Book + Online Video (Beginning Ukulele Songs) - Learn to Play Ukulele the Easy Way

After trying to teach myself ukulele with another book, I saw this one recommended on the store and bought it. It was very helpful, especially the first accompanying videos: it is much easier to learn chords and strums with a video rather than a book. It's true you'll learn 21 songs, but the first few will only use a single chord. (Not a knock on the book - just a heads-up.) The first chapter of the book also gives good advice about practicing, and would apply to just about any new endeavor.

My main recommendation for the authors going forward would be to have the chords superimposed on the videos, as I cannot keep them in my noggin once I start playing. Having the chords written out in the book for the songs would also be helpful. (Using italics and underlining to indicate chords in the book is hard to read, once more than two chords is used.)

Anyhoo, I'll probably buy the second book in this series, once it's finished!

I am going to keep at it but the quality of the video sessions really are a little weak. I still have no idea how to do Strum 3 (lesson 1) and I have watched the same video 10 times. I love the friendly banter and having a beginner right there is a great idea but I think the video lesson could be production-wise much stronger. It is sort of qwerky / cute that I can see you walk back to the video camera to hit the "stop" button. There are so many great online music tutorials like "Justin Guitar" which have set such a high water mark for how these type of things could be put together. There are thousand of production level tutorials out on you tube, I would think you guys could have done much more. Like I said, I will keep at it..

As an absolute beginner, this book was helpful will kickstarting my self-taught Uke playing. It thoroughly explains how to play and slowly builds up your basic skills until you are playing a 5-chord song.

I would have liked to see a few more songs at the end that utilize all of the chords that the book teaches. There is only one "final" culminative song and it would have been nice to be able to say I can play more than one. Yes, the book teaches "21 songs," however, these are ABSOLUTE basic songs that require only one or two chords. The final song in the book requires all 5 chords, which is variant enough to make you sound and feel like you are really playing a song. More of this would have been the cherry on top.

If you know nothing about ukuleles, this book is for you. If you know a few chords, do not purchase this book. I already knew the songs in this book. The songs are also scattered throughout the book so they are not easily referenced. The book needs a different name: beginner ukulele perhaps. It should not be billed as a book of 21 songs. I will try to come back and list out the songs in this review so you understand. Great for very brand new beginner.

These are some awesome books to learn Ukulele from. The author is a great teacher and makes learning to play fun and easy to learn. My only regret is not getting the paperback form as when I use my reader the music pages are too small. They cannot be enlarged on the reader.

I read the reviews but still somehow thought this book would be different. All the demos and music are online, which I read before, but thought surely there would be at least be some songs in the book. Not so, you have to go online to get practice music and watch demos... to me it kind of defeats the purpose of having a book, when you have to go online to get the stuff you want. I wanted something I could just pick up quickly and fiddle around with while my daughter sits in her swing, I thought this would have step by step lessons along with music in the actual book, but it doesn't. I also thought the music would be popular songs, for some reason, but they are pretty basic/standard songs... kinda boring.

I am very disappointed because the book claimed to give access to online video lessons to go along with the lessons in the book. That's the reason I bought it. Unfortunately, even though I followed the directions to access the videos, whenever I try to log in, it says I have to upgrade to another level of membership. I have emailed them to ask for help and have not received a response. Pretty disappointed and feeling a bit ripped off.
UPDATE: I received a reply from Rebecca, and she fixed the problem so I now have access to the videos. She says I may have tried to access the membership level through the website rather than through the book. Not sure what happened, but the issue has been solved and I am satisfied. I now give it 4 stars rather than my original 2.

This book had some interesting things about the uke. I thought it might be helpful with tunings(did not say very much about that) The songs mentioned are old folk tunes. This does have some links for email that I have not used. I will keep it handy where I can refer to it. I have played the ukulele for years but have never had a book about the instrument. I think this will teach me some new things.

Good presentation of the printed material, but I couldn't stand watching the accompanying videos. Too much giggling and in-jokes that excluded me rather than get me to warm up to them. Really wish they spent more time on the videos clarifying finger position and strumming technique since that's all you really learn from this book.

Like many other reviewers, I agree the video & the quality of the teaching techniques are very poor quality. I was shocked at how unprofessional the women were, not putting much thought, caring or effort into their videos. That said, I suggest to buy instead, Play Ukulele by Kalani. This DVD is for the beginner of all ages and I think you will be glad you bought this instead.

This is really for Very Very new beginners with little to no knowledge of the Ukulele. If you are an adult with even a little background in music, this will be a waste of money. I gave it 2 stars because it might be good for a young child. A better book is Ukulele for Dummies.

