1. Get a better ukulele, you'll be more excited to play and more likely to stick with it 2. Join an online community, get a course 3. Memorize the basic chords 4. Learn the fundamentals of musical theory 5. Know how to count, play with a metronome or a backing track 6. Play beginner songs 7. Embrace where you at in your playing, don't be afraid to play with people who are better than you, you're gonna grow 8. Learn how to read music 9. Memorize a few songs, we are too dependent on having our music in front of us 10. Stick with it!

I'm 60 years old and I bought my first uke in March of this year. I figured I'm locked in I might as well take care of a bucket list item (learning uke). I had some music training as a kid, and surprisingly the counting, reading, and understanding of the fundamentals are still way back there in the back of my brain. I love the uke and spend a good amount of time surfing KZfaq to find teachers and tutorials that I like. (BTW you are one of my favorite KZfaq teachers). I've managed to memorize lots of chords and am currently beginning to master some of the trickier (Bb, Bm, E, etc). Two areas where I am struggling is memorizing songs and fingerpicking. I had a long, intensive chemotherapy regimen four years ago that significantly affected my memory - and it continues to be. But I'm sticking with it and I find that the muscle memory begins to kick in the more I play. As for the fingerpicking, I've been doing a few "riffs" every day and that seems to help. But any tips on how to further develop that skill would be appreciated. Thanks!

Your "Beginning music reading" has just arrived this week. It's easy to read and understand. It's like a magician showing how the trick is done. Tip No. 11 record your progress on your mobile phone. You will amazed how much you have learned, from when you started. (Edit should have said record last min or 2 of your practice). My journey started in Sept. This year.

Thank you, Terry, for your advice on actually learning music to ensure people become muscians, not just players, should they want. I only started 4 weeks ago, at age 67, and can see some basic chords and strum patterns can provide a lot of fun - if only I could sign - my only key is 'off'. But I want to be able to play better than that, particularly finger-fingerpicking, so your messages about accepting where you are at (sucking) and sticking with it with some practice every day are key messages for me. Thank you.

Definitely the hardest one for me is embracing sucking at it! I learned piano for many years and I can just go back to it and play and NOT suck too badly after even a long break, so being a novice is challenging. I would also add for anyone who has kids who are leaning an instrument *other* than ukulele and/or who love music... get them onto a ukulele! Just learning new chords/new songs is really helping me understand and appreciate the structure of music that I've loved for a long time, much more so than all the theory in the world ever did with any other instrument I've played.

got a uke yesterday, this vid's exactly what i needed. i have been dancing for the last 8 years, so rhythm and timing is not a problem for me :>

this is my 4th day playing ukulele..thank god i found this..i'll follow this on my journey

I'm about to be 45 years old and have never played any instrument (except for maybe the kazoo lol) nor do I know a lot about reading music. I had just gotten my first uke and am still trying to learn basic chords and getting my fingers to stretch with finger exercises. This is also my very first time commenting on anything KZfaq. This is a great community! Thanks Terry!

A hundred thousand thank yous! I am 76 and took my Mom's vintage Harmony ukelele from a 1940"s Hawaiian cruise to a ukelele teacher for lessons. He was an amazing model of grace and encouragement. I am not sure he expects me back, but I will be and with a serious upgrade ukelele thanks to you and my husband.

I just ordered my first uke from your website, so all the points were helpful! I've wanted to learn the uke for years so am excited to begin the process of embracing the suck :)

Thanks for the tips!

Great tips. Thank you!!!

Thank you! I was one of those who started 35 years ago and gave it up because I didn't have any help or direction. Now I'm really starting to enjoy the learning process, videos like yours help with the guidance part.

Thank you for your enthusiasm.

I am 31 and started to pick up the uke (my first instrument in fact) at the end of june. I have no musical forground. But I still try to play at least every 1-2 days for at least 30-60 mins. Lerning to stretch my fingers, repeating chords etc. Only via yt. Thanks to you and your videos (and this video) I know I should get maybe a course or so. But to embrace where i am: I feel good for my current skill level but generel I suck :D But hey I can do the easy chords, can play songs "somewhere over the rainbow" and "riptide", can do some fingerstyle already AND most importantly: I STILL ENJOY EVERYDAY WITH THE UKE :D

this so helpful, thank you!

