddLmI (Three young up and coming Hawaiian ukulele artists)
And then watch this video of Israel Kamakawiwo'ole doing Somewhere Over the Rainbow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1bFr2SWP1I –Israel Kamakawiwo’ole died in 1997, but this song, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow/Wonderful World” is the reason why ukulele is so popular today.
2. Tutorials: If you want to learn how to play the ukulele, there are some very good websites.
My favourite is http://www.ukuleletricks.com/. Here is a link to Brett McQueen's instructional video on how to finger 11 essential chords on the ukulele. http://www.ukuleletricks.com/11-must-know-ukulele-chords-for-beginners/. (Just a side note: I learned to strum by purchasing and working through Brett McQueen's Strumming video lesson series. It is excellent.)
Also check out the following sites:
http://ukulelehunt.com/ The author of this website is Alistair Wood, who wrote "Ukulele for Dummies"--a really good book to have on hand.
http://ukuleleunderground.com/ - Also google "Uke Minutes". Aldrine Guerero from ukuleleunderground has about 200 hundred quick and easy lessons: everything from stringing and cleaning your uke to learning complicated strum patterns.
http://www.gotaukulele.com/--an excellent site by Barry Maz, a uke guru from the UK
http://www.ukemaker.com/ukeclub/media/StrumPatterns.pdf
Google 'Ukulele Mike'--he has lots of free lessons on YouTube and Vimeo and he's a good teacher.
3. Finding Chords for Songs: If you have a song you like, and want to find the lyrics and chords for ukulele, try:
http://www.chordie.com
www.ultimateguitar.com
http://www.scorpexuke.com
http://www.ukuleledoctor.com
4. Songbooks
a) Songbooks online:
If you are looking for song collections, google "Ukulele Club Songbooks". You will find oodles of songbooks already set up for ukulele. A few of the best are:
Bytown Ukulele Group http://www.bytownukelele.ca
Halifax Ukulele Group
http://halifaxukulelegang.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/the- official-hug-songbook-volume-16.pdf
Taunton Ukulele http://www.tusc.co.uk/songs
b) Songbooks, hard copy
A good songbook to buy is "The Daily Ukulele" by Jim Beloff. It has 365 songs, and is available through Chapters Indigo, but it's cheaper at amazon.ca. This book has sheet music with chords--especially arranged in keys suitable for the ukulele. You will find that as time goes by, you can play more and more of the songs, and that the more difficult ones become magically easier! Beloff has a second book called The Daily Ukulele Leap Year Edition--another 366 songs!
5. Tuner: If you want to download a tuner for your desktop, go to http://www.aptuner.com, but there are many others as well.
6. Metronome: A metronome can really help you keep a steady tempo when you are working on songs. Mark A. suggests this one: https://appsto.re/ca/FNrFC.i
7. Recording: Go to http://audacity.sourceforge.net for a free program you can download so that you can record yourself, although the sound quality is not spectacular. On my iPad, I use Voice Record, an excellent free program, but there are many others.
8. The Top 50 Ukulele sites: http://www.boatpaddleukuleles.com/top50
9. Learning the notes on the Fretboard: Try the FretMaster app. Also see Joy's tip "Rule of 4 and 5" under "Tips and Practice Ideas" here on the SOUP website.
Keep smilin'! Keep strummin'!
Libby
I thought it might be helpful for those of you just starting your ukulele journey to know about some popular ukulele websites. There are many amazing free ukulele resources online. Here are a few that I enjoy.
1. World Class Ukulele Players:
If you want to be amazed at what a ukulele can do in the hands of masters, watch these three videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gaWuadgL3g (Jake Shimabukuro, Hawaiian)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2r0w30-TI4 y (James Hill, Canadian!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxnL0iddLmI (Three young up and coming Hawaiian ukulele artists)
And then watch this video of Israel Kamakawiwo'ole doing Somewhere Over the Rainbow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1bFr2SWP1I –Israel Kamakawiwo’ole died in 1997, but this song, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow/Wonderful World” is the reason why ukulele is so popular today.
2. Tutorials: If you want to learn how to play the ukulele, there are some very good websites.
My favourite is http://www.ukuleletricks.com/. Here is a link to Brett McQueen's instructional video on how to finger 11 essential chords on the ukulele. http://www.ukuleletricks.com/11-must-know-ukulele-chords-for-beginners/. (Just a side note: I learned to strum by purchasing and working through Brett McQueen's Strumming video lesson series. It is excellent.)
Also check out the following sites:
http://ukulelehunt.com/ The author of this website is Alistair Wood, who wrote "Ukulele for Dummies"--a really good book to have on hand.
http://ukuleleunderground.com/ - Also google "Uke Minutes". Aldrine Guerero from ukuleleunderground has about 200 hundred quick and easy lessons: everything from stringing and cleaning your uke to learning complicated strum patterns.
http://www.gotaukulele.com/--an excellent site by Barry Maz, a uke guru from the UK
http://www.ukemaker.com/ukeclub/media/StrumPatterns.pdf
Google 'Ukulele Mike'--he has lots of free lessons on YouTube and Vimeo and he's a good teacher.
3. Finding Chords for Songs: If you have a song you like, and want to find the lyrics and chords for ukulele, try:
http://www.chordie.com
www.ultimateguitar.com
http://www.scorpexuke.com
http://www.ukuleledoctor.com
4. Songbooks
a) Songbooks online:
If you are looking for song collections, google "Ukulele Club Songbooks". You will find oodles of songbooks already set up for ukulele. A few of the best are:
Bytown Ukulele Group http://www.bytownukelele.ca
Halifax Ukulele Group
http://halifaxukulelegang.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/the- official-hug-songbook-volume-16.pdf
Taunton Ukulele http://www.tusc.co.uk/songs
b) Songbooks, hard copy
A good songbook to buy is "The Daily Ukulele" by Jim Beloff. It has 365 songs, and is available through Chapters Indigo, but it's cheaper at amazon.ca. This book has sheet music with chords--especially arranged in keys suitable for the ukulele. You will find that as time goes by, you can play more and more of the songs, and that the more difficult ones become magically easier! Beloff has a second book called The Daily Ukulele Leap Year Edition--another 366 songs!
5. Tuner: If you want to download a tuner for your desktop, go to http://www.aptuner.com, but there are many others as well.
6. Metronome: A metronome can really help you keep a steady tempo when you are working on songs. Mark A. suggests this one: https://appsto.re/ca/FNrFC.i
7. Recording: Go to http://audacity.sourceforge.net for a free program you can download so that you can record yourself, although the sound quality is not spectacular. On my iPad, I use Voice Record, an excellent free program, but there are many others.
8. The Top 50 Ukulele sites: http://www.boatpaddleukuleles.com/top50
9. Learning the notes on the Fretboard: Try the FretMaster app. Also see Joy's tip "Rule of 4 and 5" under "Tips and Practice Ideas" here on the SOUP website.
Keep smilin'! Keep strummin'!
Libby