1 00:00:05,221 --> 00:00:13,521 ♪ 2 00:00:13,521 --> 00:00:15,258 Hey, how you doing? Justine here! 3 00:00:15,258 --> 00:00:19,128 Today we're gonna do a lesson on getting started on a Ukulele. 4 00:00:19,138 --> 00:00:20,835 Great fun little instrument these are. 5 00:00:20,835 --> 00:00:23,870 I’ve only been playing a few months but it’s really really good fun. 6 00:00:23,870 --> 00:00:27,526 If you play a bit of guitar, the skills kinda transfer over pretty easy. 7 00:00:27,536 --> 00:00:29,718 That's kind of a cool thing! 8 00:00:29,718 --> 00:00:31,875 And if you’ve never played a musical instrument before 9 00:00:31,875 --> 00:00:34,004 it’s a nice little starter one this one. 10 00:00:34,004 --> 00:00:36,190 It's got nylon strings so it's easy on the fingers. 11 00:00:36,190 --> 00:00:37,985 The chords are pretty simple to play. 12 00:00:37,985 --> 00:00:40,278 Small, portable - great for parties you know 13 00:00:40,278 --> 00:00:42,127 it’s a really good little instrument 14 00:00:42,127 --> 00:00:43,327 In this lesson I want to show you 15 00:00:43,327 --> 00:00:44,416 how to tune that thing, 16 00:00:44,416 --> 00:00:46,430 how to hold it, how to strum it and I show you 17 00:00:46,430 --> 00:00:48,342 four really simple chords 18 00:00:48,342 --> 00:00:50,736 and give you some progressions to put those chords in 19 00:00:50,736 --> 00:00:52,187 so you can play some tunes. 20 00:00:52,187 --> 00:00:54,344 That’s the aim of our little lesson today. 21 00:00:54,344 --> 00:00:56,694 So first thing, getting your Uke in tune. 22 00:00:56,694 --> 00:00:59,894 Really really important, nylon strings tend to go out of tune a bit. 23 00:00:59,894 --> 00:01:02,304 So I would recommend getting something like a clip on tuner 24 00:01:02,304 --> 00:01:05,066 or something that is there all the time. 25 00:01:05,066 --> 00:01:06,149 So you can tune up really quick you know 26 00:01:06,149 --> 00:01:08,929 rather than having to get a tuner out and do all of that sort of stuff. 27 00:01:08,929 --> 00:01:10,325 Either a little clip-on tuner. 28 00:01:10,325 --> 00:01:12,492 This particular Uke has a built-in tuner, 29 00:01:12,492 --> 00:01:17,892 This is a Maton Ukulele Australian Guitar Company 30 00:01:17,892 --> 00:01:21,865 makes great instruments all around you want to check them out its Maton. 31 00:01:21,865 --> 00:01:24,929 Maton.com.au is their website. 32 00:01:24,929 --> 00:01:26,909 If your looking for a uke this is a great one. 33 00:01:26,909 --> 00:01:31,718 Doesn’t matter what one you do this one as I should mention is a concert size Uke. 34 00:01:31,718 --> 00:01:35,011 There's a soprano Uke which is a lot smaller - same tuning. 35 00:01:35,011 --> 00:01:38,344 Although sometimes they tune the smaller ones up a tone from what 36 00:01:38,344 --> 00:01:43,308 I'm going to show you. And there is a couple of bigger ones as well 37 00:01:43,308 --> 00:01:47,226 this one is a concert one if you want to get one of this size. 38 00:01:47,226 --> 00:01:54,576 So the tuning is C, oh sorry, G, C, E, A 39 00:01:54,576 --> 00:01:59,558 and it seems to be commonly called when I looked it up “My dog has flees “ 40 00:01:59,558 --> 00:02:00,742 I don’t know where they get that name from 41 00:02:00,742 --> 00:02:04,295 But you can hear that the fourth string which is the one closest to the ceiling 42 00:02:04,295 --> 00:02:07,875 is actually the highest note. 43 00:02:07,875 --> 00:02:11,475 So it’s kinda high - low - getting higher 44 00:02:11,475 --> 00:02:15,531 It’s going from the top