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Post by monklady123 on Jun 23, 2017 11:55:54 GMT
I was sure we had a thread about ukeleles once before but I searched and didn't find anything. Dd and I were talking about some things to do together this summer and in the fall since she'll be home next year. We're going to take a Spanish class at the community college. Then she said "hey let's learn to play the ukelele!" lol. The last thing I expected her to suggest. (she gave up the violin after a year to focus on dance). But I'm game, I love instruments. I browsed around Amazon but of course since I have no idea about anything to do with ukeleles I don't know what's good and what isn't. We'd just want "starter" ones, but decent quality not something that's half a step up from a toy. Do you think the reviews are worthwhile to tell me what to buy? Or should I go to a music store? Or... those of you who own one or who have bought one for someone can recommend one to me. That's probably more reliable than reviews anywhere else.  |
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Dalai Mama
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Post by Dalai Mama on Jun 23, 2017 12:03:46 GMT
I would go to a music store and talk to the staff. It doesn't obligate you to buy from them but they should be able to point you in the right direction.
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Post by ktdoesntscrap on Jun 23, 2017 12:27:25 GMT
We just bought my daughter one. We went to a music store and with a bag we spent about $60-70 . We were told that once you hit the $50 mark you were just paying for the different woods which look different but don't sound different.
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ellen
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Post by ellen on Jun 23, 2017 12:32:52 GMT
I started the ukulele last August and my first one was a Makala tenor size ukulele. I ordered a package from Amazon. It came with a tuner and case. You need both of those things. they are good starters. I have a couple of the little soprano ukuleles that are sold at Schmidt Music. They are Penguin brand and are sold in several colors - easy to tune, sound good, cost about $40. They are fun because they are so darn cute. I liked playing enough that I bought myself a nice ukulele for my 50th birthday - it's a concert size and I love it. I bought it in a music store. I joined a weekly uke group with a friend. That was a blast. We're taking the summer off and I'm not sure of the status of the group for next year.
I had several students who got ukes for Christmas and once a week they'd stay in at recess and we'd play. By the end of the school year they had a few songs down. It was so much fun. There are lots of good YouTube tutorials. We found the Munson Covers guy to be the most helpful - lots of current songs with very basic chords.
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pyccku
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Post by pyccku on Jun 23, 2017 12:36:05 GMT
If you have larger hands or fingers, go for a concert uke rather than a soprano.
DH has a $40 soprano and a $100 concert. The sound quality is quite different.
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Post by Merge on Jun 23, 2017 12:37:26 GMT
All the music teachers I know who teach uke seem to like Kala ukuleles for affordability and decent quality. We have two ukuleles in our house - a cheaper one that is basically one step up from a toy, and the Kala one I bought dd last year. The difference in quality is significant - the Kala stays better in tune and sounds better. Be aware that no matter what you buy, new ukulele strings will need to be re-tuned a lot. And then after a while they will settle down and hold their tuned pitch longer. I'm pretty sure this is the one I bought: Kala Ukulele
ETA: you don't need to purchase a tuner if you have a smart phone. There are many tuning apps available that work just fine. |
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Post by SockMonkey on Jun 23, 2017 13:05:14 GMT
All the music teachers I know who teach uke seem to like Kala ukuleles for affordability and decent quality. We have two ukuleles in our house - a cheaper one that is basically one step up from a toy, and the Kala one I bought dd last year. The difference in quality is significant - the Kala stays better in tune and sounds better. Be aware that no matter what you buy, new ukulele strings will need to be re-tuned a lot. And then after a while they will settle down and hold their tuned pitch longer. I'm pretty sure this is the one I bought: Kala Ukulele
ETA: you don't need to purchase a tuner if you have a smart phone. There are many tuning apps available that work just fine. This is helpful! I've been wanting to try the ukulele for a while now. I used to play guitar way back in the day, so I have some familiarity with stringed instruments. Haha! Thanks! |
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Post by peajays on Jun 23, 2017 13:14:11 GMT
Here is a group of teens that went viral in our area with their uke troupe drive thru order at Tim Hortons. My son knows one of the girls, but I can't remember which one. The next week one of our radio stations took them through McD's drive thru for breakfast. Uke troupe |
