Top 5 Best Ukulele Books for Beginners – Review in 2023

Ukulele Books – Beginners Buyer’s Guide

Wish to learn to play the ukulele but would like a book over online videos? Excellent, there are a lot of great ukulele books for beginners on the market!

Although the ukulele is kind of simple to be taught, you’ll definitely want some inspiring books to get started.

There’s tons of awesome content online, so why think about choosing a couple of ukulele books? As it seems, there are quite a couple of reasons. Books are available all the time, even when the power goes out or your cellphone service is down.

Need more details on every? Check beneath for our full review of the best ukulele books for beginners right now.

1. Most Practical: Ukulele Aerobics: For All Levels, from Beginner to Advanced, by Chad Johnson

We’re not exaggerating once we say Ukulele Aerobics is probably the most practical for somebody who needs to master playing the uke.

To begin with, the book will assist keep you dedicated since it’s more like a musical workout of a 40-week practice period. One of the best parts is that every day of the week has a unique exercise, varying from learning chord vocab, strumming, and fingerstyle, as well as scale exercises.

The concept of having an each-day exercise proves to be effective because it grants more proficiency over time, and ensures the complete mastery of ukulele playing skills.

Ukulele Aerobics For All Levels, from Beginner to Advanced, by Chad Johnson 3
PROS:

  • Provides enough exercises
  • Has a structured method that will help you improve over the weeks
  • Covers quite a lot of genres like pop, rock, blues, jazz, and folk

CONS:

  • It’s not the best book, to begin with in case you’re a complete beginner

This book is sort of a journey that will turn you into a professional ukulele player because it provides you with more practice on totally different techniques and songs. You’ll be able to even write your own music, because of it. 

2. Most Informative Ukulele Book: The Ukulele Handbook, by Gavin Pretor-Pinney and Tom Hodgkinson

The main reason we like The Ukulele Handbook is its informativity; the book is split into three sections: a historical past of the ukulele, a primer for newbies, and a song section.

The book covers the eccentric historical past of the ukulele from its emergence in Hawaii a century ago to its growth right into a modern-day instrument.

The book then resumes offering a 6-week guide on the right way to use the ukulele, its anatomy, which is the best ukulele to purchase, tips on how to strum differently, and how you can tune the strings.

Now that you’ve mastered the technicalities, the book offers you a list of songs to practice, differing from medieval rhymes, nursery rhymes, blues, and rock songs.

In case you’re an avid reader who needs to be taught about the ukulele and learn how to play it along the way, The Ukulele Handbook is your ultimate guide.

The Ukulele Handbook, by Gavin Pretor-Pinney and Tom Hodgkinson ukulele books for beginners
PROS:

  • Very informative
  • Covers varying styles

CONS:

  • Delves a lot into the historical past of the ukulele and its prominent figures that it becomes more theoretical than practical

This book offers essential details about the development and the anatomy of the ukulele. It fits readers who wish to ‘understand’ the ukulele, not those that want to ‘master’ playing the ukulele.

The Ukulele Handbook, by Gavin Pretor-Pinney and Tom Hodgkinson features

The definitive illustrated guide to the ukulele, from its history to how to play, including a fantastic songbook.

3. Best for More Dedicated People: The Daily Ukulele: 365 Songs for Better Living, by Jim Beloff

There’s a purpose why we love The Daily Ukulele book: it has a fantastic combination of different genres like folk songs, pop songs, children’s songs, Broadway tunes, and Christmas carols. So no matter it is the occasion you’ll be playing the ukulele in, you’ll have a piece of music for it.

One more reason it’s among our favorites is that it has songs for a year, making it the perfect guidebook to enlarge your ukulele repertoire.

Additionally, each song in that book has lyrics, chords, and music notations for the melodies.

Here’s a look at what you can find inside: a section on how you can use the book, some chord alternatives, and shortcuts, and a wide range of different songs and different genres. The book can be visually pleasing as it has vintage ukulele-themed artwork that may only make you passionate about learning.

The book’s comprehensiveness makes it the right decision for a beginner who’s enthusiastic and dedicated to learning to strum some ukulele chords.

