Learn Ukulele for Beginners: A Comprehensive Guide

The ukulele is an accessible and rewarding instrument for beginners. Its relatively simple chord structures and compact size make it easy to learn quickly. This guide provides a comprehensive path into the world of ukulele, even for those with no prior musical experience. The most important thing to remember is to have fun with it and not get bogged down. If you’re finding anything tricky, have a cup of tea.

Getting Started

Choosing the Right Ukulele

Selecting the right ukulele is the first step in your musical journey. Ukuleles come in various sizes and styles, each with its unique tone. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when choosing a ukulele:

Soprano: This is the smallest size of ukuleles. Soprano ukuleles have a higher, lilting tone compared to their larger cousins. Their small size and frets that are spaced closer together makes them ideal for young learners or players with small hands.
Concert: Larger than a soprano ukulele, but still compact in size, concert-sized ukuleles have more frets and a warmer, deeper tone than their soprano counterparts.
Tenor: The largest of the most common size of ukuleles, tenor ukuleles have a rich tone and are suited for players with larger hands. The neck is a little wider and heavier than both the Soprano and Concert ukuleles, giving it more of a bass-laden tone than the concert and soprano sized ukuleles.
Budget: Overall, ukuleles are one of the most affordable instruments, offering a lifetime of learning and playing enjoyment for a relatively low cost -- ranging between $70 to $300. Depending on what stage you’re at in your ukulele journey, there are a variety of ukuleles to meet your budget while still giving you an instrument you’ll cherish for years to come.

Essential Accessories

It’s recommended to purchase an electronic tuner. Clip it onto the head of your ukulele, and it tells you when the string you pluck is in tune. Remember, all ukuleles go out of tune, so check your tuning if it starts sounding rubbish.

Holding Your Ukulele

Before strumming your first chords, learning to hold your ukulele properly can help you get the best sound from your instrument and ensures you won’t damage your instrument. Start by holding your instrument with its back snug against you, nestling the body of your instrument with your right arm. Gently but firmly, hold the neck of your ukulele in the crook of your left hand, resting it comfortably in the webbing between your thumb and index finger. From this position, you can comfortably move your left hand up and down the neck of your ukulele to finger chords and your right hand is in the perfect position to strum those chords and make them ring out. Standing or sitting, the instrument should be held close against your body. Many people use a strap to keep their instrument in an optimum position, but others prefer not to. Without a strap, the right forearm secures the instrument against the chest. For now, let your left hand hold the neck where it reaches the headstock, loosely. If you’re sitting, choose a chair without arms. Slumping back will make things harder, so until you are a confident player, sit up at the edge of your seat. Try crossing your right leg over your left and let it rest gently against your thigh. Allow your shoulders to relax. All players will find things are much easier when the nails of the chording hand are cut very short.

Tuning Your Ukulele

One of the most distinctive features of a ukulele is the way its strings are tuned:

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G = The fourth string
C = The third string (lowest tone)
E = The second string
A = The first string (and highest-tone string)

While the six strings of a guitar are tuned in descending order, the lowest-toned string on a ukulele is actually its third string. Several resources are available to help you tune your ukulele, including free online ukulele tuners and apps for iOS and Android.

Basic Techniques

Strumming

Strumming chords is the backbone of learning to play ukulele. Strumming patterns involve different ways of playing up or down strokes on your ukulele. Some songs may call for you to play all of your chords using just heavier downward strokes in a steady rhythm. Others may require you to play ukulele chords in an alternating pattern, playing an upward stroke followed by a downward stroke. You might also stumble across a song that calls for an irregular strumming pattern, playing chords in a “down-down-up-down” pattern. The more you play and practice strumming chords on your ukulele, you’ll hear the subtle differences between what a chord sounds like when strummed in a downward motion versus an upward one. In time, you’ll start to strum chords instinctively, knowing whether you like the sound of alternating strum patterns or more irregular strum patterns based on the feel you want to create when playing a song.