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Post by Merge on Jun 23, 2017 13:15:23 GMT
All the music teachers I know who teach uke seem to like Kala ukuleles for affordability and decent quality. We have two ukuleles in our house - a cheaper one that is basically one step up from a toy, and the Kala one I bought dd last year. The difference in quality is significant - the Kala stays better in tune and sounds better. Be aware that no matter what you buy, new ukulele strings will need to be re-tuned a lot. And then after a while they will settle down and hold their tuned pitch longer. I'm pretty sure this is the one I bought: Kala Ukulele
ETA: you don't need to purchase a tuner if you have a smart phone. There are many tuning apps available that work just fine. This is helpful! I've been wanting to try the ukulele for a while now. I used to play guitar way back in the day, so I have some familiarity with stringed instruments. Haha! Thanks! My viola player picked it up very quickly. I really should learn a few chords this summer - it would be fun to accompany songs in the classroom. A class set of ukuleles is on my wish list for school, but it will probably be a few years before that happens. |
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Post by monklady123 on Jun 23, 2017 13:34:19 GMT
All the music teachers I know who teach uke seem to like Kala ukuleles for affordability and decent quality. We have two ukuleles in our house - a cheaper one that is basically one step up from a toy, and the Kala one I bought dd last year. The difference in quality is significant - the Kala stays better in tune and sounds better. Be aware that no matter what you buy, new ukulele strings will need to be re-tuned a lot. And then after a while they will settle down and hold their tuned pitch longer. I'm pretty sure this is the one I bought: Kala Ukulele
ETA: you don't need to purchase a tuner if you have a smart phone. There are many tuning apps available that work just fine. That particular ukelele that you linked says it's only available from third-party sellers. I'm always leery of that.  But I was looking at a different one from Kala. It was a soprano though and someone in this thread mentioned that for larger hands a concert size might be better. My hands are "made for the piano" according to my piano teacher. lol. (more than an octave). I'm inclined to go with a bigger one just based on that. I'm assuming Kala makes both sizes? I'll go back and look in a sec... |
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Post by ktdoesntscrap on Jun 23, 2017 13:37:08 GMT
All the music teachers I know who teach uke seem to like Kala ukuleles for affordability and decent quality. We have two ukuleles in our house - a cheaper one that is basically one step up from a toy, and the Kala one I bought dd last year. The difference in quality is significant - the Kala stays better in tune and sounds better. Be aware that no matter what you buy, new ukulele strings will need to be re-tuned a lot. And then after a while they will settle down and hold their tuned pitch longer. I'm pretty sure this is the one I bought: Kala Ukulele
ETA: you don't need to purchase a tuner if you have a smart phone. There are many tuning apps available that work just fine. That is the one my daughter has. She swears by the tuning apps. |
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Post by ktdoesntscrap on Jun 23, 2017 13:38:24 GMT
This is helpful! I've been wanting to try the ukulele for a while now. I used to play guitar way back in the day, so I have some familiarity with stringed instruments. Haha! Thanks! My viola player picked it up very quickly. I really should learn a few chords this summer - it would be fun to accompany songs in the classroom. A class set of ukuleles is on my wish list for school, but it will probably be a few years before that happens. So many kids at my daughters school play that they are offering a Ukulele class next year!  |
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Dalai Mama
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Post by Dalai Mama on Jun 23, 2017 13:38:52 GMT
Oscar Schmidt and Lanakai are also good brands.
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purplebee
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Post by purplebee on Jun 23, 2017 13:40:43 GMT
Oh good luck with the uke purchase! My Ds has two,one a gorgeous Luna concert size. The Kala that merge posted looks quite nice for the price, and it's mahogany so will sound mellow. Music is such fun, and extra special that you and your daughter will be learning together. Ds 21 and I have played music and sung together for years and it is such a special bond.
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Post by dazeepetals on Jun 23, 2017 13:46:27 GMT
Our Uke xperience started when we walked into a shop on the Big Island of Hawaii. My hubby was given a very basic lesson and was tried on several different types (soprano vs concert vs tenor) to see which one felt most comfortable in his hands. We ended up with a Cordoba Tenor. Most of the differences between them were wood construction and if the top was solid wood or not.
