Table of Contents

Introduction 1
Part I: Getting Started with the Ukulele 5


Chapter 1: Exploring the Ukulele 7


Chapter 2: Tuning Up to Sound Great 19


Chapter 3: Discovering How to Handle Your Ukulele 29


Part II: Starting Out with Chords and Strumming 39


Chapter 4: Playing Your First Ukulele Chords and Songs 41


Chapter 5: Drumming Up More Strumming Patterns 61


Chapter 6: Meeting the Chords and Their Families 81


Part III: Picking and Single]Note Playing 101


Chapter 7: Getting to Grips with Tabs and Notation 103


Chapter 8: Discovering Fingerpicking Patterns 119


Chapter 9: Combining Melodies and Chords When Playing Solo 133


Chapter 10: Picking Up Some Soloing Techniques 143


Part IV: Discovering Genres and Styles 159


Chapter 11: Rocking Out with Your Uke 161


Chapter 12: Playing the Blues to Lift Your Spirits 169


Chapter 13: Saying ‘Aloha’ to the Hawaiian Style 187


Chapter 14: Jazzing Up Your Uke Playing 195


Chapter 15: Strumming Up the Jawaiian Style 203


Chapter 16: Getting Classy: Classical Masterpieces for Ukulele 209


Chapter 17: Ukuleleing the Holidays 219


Part V: Buying and Looking After Your Ukulele 225


Chapter 18: Weighing Up Your Options When Buying a Ukulele 227


Chapter 19: Splashing Out on Essentials and Accessories 235


Chapter 20: Restringing, Maintaining, and Adjusting Your Uke 243


Part VI: The Part of Tens 253


Chapter 21: Ten Ukulele Players to Know 255


Chapter 22: Ten Ways to Get Involved in the Ukulele Scene 261


Chapter 23: Ten (or So) Tips for Improving Your Playing 267


Chapter 24: Ten Greatest Ukulele Chords 273


Part VII: Appendixes 281


Appendix A: Chord Charts 283


Appendix B: Reading Standard Musical Notation 287


Appendix C: Audio Tracks 293


Index 299

About the Author

Alistair Wood is a ukulele player, transcriber and arranger who owns the most popular ukulele site on the Internet, ukulelehunt.com. His expertise and the continuing ukulele boom has led to media hits that include The New York Times, The Guardian and BBC News.