Strumming Without a Pick: The most common way to strum your ukulele is with either your thumb, your index finger, or a combination of the two -- like you’re holding an invisible pick. You can also strum using the pads and nails of all four of your fingers.
Strumming With a Pick: If you do use a pick to strum your ukulele, it’s best to use a felt pick that won’t damage nylon ukulele strings. Holding your pick lightly and at an angle can help create a more fluid, less rigid sound when strumming chords.
Keep Your Wrist Loose: It’s all in the wrist! While having a gentle grip on your pick can create a more pleasing tone when you strum a chord, keeping your wrist loose can also make chords sound better and less choppy. By keeping your wrist loose, you’ll be able to more easily transition between chords and minimize the risk of wrist pain after playing for a while.

Basic Chords

Chords are a combination of three or more notes that are played together to create a pleasing harmony. Chords are the foundation of playing songs on a ukulele or any other stringed instrument. To start learning ukulele chords, beginners can look to chord charts to show them where to place their fingers on specific frets to make their strings sing. Ukulele chord charts offer players a visual representation of the four strings and their corresponding frets on your instrument. In addition to showing your strings (in order: G, C, E, A), ukulele chord charts often have symbols to show you just where to place your fingers in order to play a chord properly:

O - A circle above the string means to play that string in an open position
X - An “x” above the strings means you won’t play that string or mute it when playing
1 = Index finger
2 = Middle finger
3 = Ring finger
4 = Pinky finger

Some of the most common and easy chords beginners can learn to play on ukulele include:

C
G
F
Am (A minor)
G7
D

A Minor 7th Chord

Take your right forefinger and brush it across the strings. This should already sound quite nice. In fact, you’ve just played your first chord, which is called an ‘A Minor 7th’, so you can feel pretty pleased with yourself already.

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C Chord

If this doesn’t make sense, take your ukulele and place a finger on the third fret of the top A string (the one furthest from your nose). This is a C chord. If you compare this to the chord box, it should begin to make sense. Now, strum the strings. Don’t rush it.

C, F, and G7 Chords

Here’s another chord that is a family member to C major: G dominant 7th. To play it, place your index finger on the 1st fret of the 2nd string (just like in F). Your middle finger plays the 2nd fret of the 3rd string (one string down from where it is in F). And finally, your ring finger plays the 2nd fret of the bottom string. Remember, thumb on the back of the neck, fingers parallel to the frets, and use the tips of your fingers to hold chord notes. Now that you know C, F, and G7 in the key of C, practice changing between these chords, strumming four counts in between. For more variation you can change the order of the chords, but the premise is the same: get comfortable switching between them.

C6 Chord

When you play all the open strings together, the notes you strum make a chord called C6. The C6 chord is comprised of the notes G C E A. Sound familiar? Those are the notes we tune our ukuleles to! It’s called “C tuning” and is the most common way to tune a ukulele. (You may find old books that ask you to tune lower, to Bb tuning, and in Canada, many people tune higher, to D.

C7 Chord

When you are playing your C7 chord, the index finger is on the first string, first fret. Shift that fingertip up one string so it is now on the second string, first fret.

Practicing and Learning

Implementing New Chords

Any time you learn a new chord, whether it’s super simple or super hard, you need to implement it. Without context you will have a hard time remembering what you learned. Because of this, when you’re beginning, don’t try to learn more than one or two chords at a time.

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Chord Progressions

With three chords you can play way more songs than you’d ever think. Try to sing them once you learn how the chords go (or have somebody else sing). Any song can be written out or recorded in one of 12 main keys. So you need to be cautious when pairing a chord and lyric sheet with a recording! Sometimes a song is recorded in a key that works for the singer’s voice, but isn’t very easy to play on ukulele. This isn’t a problem if you’re singing the song yourself, but it will sound “wrong” if you play along with the CD.

Strumming Rhythmically

Make a loose fist with your right hand (as if you were going to do rock, paper, scissors). Now, let your pointer finger pop out at a 90 degree angle. Try brushing the index finger down across the strings in a perpendicular movement. Angle your wrist slightly downwards and allow your finger to bend. Strum down over and over again with even timing until it feels pretty comfortable. A system for strumming more rhythmically and intuitively.