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Post by jassy on Jun 23, 2017 15:05:51 GMT
I bought my husband a uke a few years back, and didn't know what to get - I had a friend whose boyfriend plays the uke, and she asked him for advice, and this is a copy of the email I got :-) Hope this finds you well! I am emailing you as I got on the topic of finding nice ukes last night with Ben. He says that "finding a good uke" translates to a question of 'how much are you willing to spend?" Since I have training as a classical guitarist, I figure it'd be nice to have a nice uke, and so gave him a price range of between $100 and $200. Below is his response/suggestions for what to purchase. The traveling uke, he told me, is really great. It's about 1.25 to 1.75 inches thick. Tenors are 2ish inches longer than concert ukes. There was a uke I heard one guy playing on campus (an acquaintance of Ben's) and I specifically asked what uke that guy (Jeremy) owns -- it's noted below. I think I'm first going to sell some art, and then invest in that which Jeremy has! It sounds lovely. Here's what Ben sent: This is probably the cheapest uke you'd want to go for for this price range, tiny instruments with laminate tops aren't worth the time. www.amazon.com/Lanikai-S-C-Spruce-Concert-Ukulele/dp/B001V5K2ME/That's a concert. This is a tenor... for me, completely worth the $$ for a bit of a fuller tone, but I'm also used to tenors. www.amazon.com/Lanikai-S-T-Spruce-Tenor-Ukulele/dp/B001V5K2MY/Don't go any cheaper. This is an EXCELLENT uke for any price, what I'd personally get. What Jeremy has. Tenor: www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/KASSTUT/Concerts are available, a bit harder to find. Replace the strings immediately; ukes tend to come strung with glorified fishing line. I really like Aquila strings, make sure to buy the correct size and choose "high G" or "low g," GCEA or gCEA... the top string is available in two different octaves. The travel ukes above come with Aquilas out of the box. |
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Post by cadoodlebug on Jun 23, 2017 15:12:25 GMT
When I took ukulele in 1957 my parents bought me a Kamaka which at that time was THE brand to buy in Hawaii. Not sure how much they are now since that was 60 years ago.  But it was sure a sweet instrument. |
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Post by katlady on Jun 23, 2017 15:48:35 GMT
When I took ukulele in 1957 my parents bought me a Kamaka which at that time was THE brand to buy in Hawaii. Not sure how much they are now since that was 60 years ago. But it was sure a sweet instrument. Kamaka's are one of the top ukuleles around. They easily sell for over $1000. Jake Shimabukuro uses one. |
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flute4peace
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Post by flute4peace on Jun 23, 2017 16:10:10 GMT
From the Mom of a Ukenut:
Start at a reputable music store. Get your hands on them, play them, see what feels right in your hands etc. They all have their own unique sound, sometimes even between the same make/models. I'm a proponent of buying locally, but even if you don't and end up buying through Amazon, you'll have a better idea of what you want and be able to make a knowledgeable decision. I wouldn't trust the reviews on Amazon simply because you don't know who the reviewers are or what their credentials are. Also, everyone has different preferences in terms of what they like/what suits their hands & ear.
If you get something worth more than you want to spend on replacement, get a hard case. My DD got a $250 Uke for her graduation gift, owned it less than 24 hrs before it was damaged due to a hard stop/near accident in which it flew across the car. Was in a soft case but that didn't protect it enough.
Also - make sure you have good quality strings on it. Otherwise you'll end up with very sore fingers.
Enjoy!!! |
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Post by cadoodlebug on Jun 23, 2017 16:21:20 GMT
When I took ukulele in 1957 my parents bought me a Kamaka which at that time was THE brand to buy in Hawaii. Not sure how much they are now since that was 60 years ago. But it was sure a sweet instrument. Kamaka's are one of the top ukuleles around. They easily sell for over $1000. Jake Shimabukuro uses one. Guess I should have held onto it! We learned how to play them in school. 60 years later I could probably only play my dog has fleas. |
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georgiapea
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Post by georgiapea on Jun 23, 2017 17:54:05 GMT
My DH wants to learn to play a ukulele! One of his bucket list things for when he retires next year. He's also going to take a dive class and a build your own row boat class. He will be a busy bee!
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But I was looking at a different one from Kala. It was a soprano though and someone in this thread mentioned that for larger hands a concert size might be better. My hands are "made for the piano" according to my piano teacher. lol. (more than an octave). I'm inclined to go with a bigger one just based on that. I'm assuming Kala makes both sizes? I'll go back and look in a sec...
But it was sure a sweet instrument.
