OK, so I took the plunge and ordered a green flying V uke. So, what’s the easiest way to learn to play this puppy?
What’s with that weird tuning? Seems odd to strum a high note, followed by the lower ones ascending. What’s the advantage to this system?
Any recommendations for good online tutorial sites that don’t assume that you know nothing about playing a stringed instrument? Thanks.
Paul, Sorry to hear about your interest in ukulele,joking of course. It is a fun instrument. I went thru a fascination with it myself.
I hope you get a good flying V uke. Usually those cheaper models will give you a bunch of trouble, not much sound and generally discourage your playing. If you are really serious about learning, get a “Flea” . Just google flea uke and you will find all about it. If you go on Flea Market Music you can find them for bout 100.00 used or a bit more.
The re-entrant tuning is great for strumming chords. A bit different for other things , you just have to see what works for you. Some use a Low G . I didnt care for that after trying it.
If you want to see some of my uke playing I did on Youtube my user name at that time was stevejet47. Im locked out of that account now though. If you have any questions about any of the stuff on the vids holler at me and I will answer to the best of my ability.
Theres not much instructional material out there that isnt aimed at people who have never played a instrument. I think the best deal is , learn the chords to a easy song you like and just start strumming, and your brain will lead you from there.
This may be more info than you needed, but as I just had my morning coffee, Im rambling,
Steve
What’s with that weird tuning? Seems odd to strum a high note, followed by the lower ones ascending. What’s the advantage to this system?
This is the best explanation I’ve seen:
http://uketalk.com/ukulele-articles/reentrant-tuning.htm
Basically it’s part of the ukulele sound.
Tenor and baritone ukes don’t have that high note on the bottom (reentrant) tuning and are basically just small 4 string guitars.
That site has some good stuff on playing, too.
I came up with a lot of sites when I searched for “ukulele online lesson”. This one:
http://www.theuke.com/content.php?article.14
is a cool old 1914 method that goes into a lot of detail.
And one thing about the uke that took me way too long to figure out… The chord shapes are the same as the top 4 strings of a guitar with a capo at the 5th fret. I spent too much time tyring to memorize “new” chord patterns when they were the same all along.
But you probably already knew that.
Bill
Paul, for a nice uke site check out uketalk.com. You’ll feel right at home, as it’s the same software as C&F, but beware that there’s only about 800 members, so it’s not a real active joint like here. You can visit it about once a month to keep up! But they have lots of good info and a nice community.
As far as reentrant tuning, I’ve always gathered that it was just traditional for the instrument. Since it was originally a chordal device, it didn’t matter what order the strings fell in, as the chords sound the same anyway. There is ‘Low G’ tuning where you tune GCEA instead of gCEA, but you have to use either a honkin’ fat piece of nylon (which can mess up intonation) or a wound G string (which can wreck the ‘uke’ sound).
There are players that re-string the uke to play GDAE like a mandolin, but personally I think that looses the uke charm as well. All you need are very basic guitar chords and you’re set.
Good luck with it and have a blast!!
Tim… that wouldn’t be TINY Tim, would it?.. 
www.ezfolk.com has a few tabs for uke to get you started. There’s not much, but it’s at least a mixture of strumming style and finger-picking style. There’s even some clawhammer style, which is really a banjo style but works well on uke due to the re-entrant tuning.
If you stick with it, there’s a more advanced technique called the triple strum, which can be seen on several youtube videos.
And speaking of youtube, if you’ve never seen Jake Shimabukuro do While My Guitar Gently Weeps, this is a must-see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puSkP3uym5k
Yeah, I did see Jake, and I’m still in awe of his playing. Simply gorgeous.
Tiny Tim? Not according to my bathroom scale!! 
I’m hoping to get a uke so I can play it like a mandolin. I want something smaller and lighter than a mandolin to travel with. I don’t care if it won’t sound like a mandolin.
I didn’t realize that the chords are the same as a guitar. If I had known that, it would have been a lot easier. I used to play with my mother’s uke when I was a kid. But I only knew how to play “5 foot two”. I took guitar lessons. I could have been playing the uke a lot more.
You can re-string a uke to drive like a four-string mandolin, but it really isn’t the same. Have you considered a travel mandolin like a Weber SweetPea or Martin Backpacker?
The Flying V arrived today and it’s at LEAST playable (or will be once the strings stabilize).
Not the greatest workmanship in the world, but definitely worth the $38 I paid for it.
I may try to lower the nut a bit,smooth the ends of the frets, etc.
Check out the Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain and also Petty Booka - my favourite Japanese ukelele duo!
G’day there Paul,welcome to the Ukulele,
I recently bought a vintage Baritone Ukulele on the Ebay (its a Marwin from the 1950’s)…I’m loving the little feller..its fun with a capitol F !!.. 