This book is dependent upon having an internet connection.
No CD. Without the internet connect the book is next to useless.
The examples are weak and the book is poorly organized.
Wish I could return it.

Could be great but after having the Christmas song book version that uses tabs to get you up and playing quickly this feels dated. Seriously, get this Christmas song version by Rebecca Bogart, then use this book to switch from tabs. I just wish they came up with a smooth transition, as playing quickly from a newbie requires building finger strength first by playing simple tabs, the feed back from this encourages continued play then a need for moving past tabs. Should be a rewrite for this book.

This is the very basic beginners level. All the videos are a one note song with no variation in the strum patterns. As others have said in reviews, this is more of a book for your child to learn ukulele.

This book had some interesting things about the uke. I thought it might be helpful with tunings(did not say very much about that) The songs mentioned are old folk tunes. This does have some links for email that I have not used. I will keep it handy where I can refer to it. I have played the ukulele for years but have never had a book about the instrument. I think this will teach me some new things.

Good presentation of the printed material, but I couldn't stand watching the accompanying videos. Too much giggling and in-jokes that excluded me rather than get me to warm up to them. Really wish they spent more time on the videos clarifying finger position and strumming technique since that's all you really learn from this book.

Like many other reviewers, I agree the video & the quality of the teaching techniques are very poor quality. I was shocked at how unprofessional the women were, not putting much thought, caring or effort into their videos. That said, I suggest to buy instead, Play Ukulele by Kalani. This DVD is for the beginner of all ages and I think you will be glad you bought this instead.

This is really for Very Very new beginners with little to no knowledge of the Ukulele. If you are an adult with even a little background in music, this will be a waste of money. I gave it 2 stars because it might be good for a young child. A better book is Ukulele for Dummies.

This book is dependent upon having an internet connection.
No CD. Without the internet connect the book is next to useless.
The examples are weak and the book is poorly organized.
Wish I could return it.

Could be great but after having the Christmas song book version that uses tabs to get you up and playing quickly this feels dated. Seriously, get this Christmas song version by Rebecca Bogart, then use this book to switch from tabs. I just wish they came up with a smooth transition, as playing quickly from a newbie requires building finger strength first by playing simple tabs, the feed back from this encourages continued play then a need for moving past tabs. Should be a rewrite for this book.

This is the very basic beginners level. All the videos are a one note song with no variation in the strum patterns. As others have said in reviews, this is more of a book for your child to learn ukulele.

By 21 songs they really need 21 nursery rhymes. If you have played an instrument before save your money and find the basics (like how to properly hold a ukulele) on youtube.

If you have never played before this is a good start hut you will not learn to play anything terribly fun. More like "Row row row your boat" and "Hush Little Baby".

Just okay. I found prefer to have a book or music in hand instead of watching videos. Sometimes the links didn't work, but I have to say they were responsive to any issues. I thought this format would be good, but I quickly tired of the videos. I have found that I do better by using online tab sites and printing the songs, and just finding my way while playing along with the song.

Of the 21 songs, many of them are single chords with strumming - hardly what i would call a song. Further, a few songs, when played according to the timing of the chord notation on the sheet music, simply sounded "wrong".
Really needed at least a page of common chords for people with some prior musical background.

It isn't lying, it's really easy. I ordered this with the Alfred's Teach Yourself Ukulele kit. I went through this entire book the first day I got the ukulele. The book that came with the kit is so much better, shoulda left it at that.

Its 50/50 book online. Found the online singing a little annoying ended up purchasing some misc. online classes that were much easier to listen to. the songs are also things like Row Row Row Your Boat so not very appealing to me anyway

Bought this to go along with a ukelele for my daughter. Great concept! However, It's really basic and helpful for the first day. I feel it could use more chord instruction for further development. I found more helpful info on the internet to be honest.

The whole point of buying a book like this and learning a new instrument was to put technology down and find a better way for my down time. The book when learning to play makes little sense as it is. The video is needed to better figure how read and play the music. It would have been better if the just tagged along with a youtube channel instead of signing up and dealing with things being emailed around. The book would have been better explaining how to play with drills and practice over the history and sheet music for ukulele. The songs are basic enough and easy for learning and it was pretty inexpensive. I am fine with it just not expecting the amount of online use needed for this book.

I was expecting more from the lessons and more from the online videos. I already know 6 or so chords and am comfortable with strumming. This is too basic for anyone who's looked at some free online resources and videos and learned a couple of 2-3 chord songs.