Thank you this was very helpful!

Memorize your chords, play many instruments, this is key.

Thank you for the tips ✨💖

These things are all “right on”. Just starting to play classical ukulele at age 72 years old, but I’ve played classical violin for more than 60 years.

I am there! Thanks Terry

Thanks for these top ten!

I am glad I pick up your channel a day before I start my first uke. I am a beginner and going to start with a concert uke. Wish me luck

Thank you. Great info that has helped me with chords.

I get my ukulele tomorrow!!! I’m so excited and this video helped me a lot thank you terry!

You are inspiring, thank you! Just started a month ago and am loving my Uke. A little bit of practice every day and I’m seeing dramatic improvement.

thank you for info💓

"What's the one annoying thing about this ? Dunno, leave a comment below. You left a comment below? Dunno - leave a comment below. You've seen an ad played? Leave a comment below"

You told me everything i needed to hear. Thank you.

I agree with adamtwelve. I got an ok soprano uke with terrible strings and very high action a couple years ago. I liked it but it was hard to play, learned some chords and then set it on the shelf. In March when I had to close my shop for a while due to covid, I got a beautiful tenor Ohana uke. What a difference, ease of playing and sounds beautiful even if I just strum simple chords. I also did a huge amount of research on different types of ukes, strings etc before I got my second uke. A great sounding instrument makes all the difference and keeps one inspired to do more.

This is great Terry, this week is a year since I first found ultp’s and I agree on all of this. No 5 is the hardest for me. No 8 is my goal for 2021, no 7 Oh what can I say, the challenges this year have been awesome, and Blue Christmas is the first one I played at my level, played with a backing track and singing. And last week Tennessee Waltz is the first song I have fully memorised both on Baritone and on standard tuning and I’m so proud of myself for sticking with it. Best teacher, best community.

Thanks that is great :))) it's very motivating

Thank for sharing. I started fell into many of these traps, got frustrated and stopped playing. A year later I am back! Trying to be smarter this time around. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge. Thx Richard

All great points, Terry! I started on a lower concert instrument with decent tone to see if I even liked the uke and moved up to a better instrument in a tenor size. Once I knew I liked a tenor, I saved and had one built. Community is so much more important than I would have thought. Why is that? When I played piano, there was never a need for a community. I love "Embrace sucking!" So true! And I'm definitely going to check out your reading music course. Although I've read music for years and played other instruments, for some reason it hasn't connected with playing notes on the uke. I can play chords all day long in the proper rhythm, but no melody line.

Love all of the positivity and encouragement! So many good tips to help us avoid common pit falls.

Points one and five resonated with me. My first ukulele was a cheap soprano that ended up being way smaller for me than I thought, and when I got my second ukulele (a tenor) my playing started to slowly improve. And of course my timing needs work haha

Thank you this helps so much.

Thanks, i liked it

Thank you so much for these 10 tips; I definitely need to work on #9 (memorizing a few songs). I play guitar but just quit playing about a year ago I picked up the ukulele a few weeks ago and just signed up for a class and I am loving it. Even wanting to start playing on my guitar again. Do you have motivated me even more and I’m so grateful.

This is wonderful! I'm 65, was given the gift of being able to read music through piano lessons by my parents when I was young and am now trying to learn a bit on the ukulele. I think your best piece of advice was "stick with it". Persistence is so important to so many things in life. It's all to easy to give up - especially now with videos, music etc. at our fingertips on the internet - and one needs to put in some time to become even a little competent at just about anything. Thank you so much for your wonderful videos. Best wishes.

