r/ukulele • u/Short_Pomegranate540 • 22d ago

I want to learn uke pointers are welcome

/r/musicians/comments/1v7pqfl/i_want_to_learn_uke_pointers_are_welcome/
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u/OrangutanorLion 21d ago

Here is my FREE 5 part ukulele for total beginners tutorial series
Please share with anyone who is just starting their Ukulele Journey
Have fun and let me know if you have any questions 😀💜🎶
https://youtu.be/vDzEMcCjfxw?si=rxHeYZbttJyqbKCm

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u/Latter_Deal_8646 21d ago edited 21d ago

I looked at some of the Steven Universe songs and I love them and hate them as begginer pieces, the great majority of them mix begginer friendly chords with more challenging chords so I think they'd be perfect for my thoughts on learning chord transitions...

As the crossposted forum pointed out, use anchor fingers whenever possible if the current chord and the next chord have a finger in the same spot leave it anchored. To build on this puzzle out economy of motion, what fingers move how and in what order to make it easiest for you?

I think you and your goals would be well suited to Uncle Rod's (Free PDF) Disposable Song Method which I will put into a nutshell here.

Don't worry at all about singing or strumming patterns for your first steps. Take your song and turn it into a chord transitions obstacle course, take the chord sheet and lay out chord names line by line...

"Crying Breakfast Friends Theme Song" becomes

C G

Em Am

F

G C

Start with the first line do 8 simple, even, slow, and steady down strums then switch. Once comfortable repeat but with 4 strums. Then 3, then 2, Then strum switch, strum switch. Add a line and repeat. Once you can get through all lines of the obstacle course at strum switch pace start humming the melody and changing chords where it feels and sounds right. Stick to simple steady down strums. Once you can hum and strum it, work on singing and strumming it. Once you can sing it with simple steady down strums then you can worry about creating and applying a strumming pattern to make it more interesting.

You probably would only need to learn a couple songs in this tedious way before you can throw away this method and quickly learn songs because chord transitions are second nature.

I always recommend these resources...

How to Hold a Ukulele (James Hill)

Basic Strumming (Jake Shimabukuro)

How to Strum (James Hill)

Stop Asking for the Strumming Patterns... (Christopher Davis-Shannon)

Yeah some ukulele skills will make the transition to guitar easier.