Scales

A ukulele scale is an organized sequence of notes. There are 8 notes in every scale. This string of 8 notes is called an octave. Every scale starts and ends with the same note, also known as the “root note.” The last note of the scale is also the root note of that scale, however, it’s an octave higher than that same first note. Every scale ascends in a prescribed series of half and whole steps, leading up to the 8th note. For example, take a look at the C Major scale -- one of the easiest scales to play and one that you’ll hear in a ton of different songs. Part of what makes the C Major Scale easy for beginners to learn is because there are no sharps or flats:

1st Note (Root Note): C
2nd Note: D
3rd Note: E
4th Note: F
5th Note: G
6th Note: A
7th Note: B
8th Note (Root note, one octave higher): C

Learning scales can help build finger strength and dexterity, as well as help you develop an ear for music. Learning scales can help you learn melodies and riffs later on, when you start to play -- or write -- your own music. One of the easiest ways for beginners to learn scales is to use a ukulele scale chart. When reading these ukulele scale diagrams, you’ll see notes represented by dots. These dots show you which note you’ll play on a specific fret and string. If you see a dot with a note above the string, that means that you will play that string in an open position -- with no fingers on any frets.

Beginner Songs

Practicing is so much more fun when you are strumming a song, so let’s play. F, G7, and C7, in that order, are the chords you need to play and sing “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall.” By the time you get to the last bottle you will be an expert on your chord changes (and perhaps tipsy). Another fun song to sing and play is a traditional song from Hawaii with the same progression, “Popoki Make a Cat,” which comes with an extra bonus: a Hawaiian language lesson!

Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds” is a fun, perennial favorite. It uses chords from our starter pack and is easy to play and sing, especially because you may already be familiar with the tune and catchy, repetitive lyrics.

For beginners just starting to play ukulele, and easy -- and fun -- song to learn is “Lava” from the Disney animated short film of the same name. The song is made up of three easy-to-play chords: C, F, and G7. This cheerful love song nods to the ukulele’s Hawaiian roots. It’s impossible not to smile while learning to play “Lava.” Just take it slow and practice your chord transitions, smoothly maneuvering from one chord to the next and focusing on placing your fingers correctly before picking up the speed of your strumming.

Rhythm Basics

1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and … This rhythm is the bones of most of the songs we know. The numbers are the beats and are when we strum down the strings, or downstrokes. They are arranged in groups of four, and as this is the most common rhythm in music, we call it “common time.” The ands are the upstrokes. Relax and pretend you are standing over the kitchen sink, shaking off water off your hand without making a mess. There is probably a small movement from the elbow, a little twist of the wrist, and a flick of the fingers. That’s what a good strum should look like. You can use just the index finger, or a combination of several fingers. Use what is comfortable. We bring variety to our playing by leaving beats out or giving them emphasis (accent). For a simple backbeat strum, play only the even beats: that is, beats 2 and 4. A little more complicated is the “doo wack-a do” strum. On beats 1 and 3 you do a light, partial down strum, just brushing the fourth string, then you give a solid accented down strum on the even beats, and play the up beat afterwards. If you were counting it out, it would go like this: one two and three four and one two and three four and.

Additional Tips and Resources

Practice Regularly: There’s only one way you will get better. If you are struggling with something you find hard, dedicate some time to it every day. There is no “get out of jail free” card in music.
Enjoy the Music: You’ve got to enjoy the music you make or you are wasting your time. So once you learn a song, just play it and enjoy the music you are making. Don’t judge, “Oh darn. That chord buzzed.” Just play it as best you can.
Join a Ukulele Community: A kani ka pila is a jam group that usually forms in a circle and everyone takes turns choosing songs. Usually the pace is very slow so it’s a fabulous place to hone your skills in a group setting without any pressure. Got A Ukulele has a huge page of ukulele clubs.
Explore Online Resources: So many good youtube resources out there. if you find a teacher you like you could most likely join their patreon to get access to tabs and other downloads. of course there are loads of helpful books too so if you have a particular style you want to play, there will be plenty of recommendations. learning chord shapes is a great way to get your feet wet.
Consider Structured Learning: For those who want a clear path into the world of learning ukulele and have never touched a ukulele (or maybe even an instrument) before, consider a structured course.

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