down okay you know I mean physically down 45 00:02:15,531 --> 00:02:18,635 The string closest to the floor is the one I call the first string 46 00:02:18,635 --> 00:02:24,715 So first string, second string, third string and fourth string 47 00:02:24,715 --> 00:02:32,302 So from the ground it would be A, E, C and G 48 00:02:32,302 --> 00:02:39,962 and from the ceiling down G, C, E, A. Okay? 49 00:02:39,962 --> 00:02:42,272 Now like I said I really recommend that you get a tuner 50 00:02:42,272 --> 00:02:43,108 If you don’t have a tuner 51 00:02:43,108 --> 00:02:45,183 I'm gonna play the notes for you now so you can tune up 52 00:02:45,183 --> 00:02:53,416 So, this would be the top string or string four. It’s the note G. 53 00:02:53,416 --> 00:03:02,806 Okay, and now to the third string just the note C. It’s the lowest note on the Uke 54 00:03:02,806 --> 00:03:09,898 And to the second string which is the note E 55 00:03:09,898 --> 00:03:16,615 And now to the first string, the one closest to the ground, the note A 56 00:03:16,615 --> 00:03:20,769 Okay, so when you pick it up and strum it. 57 00:03:20,769 --> 00:03:26,269 “My dog has flees” that’s what you want to be hearing. Okay. 58 00:03:26,273 --> 00:03:30,138 So that’s first really important thing getting your Uke in tune 59 00:03:30,138 --> 00:03:32,906 Second thing - holding the Uke. Now 60 00:03:32,906 --> 00:03:37,814 It makes sense to me that you should be stable not supported by this hand 61 00:03:37,814 --> 00:03:40,308 so that means I have to support it with this hand 62 00:03:40,308 --> 00:03:42,614 But just supporting it with this hand 63 00:03:42,614 --> 00:03:45,326 and leaving this one free means I've got to hold it so tight 64 00:03:45,326 --> 00:03:47,327 I can't strum very freely and that’s no good 65 00:03:47,327 --> 00:03:50,437 and if I just support it with this hand then I can’t change chords 66 00:03:50,437 --> 00:03:53,180 So really it’s a bit of balancing act where 67 00:03:53,180 --> 00:03:56,939 Some of the weight of the neck is held by your hand that is fretting the chords 68 00:03:56,939 --> 00:03:58,310 which is quite different to guitar 69 00:03:58,310 --> 00:04:00,541 On guitar you would never be holding the neck 70 00:04:00,541 --> 00:04:02,551 The neck should just be completely stationary 71 00:04:02,551 --> 00:04:05,715 and it does make changing chords a little trickier 72 00:04:05,715 --> 00:04:08,173 when you have to support the neck a little bit, Okay? 73 00:04:08,173 --> 00:04:11,754 and otherwise it’s just your forearm kind of holding the Uke down 74 00:04:11,754 --> 00:04:15,079 I have seen a few people talk about being able to hold the Uke like that 75 00:04:15,079 --> 00:04:19,589 and play quite freely but I haven't been able to get it together that quickly 76 00:04:19,589 --> 00:04:21,432 so it might be difficult for you too 77 00:04:21,432 --> 00:04:26,462 one thing I do find - especially for the very first time - I just rested the Uke in my lap 78 00:04:26,462 --> 00:04:30,062 like it was a guitar and now my strumming hand feels quite free 79 00:04:30,062 --> 00:04:32,161 and I’m not going to hold the neck up so much 80 00:04:32,161 --> 00:04:34,384 So you might want to try that as well 81 00:04:34,384 --> 00:04:37,500 Doesn’t really matter whichever way you really want to do it. 82 00:04:37,500 --> 00:04:39,837 you going to be holding it up quite high it's not like a guitar 83 00:04:39,837 --> 00:04:43,625 where you would be playing it right down on your lap that feels pretty weird 84 00:04:43,625 --> 00:04:45,129 So going to have it a little bit further up 85 00:04:45,129 --> 00:04:48,170 So it really is what’s comfortable for you 86 00:04:48,170 --> 00:04:52,237 If I was going to play it standing up I would almost certainly use a strap 87 00:04:52,237 --> 00:04:54,905 It’s so light and small you could use a bit of string 88 00:04:54,905 --> 00:04:57,185 It wouldn’t be big deal 89 00:04:57,185 --> 00:05:01,492 So generally, you’re just using you’re forearm to hold the Uke against your body 90 00:05:01,492 --> 00:05:03,458 and a little bit of support from the left hand. 91 00:05:03,458 --> 00:05:07,533 The first thing you want to get sorted out, is just how you going to hold it 92 00:05:07,533 --> 00:05:12,296 Now strumming - normally with Uke you strum with your first finger 93 00:05:12,296 --> 00:05:14,569 There are other techniques, you could do fingerstyle and all sorts of stuff 94 00:05:14,569 --> 00:05:17,519 To start off with you want to be just using your first finger 95 00:05:17,519 --> 00:05:21,660 and interestingly you strum kind of around where the neck meets the body of the Uke 96 00:05:21,660 --> 00:05:23,434 It’s not like a guitar where your back here 97 00:05:23,434 --> 00:05:27,714 it’s more here 98 00:05:27,714 --> 00:05:32,001 Now I recommend just starting off, just doing four down strums 99 00:05:32,001 --> 00:05:33,511 with your first finger 100 00:05:33,511 --> 00:05:36,352 and then get used to doing some up strokes and 101 00:05:36,352 --> 00:05:38,991 make sure your fingers not getting caught in the strings 102 00:05:38,991 --> 00:05:46,120 and going down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up 103 00:05:46,120 --> 00:05:47,963 A really common kind of pattern could be like 104 00:05:47,963 --> 00:05:56,247 one, two, and three and four, down - down up - down up - down, that kind of a pattern 105 00:05:56,247 --> 00:05:58,988 Works really great on the Uke 106 00:05:58,988 --> 00:06:01,224 But there’s lot s of different kind of strumming patterns 107 00:06:01,224 --> 00:06:03,559 you can use - like on the guitar 108 00:06:03,559 --> 00:06:06,039 that's one of the things you want to be studying as you progress 109 00:06:06,039 --> 00:06:07,449 is learning different strumming patterns 110 00:06:07,449 --> 00:06:09,196 and different ways of playing them 111 00:06:09,196 --> 00:06:11,258 To start of with, don’t feel stress 112 00:06:11,258 --> 00:06:14,948 just first finger strumming around the joint of the neck 113 00:06:14,948 --> 00:06:17,336 and the body of the Uke strumming it up and down 114 00:06:17,336 --> 00:06:19,469 That’s all you need to really be worrying about 115 00:06:19,469 --> 00:06:20,889 To start off with 116 00:06:20,889 --> 00:06:24,819 So let's get to a close up and check out your first four chords 117 00:06:26,569 --> 00:06:29,875 The first chord where looking at is a C chord 118 00:06:29,875 --> 00:06:33,286 And all we need to do to play a C chord is to put our third finger 119 00:06:33,286 --> 00:06:35,497 in the third fret of string one 120 00:06:35,497 --> 00:06:38,297 The string one is the one closest to the ground. Okay? 121 00:06:38,297 --> 00:06:44,500 so - open , open, open, third fret 122 00:06:44,500 --> 00:06:45,820 This is a C chord 123 00:06:45,820 --> 00:06:50,003 Okay. Very very easy 124 00:06:50,003 --> 00:06:52,794 Okay now the really really easy one - A minor 125 00:06:52,794 --> 00:06:55,011 All we need to do is put that second finger 126 00:06:55,011 --> 00:06:59,731 in the second fret of the top string or string four 127 00:06:59,731 --> 00:07:06,353 Okay. So it's second - open - open - open 128 00:07:06,353 --> 00:07:08,305 Just make sure your second finger is not laying over 129 00:07:08,305 --> 00:07:11,154 and muting the third string 130 00:07:11,154 --> 00:07:13,754 Nicely using the tips of your fingers 131 00:07:13,754 --> 00:07:16,283 that would be an A minor chord. 