Ukulele

[splent]

So I'm teaching myself the ukulele because it's a part of the upper elementary curriculum at many schools in my district. It's really easy. Anyways, I want to purchase a decent one (yet inexpensive)... I don't know if anyone would happen to know of a good uke I could get somewhere? Father's Day is coming up and I could ask for that...

[Orbert]

I should try a uke.  I've always been stymied by stringed instruments.  I can play brass, woodwinds, keyboards, and percussion, but things with strings have always been my bane.  Maybe if I start with a ukulele, only have to deal with four strings, I can make enough progress to stick with it before becoming irate and giving up and/or smashing the damned thing.

[Cable]

For my wedding I bought one to record Somewhere over the Rainbow. I bought an Oscar Schmidt off of Amazon, and I think it is a Washburn company. It has a pickup, so it can be amped/DI'ed too. I believe it was $130, so not too bad IMO. Sounded fine to me, although I recorded with a pick.

[Tyrias]

I have this one and I'm pretty happy with it: https://www.thomann.de/intl/ortega_ru5_ukulele.htm?ref=search_rslt_+Ortega+RU-5+_325050_0
It's light (and I mean really light, I can't believe you can construct something this big out of wood and still have it weigh so little. With a bag around your shoulder, it basically feels like you're not carrying anything at all), it's nicely playable and sounds good (but not amazing). No fancy extras like a pick-up, but if you're just looking for something to practice with that stays in tune (once the strings are stretched enough they don't go out of tune every half an hour at least ), you should consider it. It was just 69€ I think.
I'm far from an amazing ukulele player, I think I've spent maybe 5 hours in my life practicing ukulele, probably less. It just came to me really quickly because it's basically like learning some really easy new chords on guitar if your goal is just to strum along and sing.
A friend of mine has the following one: https://equipboard.com/items/samick-greg-bennett-uk50-concert-ukulele
It sounds a bit "fuller" imo, maybe darker as well (more like humbucker pick ups, I'd say in guitar terms, compared to single coils. More bass.), but it's also a bit more expensive, heavier and harder to get.

I should try a uke.  I've always been stymied by stringed instruments.  I can play brass, woodwinds, keyboards, and percussion, but things with strings have always been my bane.  Maybe if I start with a ukulele, only have to deal with four strings, I can make enough progress to stick with it before becoming irate and giving up and/or smashing the damned thing.

Ukulele is probably the easiest string instrument you can play. A friend went from having no experience at all with string instruments (though he did play piano a few years back), to being able to accompany most easy pop songs in a month. If you can't do a Ukulele, your fingers probably just have a natural aversion against string instruments, seeing as you seem rather competent otherwise musically .

[Elite]

I should try a uke.  I've always been stymied by stringed instruments.  I can play brass, woodwinds, keyboards, and percussion, but things with strings have always been my bane.  Maybe if I start with a ukulele, only have to deal with four strings, I can make enough progress to stick with it before becoming irate and giving up and/or smashing the damned thing.

Keyboards are definitely my bane. Geetin the damn hands to work together like they should is proving very difficult lately. It's funny, because on guitars I have no problems whatsoever, same goes for drums (though I'm not really a good drummer at all, I just know the basics, which is enough for what I need to do with them).

[hefdaddy42]

My 13-year old daughter plays ukelele.  There is a group class here that she loves.

She has gotten pretty decent at it.

[Orbert]

[splent]

Yeah I spelled UKULELE wrong it's fixed now