Reviews of 7 Beginner Ukulele Books

In this collection of ukulele beginning book reviews, we take a close look at 7 popular ways to begin your ukulele journey. We’ll give you a lot of information about what’s in each book, and explain who each of these methods is best for.

So, you want to learn how to play the ukulele. Where do you start? How do you get the basics under your belt so you can choose the music you want to play and eventually teach yourself? There are loads of online videos, but maybe a book would be better? Do you need to have an instructor? Can you teach yourself?

If you are wondering about these questions then this post focusing on ukulele beginning book reviews is for you. 

THE 7 POPULAR UKULELE BEGINNER BOOKS TO BEGIN YOUR UKULELE JOURNEY

1. 21 Songs in 6 Days: Learn Ukulele the Easy Way
2. Ukulele For All
3. Alfred’s Basic Ukulele Method
4. Hal Leonard-Ukulele Book 1
5. Essential Elements for Ukulele
6. Ukulele Primer by Bert Casey
7. Jumpin’ Jim’s Ukulele Tips and Tunes 

Read more here.

Wabash Cannonball Ukulele Tutorial for Beginners

So for this week, we are going to learn a three-chord, easy ukulele song with this Wabash Cannonball ukulele tutorial. Wabash Cannonball is one of the songs from our new book 21 Easy Ukulele Folk Songs. The book is out now so don’t forget to get your copy here. 

Certainly, you’ll find this Wabash Cannonball ukulele tutorial an easy one to follow because you just play with three easy chords: C, F and G7. Read more here.

Roger Miller's King of the Road Ukulele Tutorial

King of the Road is a chart-topping country to pop crossover song. American musician and Country Music Hall of Fame inductee Roger Dean Miller wrote the lyrics of the song in 1964. Read more here.

In the following King of the Road ukulele tutorial, Jenny illustrates the chords and strums. While the song uses three very easy chords: G, C and D7; the strum pattern is a bit tricky. The strum pattern follows an uneven down (1), down-up (2), up (3) down-up (4) flow. The song is also a bit fast which adds to the strumming challenge but keep working on it and you’ll surely find the rhythm. Check out the video here. 

How to Play Nearer My God to Thee - Easy Ukulele Tutorial

Nearer My God to Thee is a great song for beginners to learn on the ukulele since it only has three chords. Jenny does a ‘sing and strum’ in the key of C and a ‘solo melody’ in the key of G. This way you have the option to play in either key or even both if you like.

For the key of C, we have the chords C, F and G7 while for the key of G, we got G,  C and D7. Jenny does an all-down strum (four beats per measure) on the first verse. To vary up a little bit, she tries a down (1), down (2), up-down (3), down-up (4) on the second verse. In addition, she also does a fingerpicking strum on the third verse. Finally, she shows a simple chord melody on the last verse. So without further ado, check out the video below to learn how to play Nearer My God to Thee. 

Read more here. 

My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean Ukulele Tutorial

View our video tutorial for My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean – easy ukulele song for beginners. With just five simple chords namely G, C, A, D and D7 and a standard all-down strum pattern, you will soon be playing this song all on your own. Download the lyrics and chords sheet here before heading to the ukulele tutorial.

Read more here. 

City of Stars Ukulele Tutorial

We conducted a poll in December on which song you'd like to have ukulele lessons on and "City of Stars" was one of the top two songs so here comes the video tutorial for this melancholic and poetic song from the movie La La Land! 

Check out more about the chords, strums and the ukulele tutorial for City of Stars in this video.

“City of Stars” was composed for the Oscar winning movie called “La La Land” starring Ryan Gosling opposite Emma Stone.

The song was originally intended to be sung by Stone’s character Mia,... Read more here.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Ukulele Tutorial

The earlier Christmas songs we’ve provided ukulele lessons on were mostly joyful and lively tunes.  This time we bring you a ukulele tutorial for  “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” a mellow and poignant Christmas song.

Read more, view the video tutorial and get a downloadable lead sheet here. 

Silver Bells Ukulele Tutorial

Silver Bells is one more easy ukulele song for Christmas that you can learn. The song uses the following chords: G, G7, C, Am, D7 and A7. It also has a fairly simple strumming pattern. You can use all down strums for the verses and a little variation of down-down-up-down for the chorus. You can view more of the chords, strums and song in the video ukulele tutorial.

BELLS AND CHRISTMAS

What is it about bells that we usually associate them with Christmas? Aside from our featured easy ukulele song Silver Bells, remember one of the most famous Christmas songs is entitled Jingle Bells. There is also another song called I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day which was created from a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Read more..

Harmonic Rhythm and Ukulele Strumming Tips

Trying to do a fancy strum like an expert can be a bit frustrating when you’re a beginner but as the old adage goes, take it one step at a time (or in this case one beat at a time) and you’ll soon be strumming like a pro. One thing that can be difficult to determine at first is the strumming speed, particularly when you have various chord changes within the song. The strumming speed is the number of strums you can make in one beat. And the beat, of course, is the steady, underlying pulse or groove of the song.

In the following ukulele tutorial video, Jenny discusses harmonic rhythm or harmonic tempo and the effect of strumming speed to this rhythm. Sounds complex, right? So before we go further with it, it’s also helpful to remember that when we are learning a new song on the ukulele, practicing with an easy one strum per beat gives you time to get familiar with the melody and chord changes. When you’ve got the chord changes down along with singing the melody, then you can level up to more complicated strumming stuff. 

Read more about harmonic rhythm and check out the video here.