Ukulele For Dummies (64 page)

And keep that shape held until the end of the bar. The usual technique in playing single note passages is to stop the note playing when you move to the next note. In campanella style, however, you're playing more like you do when you're strumming by holding all the notes down and letting them ring into each other.

Part V

Buying and Looking After Your Ukulele

In this part . . .

I describe all you need to know about buying your first ukulele and, if the uke bug really strikes you, your second, third and who knows how many more! I also advise on how to protect, adorn and cherish your prized instrument(s) with the most useful accessories, and I pass on a few useful skills such as changing the strings and adjusting the action.

Chapter 17

Weighing Up Your Options When Buying a Ukulele

In This Chapter

Knowing what to look for

Choosing where to buy

Purchasing even more ukuleles

Going electric

T
he first ukulele I ever bought was a complete disaster: it wouldn't stay in tune, sounded nasty and didn't feel right when I played it. That instrument is the reason why I owned a ukulele for years before actually starting to take it seriously – and then I bought a better one.

This chapter steers you away from making the mistakes I made. Follow the advice here to avoid wasting your hard-earned cash on a clunker of a ukulele.

Buying Your First Uke

With all the different sizes and brands available, choosing your first ukulele can be a bit daunting; but you need to put some thought into this important choice. When you're starting out, you want to see your progress rewarded with pleasant sounds. Without a decent ukulele, you don't get a good sound and you can quickly become discouraged.

If you have a ukulele club nearby, pay a visit before you buy a uke. Most clubs are very welcoming and often have spare ukuleles available for beginners. You can try out a few different sizes and makes of ukulele to see what suits you. If you're very charming, you may be able to persuade an expert to go ukulele shopping with you and provide some guidance. Chapter 21 has more on visiting ukulele clubs and engaging with the ukulele community in general.

The rest of this section gives you a few things to consider before you buy your first uke.

Assessing how much to spend

Nothing is more discouraging for a beginner than not being able to get a good sound out of a badly made ukulele. So if you can, avoid the cheapest ukuleles, which can have some terrible problems.

You can pick up a good starter ukulele for around £30–£40 (in the UK) or $40–$50 (in the US). If you have the budget, spending up to £75 (in the UK) or $100 (in the US) is well worthwhile. But unless you're rolling in dosh, hold off spending more at this stage. After you've been playing a while you're going to have a better idea of what type of ukulele you want and what suits you.

Picking a size

The best bet for new players is to go for a soprano ukulele. This size is perfect for playing chords and the smaller frets make stretching less of a problem. And if you're switching from guitar to ukulele and want to do some more fancy playing, a tenor ukulele is a good option. Check out Chapter 1 for all the gen on ukulele sizes.

Don't make the mistake of switching from guitar to baritone. I was a guitar player before picking up the uke and thought the baritone would make for a good transition (because it has the same tuning as the top four guitar strings), but I found it too similar to the guitar to be interesting and it didn't give the ukulele sound I wanted.

Just because you have big hands, don't assume that you need a bigger ukulele. I know people with huge, sausage fingers who swear by soprano ukuleles. I have tiny little-girl hands and I love tenors.

Avoiding problems

Ukuleles come in different varieties and with all sorts of bells and whistles that can tempt the new player. Here's a list of some things to avoid with your first ukulele:

Friction tuners:
These tuners are the type of tuning pegs that stick out of the back of the headstock. Although some advantages can be gained with high-quality friction tuners, beginners should stay away. Ukes with cheap friction tuners are a nightmare to get in tune and don't hold their tuning well. Instead, buy a ukulele with geared tuners that stick out of the side. (Chapter 2 has more info on both types of tuner.)

V-shaped ukuleles:
The biggest mistake I see beginners making is buying a V-shaped ukulele. They're cheap and eye-catching but they sound horrible and are uncomfortable to play.

Six- and eight-string ukuleles:
Ukuleles with extra strings can provide a really rich sound, but avoid buying one as your first ukulele because they're a bit more challenging to play. Also, the extra strings on these ukes put more tension on the parts. I've seen more than one cheap six- and eight-string uke with its bridge ripped clean off.