Hi Terry, after a few years of playing guitar I've acquired my first uke. I'm super chuffed and loving it already. Thanks for the videos

Thank you! As a very beginner, your advices are gold for me.

cool video thaks for the info

Thank you so much..Have been dreaming about playing a string instrument along with singing forever but always failed with the guitar.. Uke is a great way to begin I see.. And these tips are just what I wanted to hear before I began my journey.. 🤞🏼🙂

Love it

It was useful 🌷🌸

I haven’t followed any of your lessons until today after going through one lesson of 12 blues lesson, interesting! I watched couple of videos, all important tips to follow even though I have crossed those stages. It’s reassuring to know and remind myself of the correct way to practice, appreciate it, thank you so much 🙏🏽😊

Thanks 🙏🏼! I didn’t know these videos existed when I contacted you inquiring about purchasing a ukulele! Nailed it 👍🏻

I relate to no.5 the most since I first played the piano I always practiced by myself that I didn't know my timing was so off , I didn't even realized it until some senior who played the piano for some time accompanied me , thanks to her I can play with more accuracy and now trying to learn the ukelele .I hope my journey of learning this string instrument becomes successful .I wish myself and everyone learning the ukelele luck.good luck to all of us.

# 7 . #10. I did change my strings to strum left handed and learn chords right handed ( I am left handed). It has made the world of difference for me. Free lessons at my library has been a game changer for me. Trying to stay with the basics since I know nothing about music and I am 72. Trying to stick with it for good brain memory. Thank you so very much for a great video!

Awesome info. I was aware of most of your points, but a reminder is always helpful and the others will be very helpful. Thanks

I want to be good immediately and tend to jump into things that are too hard. Great info here.

loved all your suggestions....going for my chord chart now!

You get goosebumps because you are so passionate about what you do...........which is very cool.....rock on brother.

Just found your channel! Excited to dive into learning. Total newbie but looking forward to getting better. Thanks for the tips!

Great video Terry and a good to remake/update at times!

Yes! My first uke was an $80 laminate Kala. It was okay, but I enjoyed playing lots more after I got a good instrument. Have a Kanile'a K1 tenor now & LOVE it.

Thx Mr. Terry I started getting better of my chords

love it

Thanks,I’ve learned a lot from you,like with my very good manager/friend who patiently teached me how to play ukes..appreciated much🙏

Holy shit Terry. You went from a sub servant Baritone to a KoaLoha! Hats off to KoaLoha for sponsoring you! I wish we all had that opportunity. A KoaLoha instrument is my dream Ukulele. Buying a KoaLoha or a Kanile'a is out of most peoples price range. Bernadette Teaches Music has been priceless for me. Found her very early on thanks to KZfaq recommendations. This is a great sales pitch for your Channel and the Ukulele's you sell.

I started playing during Covid 2020 at age 65. I can attest to the facts you have shared. I think I was up against all 10! Lol.. you are right, I didn’t quite and although I am not Jake S. I have made great personal progress….emphasis on personal….

This video is super helpful and informative thank you for taking the time to help others start off on the right foot👌

Number 1 thing I wish I had known is get some good advice like this video. Thank you and all the others who give their time to teach and show what is out there... Have a good festive season. Stay safe. T.👍

Thank you. I’m a rookie. It’s not easy. Appreciate your effort.

Yes~ #10 is a big thing... It's the growth over time that matters. A months back I can't even shift chords without pausing, now I can do it instinctively (just realized it recently). Thanks you for the tips! I also resonate with #7 and #9.

Thanks Terry, just subscribed 👍.

Hi I’ve been playing uku for the last 6 months and all these point are spot on. Yep it’s great to grab my uku and play around but I definitely need to get the music basics to be able to progress moving forward. I’m going to definitely look into some of your basic courses. Uku is my happy place 😊

Totally resonate with not wanting to be really good NOW!!! Thank God I didn’t give up when I first started and had such difficulty coordinating the 2 hands one strumming one on chords. Now I just try to “suck less” than I did yesterday.

Been playing only since Halloween. Glad I found you Terry! I'm a premium member now. And I bought a Kala tenor (upgrade from Luna soprano) and it made all the difference in my passion for this!

COOL!

