Should I Buy A Ukulele?

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jhunger said

I’ll give you my two cents, and it may not be worth that much…

I agree, if you really want to learn guitar, and you’re learning ukulele in spite of disdain for the instrument, it’s best to just learn the guitar from the get go. The ukulele tuning is different and there are only 4 strings, so although there is some crossover (e.g. just learning to hold down strings on a fret with one hand while plucking or strumming with the other), there are also differences that you have to unlearn.

However, that said, here are all the reasons that I actually think you should get the ukulele first :slight_smile:

  1. Yes, this community has a healthy prejudice against ukuleles. To this I say an emphatic whatever. They’re beautiful instruments (if you get a real one), extremely versatile, and also so much fun to play. For that reason alone I recommend getting one. My theory is that most naysayers have never touched a good ukulele - bummer for them.

  2. To get a halfway decent guitar you’re at the very least going to drop several hundred dollars, and at least a grand for solid wood. Get a cheap guitar and you’ll be discouraged because it will be difficult to play and make sound good. On the other hand you can get a very nice laminate ukulele for around $150, and solid wood models start at around $250-300.

  3. Once you do reach your ultimate goal of learning guitar, an ukulele is a great compliment as a backing track. You can also play it with an ethnic kind of sound where you might use a mandolin or something.

  4. Some may disagree, but I think the ramp up for learning an ukulele will be a lot shorter than for learning a guitar, or at least to the point where you can play a simple song all the way through.

Regarding hand size - there are 4 different sizes of ukulele. If you have big hands, consider a tenor. If your hands are too big for a tenor, you’ll have trouble with a guitar as well.

Well, coming from one of the acoustic masters here at AJ this is great info! Thank you J. It all makes great sense (as does everyone else who was once enough to help me with opinions) but I have just 2 questions for you or anyone else who may want to chime in.

  1. There seems to be a wide range in Uke’s when it comes to price. Now I understand the basics of consumership and agree we get what we pay for. However, is there anything wrong with spending somewhere closer to $60-$100 for my first Uke versus the $150-$300 you and others have talked about? Is the difference in quality substantial?

Here’s a few of the inexpensive models I’ve been looking at and plan on going to see again in just about an hour. Ukuleles and Ukulele Accessories | Guitar Center