Ukulele Online

There are very few dedicated ukulele shops around, so most people find they have to buy a ukulele online. There is a massive selection of ukuleles for sale online, so it can be very difficult to make a choice and be confident in your selection.

Finding the Right Ukulele

Before you buy a ukulele, it’s well worth doing a bit of research first. Look at the ukuleles in your price range and make a short list to check out. There’s an increasing amount of information online about various brands of ukulele. I have written a ukulele buyer’s guide with reviews submitted by readers.

Search for the ukulele on YouTube: As well as finding reviews, you’ll also get a good idea of the sound and the popularity of the instrument.

Look on ukulele forums: There are endless discussions on forums about the the qualities of various ukuleles. If you can’t find anyone talking about the uke you’re interested in, ask and you’ll most likely find someone who has played that ukulele before.

Buying on eBay

There’s no doubt that the biggest selection of ukuleles for sale online is to be found on eBay. That includes both new and vintage ukuleles. Some people are wary of buying on eBay, but there’s really no need to be. The important thing is to check the reputation of the particular seller. The most respected ukulele sellers on eBay are musicguymic and ukulele4u.

One thing to check when you’re buying on eBay is whether the seller provides setup. A big advantage of a specialised ukulele seller is their expertise. For a beginner in particular, having a ukulele professionally set up can be the difference between getting a ukulele that’s a pleasure to play and one that’s so frustrating you give up.

Buying on Musicians Friend and Guitar Center

There are high-street retailers who sell ukuleles online Musicians Friend and Guitar Center in particular. Their selection isn’t as wide as eBay and they don’t have the same expertise, but they do have a reasonable selection and there are advantages. You do have the reassurance of real, physical stores that, if required, you can go to with problems and return the ukulele if you’re not satisfied. The sites are also useful in that they usually have a number of reviews of each ukulele.

The internet is a great place to get a ukulele – all my ukes except my first were bought online. So if you have to buy a ukulele online, don’t feel you’re settling for second best.

There are no shortage of ukulele chord charts around, but there aren’t that many that also show you what fingers you should be using when you are fretting these chords. But this one from Kiwi Ukulele does:

Indispensible Chord Chart(PDF)

It’s a very well laid out chord chart and even though it isn’t exhaustive, it does have pretty much every first position chord you’ll want. And the layout of it, going from chords you’ll use all the time to chords you hardly ever see, is a much better way of doing it than the standard way of grouping all the A based chords, then the B chords etc.

Scrubs is one of my favourite comedy shows and it just went up even further in my estimation now that they’ve recruited a ukulele girl to be Ted’s sweetheart in the episode

Who was the ukulele girl on Scrubs?

The character of Stephanie Gooch (the Scrubs ukulele girl) is played by Kate Micucci. She’s been a comedy actor for a number of years having appeared in small roles in Malcolm in the Middle, How I Met Your Mother and Four Kings.

She’s also the ukulele half of the duo Garfunkel and Oates with fellow comedy actress Riki Lindhome (Pushing Daisies, Life is Short).

It’s great to see Kate – and the ukulele – getting exposure on Scrubs. Let’s hope it’s the start of big things for her.

Israel Kamakawiwo’ole (or IZ for short) is one of the most popular and most recognisable ukulele player. His version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow has become on of the songs most associated with the ukulele. With him inspiring so many people to pick up the uke, many people are wondering which ukulele he played.

Israel Kamakawiwoole’s main ukulele was a Martin Tenor. You can see him using it in the famous video for Over the Rainbow. He had this ukulele strung with Low G strings.

Where Can I Buy A Tenor Martin Ukulele?

It’s not that easy, or that cheap. Martin don’t make tenor ukuleles any more, so you’ll have to try to buy one second hand. You can usually find one or two on eBay. You can expect to pay around $1,000 for one in good condition.

If you’re wondering how to re-string a ukulele, Aldrine has made a video walking you through the process. Continue reading “How to String A Ukulele Video”

There are certain songs that work really well on the ukulele. Some of them were written on and for the ukulele, others have been adapted to the ukulele and have since become uke standards.

Old School Ukulele Songs

Aloha Oe: One of the reasons the ukulele became so successful was the support of the Hawaiian Royal family in the late 19th Century. Aloha Oe was apparently written by Queen Liliuokalani. It has since became a ukulele standard and has even been covered by Lilo and Stitch.

Ain’t She Sweet: The 1920s saw the ukulele become incredibly popular on the US mainland and this song became a ukulele standard. It was even done by the Beatles with George Harrison on uke in The Beatles documentary.

Tonight You Belong To Me: The scene The Jerk where Steve Martin plays this song on the uke made it an instant ukulele standard.

Five Foot Two: Another 20s standard that works perfectly on the ukulele.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow: Made a ukulele standard by Israel Kamakwiwo’ole and immortalised further by Jason Castro when he played it on the ukulele on American Idol. You can find the Jason Castro version of the Somewhere Over the Rainbow ukulele chords here.

New School Ukulele Songs

Five Years Time: Noah and the Whale’s hit ukulele song. Perfect for beginners with it being just three easy chords: C, F and G.

I’m Yours: The Jason Mraz song has been picked up my the ukulele community. You can find oodles of covers (and parodies) of this song on the ukulele.

There are plenty of ukulele chord charts online for standard soprano tuning (gCEA re-entrant). You can find chord charts in both PDF, doc and jpg format on this page. But my favourite is this ukulele chord chart which gives you the fingerings for the chords in the fretboard dots and also arranges them according to how often you are likely to need them to play songs. Very useful for beginners.

For a more interactive and decorative chord chart (of sorts) check out Sheep Entertainment. But be careful with the tuning as the default is D tuning.

Ukulele Chord Books

The online chord charts are perfectly adequate for beginners. But if you want something entirely comprehensive, it’s worth investing in a ukulele chord book. At $5 and 1,000 chord shapes, the Hal Leonard Ukulele Chord Finder is well worth the investment for ukers looking to expand their chord vocabulary.

Jake Shimabukuro’s instrumental version of George Harrison’s While My Guitar Gently Weeps on Midnight Ukulele Disco has quickly become a ukulele classic, just as much associated with the ukulele as Tiptoe Through the Tulips and Tiny Bubbles. So it’s no surprise that the question I get asked more than any other is, “Where can I get tabs for While My Ukulele Gently Weeps?”

Almost as legendary as the song itself is Dominator‘s tab of it. Unfortunately, he was asked to take the tab down by Jake. I have, ahem, heard from people with much looser morals than me that you can find this tab on the torrents.

Alternatively, Ed Whitehead has done a ukulele tab of While My Guitar Gently Weeps as well.

Or, if you want to make your own version of the tune, there’s a tab of the ‘bare bones’ of the tune here.