Either I'm missing some directions on how to access the site, or it's not working anymore. I get some "no auth lock to open error when entering my email to register, no matter what browsers or how I click the link in the book.

Rather crafty marketing after watching you tube videos lead you to believe you would be getting the songs in the videos instead of a load of old nursery rhymes. Waste of money. Conned. Dont buy this or click the you tube link total waste of time....doesnt deserve a one star.

You were supposed to be able to create an account to receive free video classes. I've tried multiple times to no avail. Emails to their "contact us" address went unanswered. I had high hopes, but feel a little let down to data.

I found this book very difficult to learn ukulele. While the videos helped, the authors only described a few chords, three strumming patterns, and 21 old childrens songs. The weird format of the songs with underlines and italics to demonstrate chord changes makes it difficult to learn any of the songs. Maybe I'm crazy or impatient, but this format does not work for me. I will find another resource to learn ukulele properly.

Two stars for concept only. Content is regrettably childish. Did not mind that it is dependent on videos. I agree with the other reviews on the very poor quality videos. Video production is terrible. Apparently the singers have not listened to their on voices or watched the videos.

Our friend Jenny Peters told my wife, Carla, that she was writing a book on how to play the ukulele. She added that she was looking for people who liked music, but did not have a musical background who would test her approach.

Knowing that my formal music training ended in the first grade, that I had made limited attempts, using self-help books, to learn to play the piano and guitar, both ending in frustration, Carla said something like "I have just the musical dumbbell for you."

I like to sing. I have a very rudimentary ability to read music and I would really like to play an instrument, but I was not going to make a long term investment in expensive lessons that tie me to a regular schedule.

I love this program.

The videos and accompanying sound tracks are much more understandable than simply reading text-you get that too-and they give me a standard to compare myself to. When Jenny said her grade school students learned with only one lesson a week, and most didn't have ukuleles at home to practice on, I was hooked.

The instructions are understandable to beginners with little or no musical background. My past attempts to learn an instrument required tons of wasted time looking up terminology that wasn't familiar to me.

They are progressive, going from easy songs to harder ones, and you can advance at your own pace.

The approach is comprehensive, even giving you information on how to buy a ukulele. I bought mine online and bought some accessories at a local music store. In both cases I was comfortable that I knew what I was doing. I have an engineering and financial background, so you can imagine my normal approach to making purchases.

Did I mention it's affordable?

And it works! My grandkids are impressed.

I have very little musical background (elementary school classes and chorus until high school age). I had tried learning other stringed instruments in my 20's and was met with frustration and pain (finger and hand pain). When a friend of mine let me mess around with his ukulele, I loved it! It was much easier to hold than a guitar or bass and the strings are soft and easy to pluck and strum. After purchasing my own ukulele, my boyfriend bought this book for me (which comes with an online tutorial!). I found myself easily learning chords, strums and how to sing along with Jenny's calm voice and gentle guidance. Within 2 weeks of about an hour per day, I had thoroughly learned all the songs in the book and could easily tackle many beginner songs I found on youtube...including Somewhere Over the Rainbow and Octopus' Garden. This book taught me the basics and core techniques needed to learn more in depth and complicated songs. I've recently purchased the next book 5 songs with 5 chords and look forward to learning finger picking and reading uke tabs.
This book is perfect for beginners wanting to learn the basic techniques that will make you into a great ukulele player.

This book shines with the basic theory, ukulele background, and drills using familiar songs. Rebecca is so positive that you know you will be successful but that's not all...each section contains practice tips and technique troubleshooting. She addresses pick up notes, song introductions, song structure, and chord progressions which are woven throughout the book appearing at the most opportune times. And, how could I forget the online supplements and video.

Regardless of your musical experience, you will find gems in Rebecca's book. And, if you don't learn to play uke...well, it is not her fault.

Review: Classroom Edition: “21 Songs in 6 Days: Learn Ukulele the Easy Way”

Reviewed by: Phil Strong, retired music teacher, San Jose Unified School District
San Jose, CA

Ever wonder why teacher instruction manuals have a bad reputation for being “user UN-friendly” ? It is because instruction manuals are usually written in a hurry as an after thought by a “Staffer” that has little understanding or knowledge about how learners learn and they usually lack the musical sensitivity to “feel” what the learner is musically experiencing based on the writers instructions.

The success core of this manual is created by two remarkable talented music teacher sisters. Both have taught 20+ years from pre-school through adulthood. They understand the musical rigors of achieving success through teaching at all levels. As a bonus, they have recruited their cat Claire to oversee their DVD instructional techniques!

As a finishing touch, they have exhaustively edited the contents and format to make sure that all ideas and instructions link together properly for maximum learning effect.

