Reddit reviews Ukulele Aerobics: For All Levels, from Beginner to Advanced
We found 6 Reddit comments about Ukulele Aerobics: For All Levels, from Beginner to Advanced. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation
I'm currently working my way through a method book called Ukulele Acrobatics: For All Levels From Beginner to Advanced
I'm currently working on week 6. As someone who's been classically trained in music (9 years on the clarinet, 2 years on the cello), I found this book as an excellent resource in learning how to play the ukulele using traditional music theory and methods.
This particular method book breaks the exercises up by days and weeks, which allows you to take your time in digesting each exercise. I especially enjoy how the author breaks down music theory, particularly establishing how to properly strum rhythm, scales, arpeggios, harmonics, etc.
I also recommend using a metronome and tapping your foot to the beat as you practice. This will help you keep a nice and steady rhythm which is so important in playing music as you could imagine.
I can see how this method book can be frustrating for those who have never studied music theory, especially for those who primarily rely on tabs and chords. But if you're truly serious about learning to play ukulele using sheet music, it is vital to have an understanding of music theory and how to properly apply techniques and this book addresses those concerns. You just need to be patient with yourself and take the time to really practice with a metronome.
Good luck!
https://www.amazon.com/Ukulele-Aerobics-Levels-Beginner-Advanced/dp/147681306X
This is pretty cool. It gets complex pretty fast though.
Hello player!
I bought some Ukulele books myself not long ago. Please note that I'm a total beginner so you might not find them as useful as I found them. The books are:
I also got an Ukulele Chord Dictionary, very handy and small. I keep it with me.
I recently bought James Hill's book series (The Ukulele way) but haven't received them yet! If you want to check more books by James hill: Empiremusic website have them
I hope that gives you a starting point. The only reason I don't own every single Ukulele book is because I pay twice their price due to shipping costs ;(.
I can't recommend Hal Leonard's Ukulele Aerobics enough, as far as stretching the fingers and finger placement. It starts out really easy and unassuming, but has you on four-finger chords by week 3 and goes on from there. It's been a super great resource for someone like me who tends to lack direction when self-teaching. The exercises are all challenging at first, that's the point! But by the time I was on week 8, for example, I realized I could go back to week 5 and do those exercises with ease. In general, that's how practice works, but this made it quite tangible for me.
I think the term you're looking for is fingerpicking. If you search for that, you should find stuff. However, some books that I either own or have seen people mention:
And plenty more are around. I think James Hill and rockclass101 are the only full systems I'm aware of, although I've never used either of them. But James Hill even does a teacher certification course, and is quite well respected.
You can also come up with your own, it's not too difficult. You can base it off of a book for a classical instrument for example. It's a great exercise to do that, since you already have a basis for music theory from the violin.
I have been going through Ukulele Aerobics book, which has a dedicated section on fingerpicking, scales, licks and runs. It can get pretty challenging pretty quick, but since its an exercise book, you can practice as good as you can get and go back and forth.