Those are really good. I have more below that I wish I had known. Joining a band helped a lot. I am playing a tenor guitar which is 4 strings and tuned like a baritone ukulele. 11). How to pick the right size ukulele that is right for you. 12). How to take care of your new ukulele. 13). Find out what a good set up is for the action of your ukulele. 14). Use economy of motion when changing to another chord or in strumming 15). Don't be afraid to change hand and finger positions to make a chord sound better or to make a chord change work better. No, I am not talking about inversions here. Angles matter. 16). Play in the dark or with your eyes closed and see how many chords you can nail. 17). If a chord or part of a song is giving you problems, Isolate that problem and work on it. Don't play the whole song over and over. 18). Slow down until you can play the song right. 19). Learn how to play a simple three-chord song in every key. This will build transposing skills. 20). Play songs you like or you will lose interest. 21). Assign fingers to frets. Index = 1st fret Middle = 2nd fret ring = 3rd fret pinky = 4th fret. Know that there are occasional exceptions. 22). On chord changes try to land the fingers at the same time. If you cant then try to land the fingers on the strings first you will strum first. 23). Run through all the things you have memorized every week so you don't forget. 24. Read music for 20 minutes every day. Never read the same song twice. Old hymnals work great. 25). Record yourself often and critic. You will see problems you didn't think you had. 26). Guard your practice time. If you don't you won't. 10 minutes is better than nothing. 27). Listen to music. 28). Go to concerts 29). Read a music history book. 30). Go to ukulele jams to play and discuss music with other musicians. 31). Work on your weaknesses. Try to conquer that hard chord. 32). Fake it until you make it. Play a part of that hard chord if you can't play the whole thing or substitute that Bm7 for the Bm if it sounds OK and you can still play the song. 33). Plan successes so you don't frustrate yourself. 34) Realize there are a lot of music tabs that are clearly wrong. I hope some of this helps!

I've been wanting to play the ukulele but I have one that was my nieces and it refuses to stay in tune, buying a new one today!

I wish i would have watched this before my boyfriend bought me a ukulele. Just got a cheapie and now looking at a quality one. Thanks for the info and so excited to get started!

#3 - yes, taking classes really helps.

It's my first day beginning to learn to play a ukulele. Great video!

Excellent list. I would add to learn a couple of scales to help learn the fretboard and enable future jamming

Thank you for all your gifts to uke players. I do need to learn to read music and to count. And I do suck! Your ressources are a big help!

Yes I have a starter uku and tomorrow I’m buying a better one , can’t wait!

Totally agree with all the points. I watched and followed all possible youtube ukulele teachers and got confused. I eventually enrolled the uketropolis with James hill and the Ukelikethepros premium and I couldn't be happier. The lessons are so well structured and the exercises make a lot of sense. I m doing the music reading right now and I'm impressed how you make something boring so enjoyable. You are a genius and an inspiration.

Definitely #1! I bought something like 7 ukes before I paid a little more for a better one and finally stopped buying...for now anyway!

# 9 for sure, depending too much on reading the chords and not trying to memorize. I'm gonna try it! Thanks 👍

Started playing on February 2023 and joined a group in our 55 and over community here in AZ., the ukulele I got is a Vangoa tenor from Amazon for $56.00, so far I'm happy with my purchase and it has a good sound to it compared to others in the class. We meet every Sunday during the winter months for 1 hour. I would like to look into a better ukulele but I think this was a great one to start with. You have some great videos and I have been playing along with one of them. The song Margaritaville that you go into detail is the one I like.

Buying a midrange uke is probably the best advice in my opinion, the sound difference alone can inspire you to play versus getting discouraged when everything you play sounds dull and lifeless on that cheapo uke you bought for 30 bucks.

I have just started playing one week now, and so far it has been fun. I'm pretty bad at counting tho, lol! Thank you Terry for making this video .

Hey Mr. Carter. I've been playing ukulele since last spring. I got an Hola tenor ukulele and have had a great time with learning it. I had the wonderful (and stressful) experience of putting my low G string set on immediately after getting it. I am very comfortable with music theory and have played piano (and some other instruments) for over 8 years now. My focus is on learning the theory that applies to stringed instruments like the uke. I love how we can transpose the chords by keeping the same shape. I really like working with scales and improv for this reason. Instead of learning 12 major and minor scales with different keys (black and white are spread differently for each key) we can just keep the same "shape." I just ordered an electric acoustic guitarlele tonight. I look forward to getting use out of the lower strings. I love the size of the uke. I have tried electric guitar even, but even the thinner body is too cumbersome for my liking. Have a nice night Mr. Carter.