132 00:07:16,283 --> 00:07:18,723 C (plucking the chord) 133 00:07:18,723 --> 00:07:21,093 Am (plucking the chord) 134 00:07:21,093 --> 00:07:24,197 From A minor we can get to F really easy 135 00:07:24,197 --> 00:07:26,793 I know the F chord on guitar is a bit of nightmare. But on the Uke, 136 00:07:26,793 --> 00:07:29,715 all you do is to start with A minor 137 00:07:29,715 --> 00:07:34,785 you put your first finger down in the first fret of the second string 138 00:07:34,785 --> 00:07:36,000 and you leave your second finger down 139 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:42,709 You got second fret, open, first fret, open, and we got an F chord. 140 00:07:42,709 --> 00:07:47,062 Okay, so start with the first finger first fret, second string 141 00:07:47,072 --> 00:07:53,332 second finger, second fret, fourth string 142 00:07:53,332 --> 00:07:56,192 The one we got that's an F Chord 143 00:07:56,192 --> 00:07:59,544 Okay and the last chord we look at today is this one 144 00:07:59,544 --> 00:08:03,784 and this one is a G chord. I can here some of you guitar players say 145 00:08:03,784 --> 00:08:08,912 no it’s a D chord! Well, it looks like a D chord but on the Uke its a G chord 146 00:08:08,912 --> 00:08:14,478 open, first finger is going in the second fret of the third string 147 00:08:14,478 --> 00:08:17,777 third finger is going in the third fret of the second string 148 00:08:17,777 --> 00:08:23,147 and the second finger is going down in the second fret of the first string 149 00:08:23,147 --> 00:08:25,136 Okay, first finger, 150 00:08:25,136 --> 00:08:26,176 second finger 151 00:08:26,176 --> 00:08:27,446 third finger 152 00:08:27,446 --> 00:08:30,446 (plucking G chord) 153 00:08:30,446 --> 00:08:33,430 Okay, this is a G chord 154 00:08:33,430 --> 00:08:35,420 So we got C 155 00:08:35,420 --> 00:08:37,730 Am 156 00:08:37,730 --> 00:08:39,373 F 157 00:08:39,373 --> 00:08:40,535 G 158 00:08:40,535 --> 00:08:44,255 (plucking C, Am, F ...) 159 00:08:44,255 --> 00:08:46,257 I recommend doing that as a little exercise 160 00:08:46,257 --> 00:08:48,615 to getting used to those chords, 161 00:08:48,615 --> 00:08:50,395 C 162 00:08:50,395 --> 00:08:51,955 Am 163 00:08:51,965 --> 00:08:53,599 F 164 00:08:53,599 --> 00:08:56,389 G 165 00:08:56,389 --> 00:08:58,079 and back to C 166 00:08:58,909 --> 00:09:02,013 Just using those four chords that we learned, there are hundreds 167 00:09:02,013 --> 00:09:05,923 and I actually mean hundreds of songs that you can play 168 00:09:05,923 --> 00:09:08,765 Now all you want to do is to start off learning some chord sequences 169 00:09:08,765 --> 00:09:10,406 I cant teach you the actual songs and name them 170 00:09:10,406 --> 00:09:13,202 because the I get into copyright problems, I got to get clearances 171 00:09:13,202 --> 00:09:14,150 it gets all complicated 172 00:09:14,150 --> 00:09:17,052 So I'll put a list of songs upon the website, okay 173 00:09:17,052 --> 00:09:20,752 and use this particular chords because I can get away with that. 174 00:09:20,752 --> 00:09:23,807 So the first really common chord sequence 175 00:09:23,807 --> 00:09:26,395 that you