The Daily Ukulele 365 Songs for Better Living by Jim Beloff 2
PROS:

  • Every song has a lead sheet, chords, and lyrics, making it simple to learn
  • The introduction has a section to acquaint you with essential details about the ukulele
  • Daily practice
  • An encompassing song list of different genres

CONS:

  • Doesn’t help with learning different strumming patterns

Having The Daily Ukulele on your bookshelf ensures more practice; it’s like having seven different First 50 Songs books. However, in case you want something that will help you master more techniques, you need to go for something else.

4. Best for Beginners: First 50 Songs You Should Play on Ukulele, by Hal Leonard Corporation

As the title suggests, the First 50 Songs You Should Play on Ukulele has an incredible collection of fifty must-know favorite songs that vary from well-celebrated classics to modern songs. It additionally enjoys other key features that make it the ultimate guide for a beginner; it has melodies, lyrics, and chord diagrams.

The book can be very compact, 136 pages, so you’ll be able to shortly add it to your read-list on Goodreads and enjoy playing these enchanting melodies to your family and buddies.

Now here is an amazing collection of some of the songs you’ll learn how to play using the First 50 Songs guide: Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day, I Walk the Line by Johnny Cash, Imagine by John Lennon, Love Me Tender by Elvis, That’s Amore by Dean Martin and Riptide by Vance Joy.

So as you’ll be able to see, the book covers a variety of classics and modern-day songs that you’ve most likely heard tons of times, and this familiarity will definitely make your learning process simpler.

First 50 Songs You Should Strum on Ukulele 1
PROS:

  • Simple to use
  • Fits beginners who wish to play songs they’re familiar with
  • Has different genres

CONS:

  • Doesn’t provide sufficient exercises for somebody who needs to boost their ukulele-playing abilities

In case you’re a beginner who desires to practice songs you’re well-acquainted with; the first step needs to be reading this book. However, in case you really want to improve, you need to follow it with a more elaborate guidebook.

5. The Magic Ukulele by Dr. Carolan and Auntie Kealoha

That is the perfect ukulele songbook for beginners, very well-known among a wide range of musical study materials for kids or ukulele beginners.

It includes 32 pages and is enclosed with a CD for learners to listen to. You’ll get inspiration to play the instrument for the first time reading it.

Actually, The Magic Ukulele is written for kids, but adult beginners also can give it a try.

Lots of things are described with colorful drawings to keep readers. The author’s unique writing style will create more motivation and stop you from getting annoyed and giving up early.

All of the chord charts are colored-coded to the fretboard and fingers. The songs are also extremely simple to follow.

At the end of the book, there’s an appendix that gives a simple background and the historical past of the ukulele.

You’ll have an overview of this instrument while learning how you can cover beautiful songs at the same time.

The Magic Ukulele by Dr. Carolan and Auntie Kealoha 2

The Magic Ukulele by Dr. Carolan and Auntie Kealoha features

ravel around the world with the Magic Ukulele! Let Dr. Carolan’s whimsical rhymes and Joanna Carolan’s colorful illustrations take you on a musical, inspirational journey.

Conclusion

All books provide a variety of exercises and practice songs, but you need to specify your level, to begin with, the best book for you.

The dilemma is, after all, you don’t have enough time to often head to the closest music center to learn and practice. Bad news? Not really, as a result of this article, we are going to assist you to discover the best book to get acquainted with the way to play the ukulele, which may be the commonest instrument these days.

You may be asking why to get a book when you can simply watch some online tutorials, well here are the reasons why you need to think about having a book: having a ukulele book ensures you’ll take learning seriously, you don’t have to worry about the internet connection, you can use it almost anywhere, even on the bus, and you’ll get hands-on experience about how you can play your favorite songs.

In this article, we compiled a list of the best Ukulele books to guide you thru the training process.

Our recommendation is to start out with the First 50 Songs, then follow it with the Ukulele Aerobics: For All Levels to improve your abilities, then in case you’d wish to get more informed, think about reading The Ukulele Handbook, and for a more enjoyable, the final read should be The Daily Ukulele.

Bill Hood

Bill Hood

My name is Bill, and I am a musician and music enthusiast who has a deep love and passion for anything and everything stringed that moves my soul. It is an honor to be a part of the team at our website dedicated to stringed instruments, and I look forward to sharing my passion and knowledge with our readers as well.

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