OT - Ukulele beginners book

Hi folks, not been on in quite a while - sorry bout that! I little while ago, I started an OT post regarding the ukulele and was delighted to see that it prompted quite a few members to buy a uke - I hope that is going well. Since then, I have put together an ebook for absolute uke beginners which you may want to take a look at. Its an antidote to traditional tutor books (it contains no chords or songs) - but deals with the questions that the normal tutor books fail to answer. You can get it on Kindle here - http://www.amazon.com/What-Ukulele-Players-REALLY-ebook/dp/B004JN11WK/ref=sr\_1\_1?ie=UTF8&m=A7B2F8DUJ88VZ&s=digital-text&qid=1297069979&sr=1-1 (also on the UK Kindle store) And its available for other ereaders - here - http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/37988 Feedback most welcomed - happy strumming!

Whats the very best make of ukelele in your opinon and how much?

Cor - thats a huge question, and there is a chapter in the book on it. To simplify - beginner ukes - Makala Dolphin - cost £30 Middle ground - Kala, Ohana, Mainland, Fluke, Flea - solid or part solid ukes - anywhere from £100 - £250 Money no object - Hawaiian hand made ukes from Kamaka or Kanilea - £600 up to “where do you want to stop” prices.

Looks like a good book I’ve ordered it for my kindle. I’ll read it later. I’m still not very good at the uke but thanks to pauljmuk I started. I’m really enjoying it too. Stefan

Im thinking of getting one because Im hoping it will come easyish due to 30 odd years of playing lead guitar and they just look so much fun; for instance the Hawaiian guy who plays stuff like ‘while my guitar gently weeps’

@Snuffster, that version of that song is amazing. I believe the bloke is called Jake Shimabukuro, he is bloody brilliant player. Stefan

@walrus1985 - thank you! @snuffster - I came to uke from acoustic guitar (20 years) and it is an easy transition. Not least because the 4 strings are tuned in same way as DGBE on guitar, albeit a guitar capod at the 5th (I think) ie - GCEA. What that means is that the chord shapes are similar, as is the interrelation between notes and strings. A D shape played on a guitar makes a G on the uke. A G on guitar requires one finger at the third fret (as other strings dont exist) and makes a C Easy to pick up!

Cool, I am a uker myself. Got 6 of the little buggers!

I stick stuff on youtube fairly regularly. Quality can be a bit hit or miss though! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yKE78R3UqM

@mopey - nice me too, and they make their way to my blog sometimes, such as my daft bruce springsteen meets george formby… http://gotaukulele.blogspot.com/2011/01/born-to-run-springsteen-meets-george.html

Haha! that sounded great Paul!

I usually try to be more serious but this came out of a joke with my kids. I claimed any song could be given the George Formby treatment and my son challenged me to do Born To Run. There you have it!

Holy crap!! That was awesome guys! Freakin’ ukulele…who knew?! I could listen to that all day long…really nice talent fellas. Consider me a newly converted fan!

I think Im sold on this idea too.

You know it makes sense!

i love the minimalist acoustic style…you get more of the artist’s true feelings shining through.

This guy John Kitakis makes outstanding instruments. High end, but you asked about the best and I’d venture to say these are it. I take guitars and mandolins to his store for setup and I love to browse the instruments. http://www.koolauukulele.com/

Rockoctopus - yes, they are one of the 4 top Hawaiian brands - superb

Ive got two good music stores near me so Im hopefully going to get one at the weekend.

Brilliant - check out my blog for tips on buying etc = www.gotaukulele.co.uk Can I ask which shops Snuffster - i may know them