going to get 176 00:09:26,395 --> 00:09:28,655 is going from the C chord 177 00:09:28,655 --> 00:09:31,505 to the G chord 178 00:09:31,505 --> 00:09:35,665 to the A minor 179 00:09:35,665 --> 00:09:39,575 and to the F 180 00:09:39,575 --> 00:09:42,695 C 181 00:09:42,705 --> 00:09:46,245 G 182 00:09:46,245 --> 00:09:49,245 Am 183 00:09:49,245 --> 00:09:52,205 to F 184 00:09:52,205 --> 00:09:55,341 I’m using my thumb here just because it's really easy for me to hold the Uke. 185 00:09:55,341 --> 00:09:58,754 and kinda strum with my thumb. You probably want to use your first finger 186 00:09:58,754 --> 00:10:05,734 (strumming with first finger) 187 00:10:05,734 --> 00:10:14,170 Okay. C, G, A minor, to F, okay 188 00:10:14,170 --> 00:10:18,288 This chord sequence is used so much it's insane 189 00:10:18,288 --> 00:10:23,094 You might have seen the Axis of Awesome doing these little four chords 190 00:10:23,094 --> 00:10:25,337 in a medley of different songs that used it 191 00:10:25,337 --> 00:10:26,438 So this is that chord sequence right 192 00:10:26,438 --> 00:10:30,466 So if you want to dig that video out and check out all the songs that they do 193 00:10:30,466 --> 00:10:34,056 Again you can google it and I'll put a list up on my website 194 00:10:34,056 --> 00:10:39,915 that chord sequence, actually called a 1-5-6-4..Okay, 1-5-6-4 195 00:10:39,915 --> 00:10:41,823 that’s the name of chord sequence 196 00:10:41,823 --> 00:10:44,129 But there’re others even the chord sequence I’ve showed 197 00:10:44,129 --> 00:10:45,934 you at the beginning there’s lots of songs that use this 198 00:10:45,934 --> 00:11:02,094 having this 1 chord - the C, the A minor, F to G 199 00:11:02,094 --> 00:11:05,358 Hundreds,maybe, it cant be a hundreds but there’s lots and lots of songs 200 00:11:05,358 --> 00:11:07,376 that do use that chord sequence 201 00:11:07,376 --> 00:11:12,437 So that’s what I would recommend for the Uke, to start. If you going to get started on the Ukulele 202 00:11:12,437 --> 00:11:14,417 Rather than trying to learn to learn loads of different chords, 203 00:11:14,417 --> 00:11:17,187 and any sort of fancy stuff, check out those four chords 204 00:11:17,187 --> 00:11:19,719 get really comfortable with them and confident with your strumming 205 00:11:19,719 --> 00:11:22,979 Once you got that together that’s kinda of the thing 206 00:11:22,979 --> 00:11:26,700 you need if your playing on a party or whatever you want to have a good repertoires of tunes 207 00:11:26,700 --> 00:11:29,337 that are really easy. That you can play if you had a couple of beers 208 00:11:29,337 --> 00:11:33,067 It’s not going to stress you, not kinda get complicated you know 209 00:11:33,067 --> 00:11:37,692 That’s what I recommend to starting off with on the Ukulele 210 00:11:37,692 --> 00:11:39,884 I’m going to say I’m planning more lessons, some Uke songs and some 211 00:11:39,884 --> 00:11:42,170 more videos and some more complicated chords 212 00:11:42,170 --> 00:11:46,469 but as I said for getting started on the Uke you got enough to get yourself going 213 00:11:46,469 --> 00:11:48,543 So, have fun on that fantastic 214 00:11:48,543 --> 00:11:50,377 I really really enjoying the Uke 215 00:11:50,377 --> 00:11:51,544 It's such a laugh. 216 00:11:51,544 --> 00:11:53,274 I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do 217 00:11:53,274 --> 00:11:55,308 and I'll see you for plenty more lessons very soon 218 00:11:55,308 --> 00:11:56,598 Take care of yourselves! 219 00:11:56,598 --> 00:11:58,358 Bye-bye.