Notice the excellent ‘lay-out’ that is easy on the eyes. Very readable - Good introductions to each lesson, instruction, practice, follow-up and play.

Integrating sound/listening (ears), reading (eyes), tactile (touch/feel), chord-symbol graphics bring most all of the senses to focus on a coordinated effort.

The “Programmed Reading” format allows the student to go through the program at their own individualized speed, with your help of course!

Many resources and references are sprinkled throughout the manual. Middle school is a good start but frankly, in the hands of an experienced music teacher, a student can start at any grade level.

I recommend you get your own Classroom Edition copy to fully grasp the power that is built into this outstanding program.

Very excited to use this method with my 5th grade beginning ukulele students. I bought a classroom set and actually witnessed Jenny Peters use her method very successfully with a group of kids at a District Workshop. Being able to sing and accompany yourself on the uke is a great skill and is what the ukulele is really meant for. I really like the access to the video's as a teacher because my students are such visual learners and watching the screen is going to hold their attention. I am also happy that core standards in music education are addressed because this is a huge deal for teachers who are trying to do fun things with their students but also be accountable to curricular outcomes and standards.

I used the E-book version, which for music can be somewhat awkward. The program starts with basics, and does an ok job. The "mixed media" approach , with email links to video and audio is clever, the ladies fun and informative, and the cat adorable .The choice of songs and the pace of the program just didn't work for me (a more mature, almost beginner), but might be great for a beginner child (although another kid as the student might have worked better). For a self guided introduction to ukulele, it does a pretty good job...just not "great" for me.

Learned so much using the book and also like the online videos. The book gave me the confidence I needed as a new ukulele player. Although I concentrated on the chords for two months, I have finally become brave enough to try different strumming patterns and thanks to the authors, I am easily progressing.

I teach 'ukulele in my music studio and at a K-8 school, so I was impressed by the amount of information covered in "21 Songs in 6 Days."
This is a wonderfully detailed and well-paced book that gives beginners a solid introduction into the world of the jumping flea. It is apparent that Jenny Peters has a lot of experience teaching 'ukulele, since the troubleshooting area addresses common pitfalls to various aspects of playing the 'ukulele.
I really appreciate all the information Rebecca Bogart provided on practicing. It should be read by all music students. As a music educator who teaches piano and 'ukulele, I know the importance of practicing and how there are so many ways to practice and aspects to consider that can contribute to successful practicing. Successful practicing then results in successful playing. If you read this book and follow all the advice, you will be playing the 'ukulele successfully in less than a week. Thank you, Jenny and Rebecca, for a wonderful introduction to playing the 'ukulele. I look forward to your next book.

Even though this book is designed for teachers or beginning ukulele players, I am neither. I am enjoying working thru the songs. The book is nicely designed with a progression of songs. I am always looking for ukulele books with 'tab' so was happy to find it included. In addition the online lessons and information is very helpful.

I am a 30+ year music educator so I approached this book from two different sets of eyes. From an educator's perspecitive, the book is extremely comprehensive in providing background information. However, if you have an instrument and just want to learn, there are very complete lessons to help you become expert in a short amount of time.

While there is no substitution for hands on instruction, this book provides a satisfying alternative. The illustrations are very well done. Highly recommended!

I was so excited to received a new Ukulele this past month for my birthday. With the help of this Kindle book, I'm enjoying the videos that also accompany purchasing the book. The book is well written and layed out for us beginners and I so appreciate that. You can tell these two ladies know how to teach! If you have the desire to play a little bit everyday get this book and join them on the website after your purchase it too, don't try to go looking everywhere on Youtube. This is a much better structured way to learn and I look forward the getting these 21 songs under my belt or should I say "ukulele" soon! Thanks for such a great deal!

I've wanted to learn the uke for years, and this book helped me jump into it. The written lessons are clear and helpful, and it also comes with access to videos and audio such that you really pick things up quick. After going through the lessons, I felt comfortable enough to tackle tab songs I found online, including "somewhere over the rainbow"! If you want to learn the uke, this book is a great place to start

I really like this book! I would recommend it to anyone looking to pick up ukulele and learn the basics. It's very easy to read and includes simple instructions as to how to really start playing ukulele from scratch. Other books I've looked at have not been as simple or informative. This book includes some interesting music theory facts as well that add on to my previous musical knowledge. Overall, it's a fun, simple-to-use book that teaches a cool new hobby! I plan on playing my uke for my friends and around fires in the summer :)

I loved this book! I am brand new to the ukulele (and all string instruments) and found this book to be so easy to follow. By the time I got to Days 5 and 6 I didn't need the videos anymore and it was easy to just play along reading the music. It was a great introduction to the ukulele and gave me the confidence to keep at it until I can play with real proficiency. I highly recommend!

