Ukulele Exercises For Dummies

Improve your ukulele playing fast! with hundreds of fun exercises, drills and practice tunes

You got yourself a ukulele and taught yourself to play a passable ′Happy Birthday,′ but now you′re ready to take it to the next level. You′ve come to the right place. This exercise book is your ticket to becoming a bona fide ukulele hero. It supplies expert tips, tricks and plenty of jammin′ exercises that will have you strumming and picking your way through everything from the classic ukulele tunes to cool jazz progressions, intricate instrumental pieces and blues riffs like a pro in no time. And if you′re brand–new to the uke, you′ll find a lot to like here as well.

Brush up on the fundamentals discover how to hold your ukulele; play common chords; read ukulele notation and tab, chord diagrams, neck diagrams, and rhythm charts Start practising on the right foot shorten your learning curve with pre–practice warm–ups, including finger– and hand–stretches, breathing exercises, and strength–building exercises Do some serious strumming strengthen your rhythm, timing and ability to find the right pattern for any song, or even transform simple strumming patterns into sweet improvs Become a power–picker master rhythmic fingerpicking songs and solo fingerstyle pieces with exercises that quickly improve speed, flexibility, and fluidity Master the fretboard learn to build major and minor scales across the neck of the ukulele, build chords in different positions up, and down the fretboard and craft slick solos in rock, blues and jazz styles

Audio download includes

Over an hour and a half of audio featuring the exercises and songs from the book so you can hear exactly how they should sound

Open the book and find:

Hundreds of exercises in various keys, tempos and styles Strumming exercises from common chord changes to advanced techniques Scales and scale sequences Picking patterns and exercises that build speed and confidence Ways to apply the techniques and tricks you learn to play actual songs Warm up exercises that make learning faster and easier Tips on performing before an audience

Introduction 1

Part I: Getting Started with Ukulele Exercises 7

Chapter 1: Preparing to Practise9

Chapter 2: Warming Up for Practice 15

Part II: Becoming a Better Strummer 23

Chapter 3: Foundations For Strumming 25

Chapter 4: Building a Repertoire of Strumming Patterns 33

Chapter 5: Taking Strumming Patterns to a Higher Level 55

Chapter 6: Refining Advanced Strumming Techniques 73

Part III: Becoming a Better Fingerpicker 89

Chapter 7: Examining Fingerpicking Technique 91

Chapter 8: Developing Rhythmic Fingerpicking Patterns 97

Chapter 9: Improving Your Solo Fingerpicking Skills 117

Chapter 10: Taking a Deeper Look at Single–Note Fingerpicking Techniques 135

Part IV: Mastering the Ukulele Fretboard 151

Chapter 11: Learning the Fretboard with Major Scales 153

Chapter 12: Taking On Three Minor Scales 177

Chapter 13: Commanding the Fretboard with Chords 197

Chapter 14: Using Scales to Solo and Improvise 213

Part V: The Part of Tens 229

Chapter 15: Ten Ways to Improve Your Practice Times 231

Chapter 16: Ten Tips for Every Performing Ukulele Player 235

Brett McQueen is a musician, songwriter and the founder of ukuleletricks.com, one of the most popular ukulele sites in the world, where he provides audio, video, and written instructional material (along with personalised feedback) to freshly minted ukulele fans everywhere. Alistair Wood is the man (the myth and the legend) behind ukulelehunt.com and the author of Ukulele For Dummies.