Ukulele for Beginners: How To Play Ukulele in Easy-to-Follow Steps
£7.50£12.30 (-39%)
Originally published as Get Plucky, this all-encompassing guide to the ukulele is written by Will Grove-White, one of the world-renowned Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. Clearly written, beautifully designed, and chock-full of photos and illustrations, Ukulele for Beginners is the perfect teach-yourself ukulele book for adults and children alike, and a must for anyone with an interest in the instrument.
– No knowledge of music required
– Clearly written and easy to understand
– Full colour photographic illustrations
– Chords to learn and songs to strum
– Simple and advanced strumming techniques
– Tips and tricks for writing your own songs
– How to play in a group
– Play along with the songs online
Also includes:
– Pull-out comprehensive chord dictionary
– A complete history of the ukulele
– Biographies of great uke players from past and present
– Ukulele revelations about Jimi Hendrix, Neil Armstrong, Elvis Presley and more…
Read more
Additional information
| Publisher | Cassell, Illustrated edition (8 Aug. 2017) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 176 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1844039412 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1844039418 |
| Dimensions | 19.37 x 1.59 x 23.81 cm |
by A.Sturgess
One of very few books that I read in almost one go – breaking off only for the obligatory cups of tea (well, coffee in my case).
If one word described this book, that word could well be `idiosyncratic’.
Let’s begin with what this book is NOT …. it isn’t a dedicated set of lessons and tutorials. There IS a set of structured lessons at the back of the book which are mostly aimed at beginners. These are very well organised and are based upon the usual range of well known songs, starting with those you can play using just one chord – then two – then three and so on. Right at the end, Will dives into the topics of more complex rhythms and strumming patterns. This section is concise, well written, clearly illustrated and cannot help but motivate you to succeed.
But – and it’s a significant `BUT’ – those parts of the book are not the be-all and end-all of ‘Get Plucky’. Pages 9 to 96 cover the history, development and players of the ukulele and are a joy in themselves.
However, you may indeed be looking for a good ukulele tutor. So I’ll diverge from this review for a moment and say that if what you really want is a tutorial book, then you may need to look elsewhere. One I can definitely recommend is this one:
Ukulele Aerobics: For All Levels, from Beginner to Advanced by Johnson, Chad (2014) Paperback
It’s brilliantly structured but is, I venture to suggest, aimed at those who really intend to put in a lot of practice and who are genuinely serious about learning to play. It will certainly take you from beginner to advanced in a way that almost guarantees success, as long as you persevere and don’t try to take shortcuts.
There are many other tutorial books, but `Aerobics’ certainly provides something of a benchmark against which to judge others by. It all depends upon how far you want to go with learning to play ukulele. If you’re essentially a hobbyist or someone who wants to learn a bit more than the basics, then `Get Plucky’ might well fit the bill.
So – let’s get back to ‘Get Plucky’ … Up to page 96 you are presented with a very well written overview of how and when the ukulele emerged; how it became popular and then declined in popularity before becoming the worldwide phenomenon that it is now. You will find out about famous players and many celebrities who have taken up playing the uke (Brian May, Dick Dale, Jimi Hendrix and, of course, George Harrison). The whole book is written in an immensely clear, informative and often humorous style that makes it a genuine pleasure to read. These first 90 pages are full of genuine surprises and fascinating facts.
If the idea of this sort of book appeals to you, then another that you might want to check out is –
Ukulele Crazy!: Everything You Need to Know About the Ukulele and How to Play It
But back again to ‘Get Plucky’ which I feel is by far the better of the two books … On page 108 there’s a link to Will’s website where you can hear demo performances of all the tunes he uses in the tutorial section. You can’t download these as mp3’s but if you have an audio-grabber, they’re easy to get and to then use at your leisure. (I burned them to CD both as single tracks and then with each demo played 3 times, one after the other so as to make playing along easier.)
Will’s writing style is easy-going but packed with both information and humour. His place as a key member of the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain gives his book an added level of veracity.
If I have one slight niggle it’s that Will only refers to the baritone ukulele in passing – but as that’s a personal interest of mine and probably won’t apply to most people who are interested in the smaller GCEA-tuned ukes, then it would be unfair to deduct a star just for my own preferences. However, what I would have liked to see is coverage of how a baritone ukulele player can most easily fit into an ensemble.
Right — to end this review, I’ll add a few links for just some of the other ukulele items I’ve bought and tried and can recommend. Browse through in case something takes your interest. But in the meantime, I do thoroughly recommend the quirky but fascinatingly interesting ‘Get plucky with the ukulele’. It’s surprisingly weighty for what is a moderately small book. (That’s down to very high quality paper and covers). But it’s also weighty in terms of content.
USEFUL ACCESSORIES …
1″ Nylon Webbing Ukulele or Mandolin strap (leather and tie ends)
Snark Ukulele Clip On Tuner
BOOKS …
Christmas on 34th Street: 34 Christmas Classics, 3-4 Chords Each in Multiple Keys for Standard and Baritone Ukulele: 2 (Ukulele Christmas Classics)
Jumpin’ Jim’S Ukulele Tips ‘N’ Tunes Uke
The Daily Ukulele – 365 Songs for Better Living (Jumpin’ Jim’s Ukulele Songbooks)
(There is also a baritone ukulele version of this book)
RECORDINGS …
Lyle Ritz Plays Jazz Ukulele “How About Uke?” And “50th State Jazz”
DVD …
The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain: Anarchy in the Ukulele
by A. J. Gauld
If you like to know about your instrument as well as just how to play this is a great book. The star stories are a little repetitive, you could almost have just had a list of names. But the lessons start at the absolute basics and the tunes with a single chord, 2 chords etc. And most of the tunes are very recognisable if not exactly street cool.
by Big Ben
This is clearly a very popular book indeed, and we love it!
Many of our family & friends who are into ukuleles will be getting this for Birthday/Christmas/whatever…
But…
A word of warning from reading all the other reviews – it seems to be unanimous that the Kindle edition does not work well on the Kindle-slab itself – reportedly OK on the Kindle App when installed on something more substantial.
We loved everything about the book – it’s a mini-encyclopedia of all things Ukulele – the fascinating history and personalities who have played and promoted the Uke particularly interested me.
Jimi Hendrix started with a ukulele!
Who’d have thought it?
So very many fine reviews have already been written that (to save your time) I’ll recommend the one by my new friend “Urbanmeister” whose review immediately persuaded me to buy this excellent book.
………………..What he said!……………..
Strongly recommended for anyone who enjoys the ukulele, or just thinks they might.
by Ms. Felicia Davis-burden
I already have this book under the title of ‘Get Plucky with the Ukulele’. That’s right, this is exactly the same book, just with a different title and cover. On opening the book, I discovered that every page is the ‘Get Plucky’ book repackaged. Now I have no complaint about the content: There is much fascinating and entertaining history of the instrument and a simple fun guide to playing uke. It is a fabulous book, whichever title you pick up. I’m only dropping a star because I think it’s a little bit cheeky to simply put a different cover around the same pages to presumably sell it as another book. Tut Tut to whoever had this idea…… Still, it’s a joyful book nonetheless.
by Scott
Liked the book and it was informative and helpful. I found it amusing and enjoyed the writing style. I suppose that was to be expected as I enjoy the humour of the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain and the author was a long time member. Exercises were easy to follow and I was strumming out a tune in no time, badly, but that’s on me not the book. Some nice history on some notable players as well which I enjoyed.
by Deborah
Is a naice book. I learn very quickly whit this book
by Amazon Customer
Easy to understand
by b w stuart
This book looks good and easy to follow. it was bought as a present so I hope it is liked.