Marty Music is an innovative YouTube channel dedicated to all things guitar-related, featuring everything from song lessons and pedal comparisons/reviews to pedal comparisons/reviews and song lessons.
The Ukulele is a four stringed instrument similar to a miniature classical guitar. Commonly associated with Hawaii and available in various sizes from soprano to baritone models.
1. Learn the Basic Chords
The ukulele is an ideal instrument for beginners, as its simple chord structure and sound makes learning quickly and enjoying playing songs easy. Plus, its much cheaper than other stringed instruments like guitar. Once you master its fundamental chords, then learning fingerpicking techniques and songs using tablatures becomes possible.
Most beginning ukulele players typically begin their learning experience with open chords that only require one finger to fret a string, however as you progress you will want to explore barre chords which require several fingers of your fretting hand to press down multiple strings at once. When doing this it’s essential that you refer back to your chord charts in order to learn which ones are minor or major chords and keep track of which names correspond.
Ukulele chord diagrams feature thicker lines at the top to represent the nut of a ukulele, and will also indicate which strings should be played open and barred with your fingertips. A chord chart may show you which string(s) need to be played open versus barred with fingertips; for instance if C chord has an open circle on it means this string should be played open; conversely a cross indicates this string should be barred with fingertips.
Notably, chords may differ between guitar and ukulele due to thinner strings with lower tone levels on ukuleles. To make sure that you’re playing the correct chord, compare a chord chart from each instrument against one another.
Once you’re comfortable with basic chords, move on to song lessons from Marty Music. Their tutorials will show you how to play some popular songs – even those beyond the capabilities of rank beginners! Although many songs may exceed rank beginners’ abilities, the tutorials will help develop your skills and become a better strummer. There are other online ukulele lessons as well; though many don’t provide as clear step-by-step instruction.
2. Start Strumming
Befor e starting strumming, it is essential to master the fundamentals of ukulele fingering and learn all of its chord positions – be it using a chart or simply practising on your own. Once you have this down pat, its time to focus on strumming patterns.
There are various strum patterns, but the general rule of thumb is to play downbeats on downbeats and upbeats on upbeats – this is known as the down-up rhythm. Over time, you should become proficient at counting along while strumming so as to match it to the beat of music.
As opposed to its guitar counterpart, ukulele only features four strings, making it more difficult to differentiate between downstrokes and upstrokes. Therefore, until you gain enough proficiency on it, it is recommended that the strum pattern remain simple for best results.
Another helpful tip for playing guitar is using your thumb instead of hard hitting to produce more mellow sounds; this technique may take longer to master but will pay dividends later when playing songs.
Growing out and shaping your nails will improve the pick and make playing the ukulele easier, as this is a common practice among professional players. Furthermore, this practice will protect the neck of the instrument from damage as the nails serve to provide additional support.
3. Learn to Tune
Tuners are essential when playing a ukulele and provide an effortless method for tuning. A tuner simply clips on to the headstock and can easily be adjusted as necessary – unlike guitars which use E-A-D-G tuning standards.
Even without a tuner, tuning a ukulele is possible by comparing it to another instrument such as a piano. Or you can simply adjust by plucking each string individually and listening for what sound they make.
Marty Music is an iconic figure among YouTube guitarists and has made numerous videos that demonstrate various aspects of playing guitar, from short tutorials to longer lessons covering popular songs. His videos range from brief tutorials to lengthy lessons covering more in-depth topics. Marty has long been creating content on his channel – his content features song reviews as well as gear reviews as well as hosting his own podcast! His channel should be essential viewing for all guitarists – beginners as well as advanced players!
4. Learn to Change Scales
There are numerous free ukulele websites offering lessons and tutorials, from basic beginner instruction to more complex lessons offered by guitar websites. While they might not have as extensive a curriculum or clear step-by-step instructions as their guitar counterparts do, many will get even rank beginners strumming quickly. One particularly helpful site for beginning players is TenThumbs Productions; their lessons may be basic, but their tutorials for tunes by artists like Bruno Mars to Hank Williams make learning to strumming effortless for even novice strummers! Although many tutorials exceed rank beginner skill levels, TenThumbs Productions goes the extra mile in making their tutorials playable even by amateur strummers!
Instead of being printed out across different staves like piano music does, ukulele music typically transposes down by an octave so it fits onto one page. The most prevalent scale for ukulele music is usually major scale, which has an upbeat and cheery sound and can easily be identified by ear. A Major Third from its tonic (starting note) and Sixths from both third and sixth scale degrees easily identify this compositional structure. Another easy-to-identify scale is Natural Minor Scale which can be created by shifting half steps lower on third and sixth scale degrees while leaving other two other degrees unchanged when shifting up or down respectively on this compositional journey.