#9 I have NOT memorized an entire song yet. Thanks for the nudge. That will start tomorrow!

Thanks for sharing that. The only thing I knew was that you were a studio musician in LA. The fact that you only need 4 hours sleep explains a few things. I am a Premium and Patreon subscriber so I get a lot of your content. I always wondered how you have the time to provide so much to us on any given day. Thanks for your hard work.

Hi Terry! Great video! All are good advice, but numbers 6, 9, and 2 resonate with me the most. 6 Start Easy: I learned a few songs with 3 or 4 chords first, in a few of different keys, which let me have a feeling of accomplishment early on. Then learning a few new chords in each key wasn't as hard as trying to learn many chords in order to play one song. (I had an understanding of the I IV V chord progression before is started playing the uke which was very helpful. Maybe you could spend some time on that in one of the lessons some day.) 9 Memorize: It was easier for me to learn the hand positions first, in a simple song, then connect the chord names later. Don't know why, that's just what worked for me. 2 JOIN A UKULELE COMMUNITY: Probably the best advice of all. Although I could play a few songs, I was stuck until I joined Uke Like The Pros. It's a great group with new challenges and new things to learn all the time. Really keeps my learning moving in a positive direction. THANK YOU UKE LIKE THE PROS!!!!

Great video! I am in the end of my 30-day uke challenge (self-emposed), have learned some things the right and wrong way (might make a video later about that experience). The main thing I agree with also "take easier songs"! as I have a tendency to overload myself with learning and complex songs, then realized a few times how early it is yet to master that song (whether in terms of instrumental part (uke or guitar) or voice). Repetition is also super important! I personally forget things next day and learning lyrics turned out to be so challenging! (I know some people who can remember texts with a wink of an eye, but not me alas). Another thing re better uke - it is so hard as a beginner to estimate the quality of a ukulele "within a budget" , accessories also pile up into a bigger amount. 1) new ukes need to be tuned, not every store keeps tuning them - so having a tuner with you can help to test them 2) strings need time to keep the tuning 3) you have to know some melody or chords to play on different instruments to compare them. So I'd recommend learning some chords even prior to purchasing a uke because you can play them in a store when testing some ukes, rather than just doing super basic test. I've got 3 ukes now and mostly play 1-2 of them, and neither of them can seem do be ok for "hammer-on" technique for some reason (perhaps I am not good enough yet for that?), wonder if a higher quality ukulele would make a difference with that?

yeah I started by learing songs on my uke, still am but this time I am using the practice and tips from this page as well as learning songs. I might even take some music theory at my college.

Thanks for all the info, just gathering up info, my classes start in March 😬

I can relate to #1. and #8. My first ukulele was a Kanile’a Island Series. An absolutely beautiful Koa wood ukulele. My husband bought it for me, so I was very fortunate. That was about 6 years ago. I really want to learn how to play the ukulele, even though I can’t read music, I’ve always played or sung by ear. I remember taking guitar lessons when I was a teenager, and I sucked big time. That’s when I stopped playing guitar. I never thought that I could actually learn how to play any instrument, but thanks to your video, I know there’s hope.

Ty

Pretty well all of them.

My grandmother taught me how to play the Ukulele when I was 8. C F and Gm7 chords. My dad recently passed away and while going through his things I found it ! It was the first stringed instrument I learned,( later picked up the guitar). Thank you for the great info, I think I’ll go buy myself a better one lol ( #1 on the list). Anyway, thanks for the video, great job !

Just purchased a Les Paul Concert Ukulele and looking forward to playing it!

thank you

Helpful tips, even though I've already done then all, lol, as a piano and guitar player I'm familiar with the basics of music and know to pick songs I like that I WANT to learn to help me stick with it and memorize quickly. Had my uke for 3 days and already have 2 songs memorized. Hardest part is learning new finger positioning for chords different than guitar. I play to the songs and my 5 year old "drums" on cushions so we enjoy that time together and practice everyday!

Number 11 - Play with other people. I have found that playing with others in a group or club really helped me progress like nothing else. A stretch goal like joining your group for a public performance of some kind is a great motivator too.