Learning Ukulele: Mary Had a Little Lamb

I grew really inspired to learn how to play ukulele when watching Lauren Fairweather on Youtube. It looked really cute and made a great sound, so I thought, why not, especially since beginner ukuleles are so cheap?

I have a Lanikai LU-21, made by Hohner. It's widely acknowledged to be the best beginner ukulele. I actually chose and intended to eventually purchase the ukulele that's a step down from the LU-21, the LU-11. Very few know what the difference is between these two, besides white trim on the LU-21. I, personally, don't have the slightest idea, but I suspect that the LU-21 has higher quality strings than the LU-11: the LU-21 comes with Aquila nylagut strings, and I'm not sure what the LU-11 comes with.

Technical talk aside, I love this thing. I'm using the Play Ukulele Today! This is a really good book. It's easy to understand, with a gradual progression and build up of skills. I usually go over everything I've learned previously once I begin a practice session, and then move on to the new things. It seems to be working fairly well, but I'm already half-way through the book and there isn't a Level 2 version yet! It's only been five days! Of course, I'm finding it hard to put the ukulele down, even when I should have been studying, but that should be a nod to the accessibility of the book and the awesomeness of the ukulele. I've done a small video to show what I'm doing at the moment, courtesy of the new webcam I bought for about 10 dollars. Not terribly good quality video, which is partly due to my bad lighting, but the audio is awesome and it gets the job done. Half-way through the book has finally yielded the first recognizable song: Mary Had a Little Lamb. Next I work on accidentals and a new set of notes on the third string. The book is set up so you begin with chords, go to single notes, and then move back to chords.