Written by established educator David Harrison, The Complete Ukulele Player is the most in-depth and comprehensive introduction to playing this fantastic instrument. Taking you from being an absolute beginner to playing scales, harmony and your first tunes, this is the essential volume for anyone interested in learning the Ukulele.
If you have no prior experience with musical instruments, or you do, but not on the Ukulele, then The Complete Ukulele Player is the ideal book for you. With comprehensive advice, clear diagrams, numerous photographs and invaluable tips, this book will take you from not even knowing how to hold the Ukulele to feeling right at home.
The Complete Ukulele Player begins your journey with an introduction, a short history of the instrument and how to choose one. When you've got your first Ukulele, you'll find out the anatomy of the instrument, which accessories you might need, how to hold it and how to tune it. After you've mastered the practicalities, it'll be time to make music!
This tuition book begins by using easy 3-chord songs like Dylan's Blowin' In The Wind, Love Me Do by The Beatles, before moving on to songs with diminished chords like Patsy Cline's Crazy, transposition with Jambalaya and more advanced strumming techniques with Norwegian Wood. The benefit of using popular songs in this way is to enhance musicality at the same time as teaching theoretical concepts.
It's easy to pick up a Ukulele and strum a few chords, but with The Complete Ukulele Player chords and harmony are explored in much more depth and detail than in other books. Different chord voicings and techniques are explained and made clear in relation to songs, making learning easier and more enjoyable. Van Morrison's Brown-Eyed Girl is used as an introduction to tablature, and by the end of the book you'll have mastered notes, scales, basic fingerpicking, palm muting, different strumming patterns and more advanced chords.
A final truly unique addition to The Complete Ukulele Player is the accompanying download card, giving you access to over a hundred studio-quality demonstration and backing tracks, helping you learn by listening and ear-training. The three hours of audio comprises basically everything that you would need to hear from the book itself, in easy to use tracks that you can download to your computer.
So if you're new to the Ukulele and you are looking for a place to start, look no further than The Complete Ukulele Player!