So, I've never played ukulele or any other instrument before……..but have always wanted to try. Plus I wanted to do some music with my kids. Saw something about this book on Facebook, decided to check it out.
This book was great - especially the videos- like a series of private lessons. Liked the cat too. I loved that I could start playing and singing songs without having to learn to read music notes. The lessons start at the very beginning and moved along nice and gradual.
I don't know what's with the guy who wrote about 'unnecessary verbiage' - I got a lot of stuff explained to me that I didn't even know I didn't know.
Anyway, now I'm teaching my oldest a little uke too!

Written by teachers, the book starts with comprehensive intro including resources about how to purchase ukulele and the accessories. It also includes suggestions how to plan so that we can have regular practice daily. The book doesn't spend too much time on the history as we could find those from the internet. It also includes ways to troubleshoot issues that we may face in the practice.

Chords are introduced progressively together with accompanying songs making the learning and practice easy and interesting for readers to follow. There is an accompanying website that hosts additional information, pictures and videos for readers to understand certain topics more deeply.

I just wish this book were available when I first started learning the Ukulele. I like the structured approach in the presentation of materials.

This is a great resource for those teaching ukulele in a general music classroom. The sequence of concepts is simple and clear, and the material is easily transferable to the music classroom. As a music teacher who began teaching ukulele this school year, I used this resource to teach myself how to play ukulele and pick up teaching strategies to use. I found the book straightforward and very beneficial for my own playing and teaching. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn to play ukulele or any music teachers looking for resources for their classroom instruction.

The book is written in a way that is easy for even beginners to understand. It even comes with illustrations and online video and music files that make it easy to understand and follow the directions. It starts with simple songs, and slowly progresses to more difficult songs in a way that makes it easy to progress into playing more complex music. If you don't have a ukulele yet, it gives tips on how to pick out a good ukulele and what accessories are worth buying-- much easier than searching around the internet looking for tips! All in all a great book-- highly recommended for anyone who has a ukulele they want to learn how to play or even people looking for a new instrument. This book is definitely the easiest and fastest way to learn how to play.

Great book to use to learn how to play an ukulele. Note: the "code" to sign in for the emails is located at the end of the book.... So, at least read through the book once, find the code, sign up for daily emails to help with the lessons.

The whole deal with this book is the member's only website....I cannot sign into the site. I've tried multiple times to set up an account, always goes into a time loop and never resolves the request. All I have available to me are the already available you tube videos

It's okay. Like other reviewers mentioned most of the content is online and getting an account set up and logging in is super tedious. That took me awhile to figure out how to access the lessons once I closed the browser and wanted to open up back to the same page I was on. Plus my husband, who is a musician, was watching one of the videos over my shoulder and mentioned that the ladies teaching this are absolutely terrible. I'm done with this.

I thought I was getting this free but it cost me $9.99 because I didn't pay close enough attention and the store billed me. Watch out when you use the store or they will bill you for kindle unlimited when you don't want it. Hopefully I have cancelled it but only time will tell because I have not gotten any notification of cancellation from my phone conversation with the the store rep.

This has been a useful book for my daughter who has taught herself to play the ukulele. It had some old songs she knew as well as some old ones she had never heard (but mom had). It's great for beginners.

While we were waiting for this book to arrive, we started watching some uke tutorials on youtube. By the time this got here we were advanced enough to not really need it, but it was still nice to read through.

Great book to use to learn how to play an ukulele. Note: the "code" to sign in for the emails is located at the end of the book.... So, at least read through the book once, find the code, sign up for daily emails to help with the lessons.

The whole deal with this book is the member's only website....I cannot sign into the site. I've tried multiple times to set up an account, always goes into a time loop and never resolves the request. All I have available to me are the already available you tube videos

It's okay. Like other reviewers mentioned most of the content is online and getting an account set up and logging in is super tedious. That took me awhile to figure out how to access the lessons once I closed the browser and wanted to open up back to the same page I was on. Plus my husband, who is a musician, was watching one of the videos over my shoulder and mentioned that the ladies teaching this are absolutely terrible. I'm done with this.

I thought I was getting this free but it cost me $9.99 because I didn't pay close enough attention and the store billed me. Watch out when you use the store or they will bill you for kindle unlimited when you don't want it. Hopefully I have cancelled it but only time will tell because I have not gotten any notification of cancellation from my phone conversation with the the store rep.