Strum a tune on your ukulele--no Hawaiian shirt required!

Picture it now: the sun sets over the shimmering sea, and, as the beach bar falls quiet, you begin strumming Queen Liliuokalani's "Aloha 'Oe" to a mesmerized crowd. ... Okay, while this doesn't happen every day for ukulele-players, you'll still have a lot of fun learning your favorite tunes on your ukulele. Widely associated with Hawaiian music, the ukulele has exploded in popularity in recent years as kids and adults alike have started their music education with a uke or added it to their collection of instruments.

Learning to play this versatile instrument is made easier for the experience and inexperienced alike with this new edition of Ukulele For Dummies. Following its straightforward instructions, you'll pick your way from the basics of purchasing your ukulele and accessories to confidently strumming through simple chord progressions and jamming through various styles and standards, including pop, folk, and those much-loved holiday favorites. Aloha, Santa Claus!

• Buy the right ukulele for you
• Perfect your pick and fret
• Practice with downloadable audio
• Get the best ukulele apps

Whatever you want from your ukulele adventure--strumming on the beach or adding its island style to your distinctive new pop sound--Ukulele For Dummies will have you making a big splash with this tiny instrument in aloha no time at all!

Autorentext

Alistair Wood is a ukulele player, transcriber, and arranger who owns the popular ukulele site ukulelehunt.com. He first picked up a ukulele at the age of 16 and has since been sought out for his ukulele wisdom by The New York Times, The Guardian, the BBC, and many other media outlets.

Klappentext

Strum a tune on your ukulele-no Hawaiian shirt required!

Picture it now: the sun sets over the shimmering sea, and, as the beach bar falls quiet, you begin strumming Queen Liliuokalani's "Aloha 'Oe" to a mesmerized crowd. ... Okay, while this doesn't happen every day for ukulele-players, you'll still have a lot of fun learning your favorite tunes on your ukulele. Widely associated with Hawaiian music, the ukulele has exploded in popularity in recent years as kids and adults alike have started their music education with a uke or added it to their collection of instruments.

Learning to play this versatile instrument is made easier for the experience and inexperienced alike with this new edition of Ukulele For Dummies. Following its straightforward instructions, you'll pick your way from the basics of purchasing your ukulele and accessories to confidently strumming through simple chord progressions and jamming through various styles and standards, including pop, folk, and those much-loved holiday favorites. Aloha, Santa Claus!

• Buy the right ukulele for you
• Perfect your pick and fret
• Practice with downloadable audio
• Get the best ukulele apps
  Whatever you want from your ukulele adventure-strumming on the beach or adding its island style to your distinctive new pop sound-Ukulele For Dummies will have you making a big splash with this tiny instrument in aloha no time at all!

Zusammenfassung
Strum a tune on your ukulele--no Hawaiian shirt required! Picture it now: the sun sets over the shimmering sea, and, as the beach bar falls quiet, you begin strumming Queen Liliuokalani's "Aloha 'Oe" to a mesmerized crowd. ... Okay, while this doesn't happen every day for ukulele-players, you'll still have a lot of fun learning your favorite tunes on your ukulele. Widely associated with Hawaiian music, the ukulele has exploded in popularity in recent years as kids and adults alike have started their music education with a uke or added it to their collection of instruments. Learning to play this versatile instrument is made easier for the experience and inexperienced alike with this new edition of Ukulele For Dummies. Following its straightforward instructions, you'll pick your way from the basics of purchasing your ukulele and accessories to confidently strumming through simple chord progressions and jamming through various styles and standards, including pop, folk, and those much-loved holiday favorites. Aloha, Santa Claus! * Buy the right ukulele for you * Perfect your pick and fret * Practice with downloadable audio * Get the best ukulele apps Whatever you want from your ukulele adventure--strumming on the beach or adding its island style to your distinctive new pop sound--Ukulele For Dummies will have you making a big splash with this tiny instrument in aloha no time at all!

Inhalt

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 2

Beyond the Book 3

Where to Go from Here 3

Part 1: Getting Started with the Ukulele 5

Chapter 1: Exploring the Ukulele 7

Understanding the Uke's Advantages 7

Loving the sound 8

Joining a vibrant community 8

Appreciating the uke's practicality 8

Sizing Up the Ukulele 10

Meeting the family: Daddy uke, mummy uke, and baby uke 11

Deciding which uke is best for you 11

Taking a Tour: The Anatomy of the Ukulele 11

Becoming a Well-Versed Ukulele Player 15

Strumming along to hula in Hawaii 15

Swinging and picking across the USA 16

Rockin' and rollin', and getting down with the blues 17

Diversifying into ever more styles 17

Chapter 2: Tuning Up to Sound Great 19

Knowing Some Musical Terms 20

Notes as letters 20

Half steps and whole steps 20

Chords and scales 21

Major and minor 21

Pitching into Tuning Basics 22

Unravelling Tunings for Your Instrument 22

Exploring the most common tuning: gCEA 23

Using other tunings 24

Choosing a Tuning Method 24

Going hi-tech: Tuning with an electronic tuner 25

Listening and repeating: Tuning to the audio track 26

Stringing along: Tuning to a guitar 26

Seeing in black and white: Tuning to a piano or keyboard 26

Tuning your uke to itself 27

Chapter 3: Discovering How to Handle Your Ukulele 29

Holding On to Your Ukulele 29

Positioning yourself to play 30

Standing up 31

Sitting down 31

Holding your uke left-handed 32

Developing Your Strumming 32

Strumming in the right spot 33

Strumming in the right way 34

Refusing to use a pick! 34

Pressing On to Fretting 35

Positioning your fretting hand 35

Locating where to fret 36

Discovering how strongly to fret 36

Adjusting when things don't sound right 37

Playing and pain 37

Part 2: Starting Out with Chords and Strumming 39

Chapter 4: Playing Your First Ukulele Chords and Songs 41

Playing Music without Reading Music 42

Reading chord diagrams 42

Deciphering chord diagrams for lefties 44

Playing a Song Using Two Chords 44

Creating a C chord 44

Fingering an F chord 45

Starting your first song: "Li'l Liza Jane" 46

Developing Your First Strumming Patterns 47

Using strumming notation 48

Filling in with ups and downs 48

Finding an easy way to follow rhythms 49

Discovering Seventh Chords 51

Getting to grips with G7 51

Adding the E7 chord 52

Taking off with your second song: "I'll Fly Away" 53

Practicing Minor Chords 55

Attempting A minor 55

Moving on to D minor 56

Majoring in E minor 56

Playing your first minor-chord song 57

Chapter 5: Drumming Up More Strumming Patterns 59

Pocketing the Ever-Useful Swiss Army Strum 59

Adding Pep with Some Strumming Variations 64

Changing chords within bars 64

Strumming strongly and weakly 65

Introducing the time signature 66

Checking out chnks 71

Strumming for Various Genres 72

Getting down with blues strumming: The shuffle 72

Becoming upbeat about the reggae off-beat 73

Rocking without strumming 75

Rolling your strums 76

Deciding on an Appropriate Strumming Pattern 77

Chapter 6: Meeting the Chords and Their Families 79

Getting to Know Chord Families 79 …