What to Bring to the Lessons: My Ukulele and Tuner Recommendations

November 29, 2016

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So you've signed up for lessons? Yay! This is so exciting! Now let's make sure you have what you need. There are really only two things you'll have to bring to the first lesson: a digital tuner and a ukulele. Here are my recommendations for obtaining those items with only a modest initial investment.

The Tuner

A good digital tuner is as important as your instrument. It won't matter how great your playing is if you're out of tune! My current favorite is the Snark SN5X. You can find it on Amazon Prime for about $10, and it has a big bright interface that makes it easy to tune up your uke. There are other methods for tuning instruments, like phone apps and pitch pipes, but I find the digital tuner to be the easiest, the fastest, and the most accurate way to tune up an instrument.

The Ukulele

If you already have a ukulele:

Great! Make sure it's a soprano, concert, or tenor ukulele. Sopranos are also called "standard" ukuleles, and it's the small, friendly size you typically picture when you think of a ukulele. Concert and tenor ukuleles are bigger and have a slightly different sound, but sopranos, concerts, and tenors all have the same GCEA tuning, which is what we use for the course. The only ukulele that won't work for the Foundations course is the baritone ukulele, which has a different tuning.

If you don't already have a ukulele:

Start with a cheap one. I recommend the Diamond Head and Mahalo brands. Both companies make really happy looking entry-level ukuleles that are available from Amazon Prime for around $30. Choose one in your favorite color or one that matches your decor at home! It doubles as a sculpture, you know. :)

Why I Recommend Starting with a Cheapie:

If you were just learning how to drive, you wouldn't learn on a Ferrari, would you? And it wouldn't make much sense to go car shopping if you didn't know how to drive, would it? How would you even know what to look for, or what features were important to you? If you buy an expensive ukulele, I think you're more likely to look at the instrument as a burden than a source of joy. You may feel guilty for not already knowing how to play it, or feel a responsibility to practice instead of viewing it as a source of fun. You won't feel that pressure if your start-up costs are low.

Learn to play first. Then you can make an educated decision on what kind of ukulele you'd like to buy. And most importantly, once you've upgraded, please pass your starter uke on to your child, so s/he can play with you!

Updated 3/2/17: I've received multiple requests for a recommendation that's a step above the candy colored Diamond Head and Mahalo ukuleles. If you'd prefer to invest a bit more in your instrument, Kala is a brand that makes several ukuleles with good tone and good construction in the $50-150 range. Happy strumming!

What Beginning Musicians Can Learn from Jimmy Fallon's Classroom Instruments Series

November 20, 2016

Have you seen any of the songs performed in the Classroom Instruments series on Jimmy Fallon? The Roots, Jimmy Fallon, and a musical guest (or band) all cram into a small room, where they then jam to the guest's hit song, playing only "kid" instruments like maracas, toy xylophones, and, of course, a ukulele. It's pretty much my favorite thing ever.

Check out this video of Idina Menzel singing a song you're probably sick of hearing! What do you notice when you watch it? Two things stand out to me:

1- The movement

There they are, all squished together, yet no one looks uncomfortable or stiff. In fact, their bodies are all in motion! Do you see how they're all transferring the rhythm of the song through their movements? They're feeling the music! Maintaining a steady rhythm can be difficult when you're learning a new instrument, but that steady beat becomes a lot easier to maintain if you allow yourself to relax and feel the music!

2- The joy

Can you count the smiles? Doesn't it look like they're all having a blast? Making music with others can be incredibly fun, even when you're just learning how to play, and even if you make mistakes! Did you catch how Idina Menzel started singing the second verse too early? (The goof happens at the 1:29 mark). She laughs it off and keeps going. When you begin any new venture, musical or otherwise, mistakes are bound to happen. Please don't let them interfere with the joy of learning something new!

Care to see another example of movement and joy? Check out the Classroom Instruments version of Call Me Maybe:

And with the holidays rapidly approaching, we can't forget about the Classroom Instruments version of the best Christmas song of all time:

Are you ready to learn the joy of making music? Contact me for more information on the Foundations beginner ukulele course!

The Beginner's Ukulele Course

November 11, 2016

My beginner's course is a series of four ukulele lessons. In the first lesson, you'll learn three chords, two strum patterns, and three songs! Lessons two, three, and four build on material covered in previous lesson(s), and we cover new information in a very thoughtful way. Basically, I've created the class I wish existed when I was learning how to play!

Here's what you can expect to gain from the course: