Ultimate Ukulele Beginners Guide

If you're thinking about playing or learning more about the ukulele then this post is for you!

Anatomy of the uke: Parts of the ukulele

It is important for all ukulele students to memorize these terms...

Ukulele Tricks: Easy Capo Trick - Play Ghost Riders in the Sky

The song tells a folk tale of a cowboy who has a vision of red-eyed, steel-hooved cattle thundering across the sky, being chased by the spirits of damned cowboys.

One warns him that if he does not change his ways, he will be doomed to join them, forever "trying to catch the Devil's herd across these endless skies".

Ukulele Tricks: The secret to great sounding Hammer-ons and Pull-offs

There are some tricks to great sounding hammer-ons and pull-offs.

As a young player in the 80's I had trouble getting hammer-ons and pull-offs to sound loud and clear, like the record.

What was I missing?

All about Ukulele Sizes: What size do I get? What's the difference?

These are the most popular sizes:

Soprano, Concert, Tenor and Baritone.

Kala Beginner Ukulele Review and Recommendations: Makala MK-S; Kala KA-15S; Kala KA-S

Mike Upton launched Kala in 2005. Prior to starting Kala he worked at Hohner and was responsible for the development of the Lanikai ukulele line.

After starting Kala, Mike quickly established the new ukulele manufacturer as the leader in the market by providing the best and most consistent instruments in the price range.

Ukulele Strums: Backbeat Chop, Bluegrass Chop

This is another way to play accents on 2 and 4. It's very similar to the reggae strums but it's executed in a completely different way, and special chords must be used to play it properly.

In bluegrass music there is typically no drummer, so to keep the group together and in time, the bass player plays on beats 1 and 3, and the mandolin player plays a chop on the back-beat or the off beat, 2 and 4.

Basically, the bass player takes the place of the kick drum and the mandolin chop takes the place of the snare drum. The Banjo then plays the melody using 8th notes.