…I just cant walk by it without playing a tune…
Baritones are tuned DGBE,the same as the top 4 strings on a guitar…
Theres’ two web sites that I visit a lot…this one has a fantastic and simple chord finder…for your Uke and my Baritone…
http://www.sheep-entertainment.nl/ukulele/index.html …
If you click on the Plectrum on the page,your hear how the chord sounds as well…
The other site I visit has 100’s of the old standard songs which are great fun to play on a Ukulele…at the moment I’m playing “As time goes By” and “Makin Whoopee”… 
here 'tis http://www.theguitarguy.com
I hope you enjoy the Ukelele as much as I do…
see yer…weedie…
So what kind of Uke is Jake playing? What size I mean.
From what I can gather there are sopranos, concerts, tenors and baritones. I’ve played the sopranos and baritones. What are the concerts and tenors like? Which is bigger?
Doc
Hi Doc,
Jake is playing a four-string tenor ukulele. I can’t make out the markings on it, but it appears to be koa wood, the classic wood for ukes. It also appears to be “low-G” strung, that is, with the G string an octave lower than normal tenor uke tuning. In “low G” tuning a tenor plays like a baritone uke, but in open C instead of open G.
The size range, from smallest to largest, is soprano, concert (alto), tenor, baritone. If you go by the fret spacing and feel of the necks, the soprano is very tiny for many player’s hands. The concert size is very mandolin like. The tenor reminds me of a tenor banjo neck, and the baritone is more guitar-like. They are all wider and shorter than those instruments, but the fret spacing and ‘feel’ is similar. All ukes have wide string spacing, like the way a classical guitar is wider than a steel string guitar.
The basic four sizes of uke are commonly tuned this way:
Soprano: Re-entrant tuned to gCEA. Some older ukes were tuned to aDF#B, a whole tone higher. The soprano has the classic uke sound. When most people think of a ukulele, it’s the soprano. They are the most common size and were made in unbelievable numbers in the 20’s and 30’s. Grandpa’s uke was probably a soprano. No matter what uke you eventually choose, every player should have a good soprano in the collection. Think grass skirts and soft trade winds, as well as raccoon coats and ‘Oh you kid’!
Concert: Re-entrant tuned to gCEA. This seldom varies. They have a longer scale length yet play exactly like the soprano. Being larger bodied, they are louder and a little more resonant. The concert is my favorite because it’s a bit easier on my fingers while still retaining so much of the ukulele charm. It has the sound of Hawai’i, yet is a good ‘vo-dee-oh-doe’ instrument as well.
Tenor: Most often re-entrant tuned to gCEA although they can be low G strung to GCEA with a special set of strings. The tenor has taken the popularity spot of the soprano in modern times for its loud voice. It is also seen in six-string versions (sometimes called the Lili’u, after Lili’uokalani, the last monarch of Hawai’i and who was very fond of the design), and an eight string version called a ‘Tarro Patch’ uke. The six-string is tuned like a four-string but with the C and A doubled. The Tarro Patch has four doubled courses like a mandolin but tuned ggCCEEAA. It has a powerfull voice for playing outdoors when farming the tarro. There are other variants of tuning for both and maybe other players will expand on that. The Lili’u and Tarro Patch are harder to come by and often rather pricey for a beginner, although Lanakai makes nice entry-level versions of these.
Baritone: Strung just like the top four strings of a guitar, DGBE. Very popular with guitarists as everything translates directly to it. It has a very guitar-like tone. I’ll let the others talk about the baritone. I have a cheap one, but it doesn’t interest me enough to get a good one, if you know what I mean.
Hope that helps.
Apparently, the baritone ukes work well tuned as tenor guitars, also, although I’ve not tried that myself.
MandolinCafe has a whole forum devoted to tenor guitars and instruments adapted to serve as such. Lots of info there about converting baritone ukes to tenor guitars. IIRC, I read a few posts about problems with necks bowing under the strain of steel strings tuned to open fifths, as most baritone ukes don’t have truss rods. You have to carefully select string gauges to make it work properly, but it can be done. Also, baritone ukes have a smaller sound chamber and different bracing than tenor guitars, so there are some issues with bass response, and it seems their bridges aren’t always suitable without some conversion. Basically, a lot of guys have tried it, some say it works, others say to go buy a TG if you want to play a TG. YMMV.
Works fine if you use nylon strings…I just buy a classical guitar set and use 4 of the strings to tune to GDAe. I hope to someday find someone to build me a short-scale (19.5") tenor guitar with steel strings, but for now this works fine. Not loud enough for playing with more than a couple of other people (unless you’re amplified), but otherwise a really nice sound.
I’ll post something on Clips and Snips when I get a chance…I’m not a very good stringed instrument player yet, but you can get an idea of how it sounds.
-Brett