My journey learning to play this beautiful instrument is probably different than most others. I learned to play the ukulele first and then eventually transitioned over to guitar.
It all started when one of my friends said, “I’m going to teach myself the ukulele.” I thought to myself, “why can’t I do that?” So, I did what any sensible broke high school student would do. I hopped on amazon.com and bought myself a cheap, beginner ukulele. I had never touched an instrument before, besides the recorder in fourth grade. I knew nothing about music, beats, chords, rhythm, tempo, etc… I had no idea what I was in for.
Before I learned the ukulele, I had previously taught myself how to juggle and how to do magic tricks through this wonderful website called youtube.com.
Naturally, when the ukulele came in the mail, I got on youtube.com and began the long process of making sweet music with my newfound instrument. It was hard. The first thing I had to memorize was the finger placement of each chord, then I had to learn how to switch from chord to chord, and then I had to learn how to strum while switching from chord to chord. Not to mention, having to sing while I do all the previous movements. I never realized how hard that is for a beginner.
I struggled with that for at least a month or two. It was beyond frustrating knowing what I had to do but not being able to execute it. I realized that I had to go slow. I wasn’t going to learn anything but trying to keep up with the experts online. So, I practiced strumming, only using down strums or quarter beats, and changing chords. Once I finally felt comfortable doing that, I slowly added in the singing.
From there, it got a whole lot easier. I would just have to search how to play a song and learn what chords are used and what strumming pattern is used. I would learn songs so fast that it became less exciting when I told my friends because it was just so easy.
After I felt more than comfortable with the ukulele, I began to think about playing the guitar. The thought lingered in the back of my head for a few months until I went to a two-day country super fest where my favorite bands and singers were playing. After listening to my favorite artists play, I made the decision to learn guitar. I had no idea how or where I was going to get one, but I was determined to learn.
My girlfriend surprised me on our anniversary with a brand new acoustic guitar. I was eager to learn and started practicing as soon as I got it out of the box. I had been practicing on her sister’s guitar for a while, so I had a little bit of an idea of what I was doing. Of course, I went back on youtube.com to learn this brand-new instrument.
The beauty of learning ukulele first and then the guitar is the transition. The concept for both instruments is the same however, the ukulele is a much smaller instrument, so learning finger placement is much easier than on the guitar, especially since the ukulele only has four strings while the guitar has six. I had already learned how to strum and sing at the same time, so the only thing I had to do was memorize chord shapes for the guitar.
Learning new music is much easier for me now. First, I go to this amazing website called ultimate-guitar.com which has the chords above the lyrics of any song. Next, I figure out a strumming pattern which can be easier or difficult depending on the song. I listen to the song and figure out the beat and try to mimic what the drum is doing with my strumming hand.
Music is a constant that brings people together. Being able to play songs people know and love is a gift and allows you to connect with them. The guitar isn’t for everyone; if it was, everyone would know how to play it. But, it’s worth trying if you love music.
