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The Purple Guide to Learning the Ukulele in 10 Days
A ten-day starter plan to get you strumming your first real songs on the ukulele, with zero prior experience required.
by Alumigogo Books
Chapter 1: First Day
Welcome. Before we go any further, let's get one thing straight: you are not here to become a virtuoso in ten days. That's not what this is. You are here to pick up a small, wooden, four-stringed instrument and find out what it actually feels like to play it. The goal for today is not to be good, or to read music, or to hustle through a whole syllabus. The goal for today is simply to make a sound that is vaguely pleasant, and to do it while sitting in a way that doesn't make your neck or your shoulders ache.
If you're reading this, you've probably already got a ukulele. Maybe it's a brand new one that still smells faintly of wood glue. Maybe it's a dusty one you bought three years ago that's lived behind your wardrobe ever since. Maybe it's borrowed from a friend who keeps promising to teach you and never has. Whatever the case, for the next hour or so, you're going to spend some time with it. If you don't have one yet, don't panic – just sit with this chapter anyway. Read it. Then go and buy one, or borrow one, and come back.
Okay, let's begin. Find a chair that is comfortable, but not the kind of soft armchair that swallows you whole. A dining chair with a flat seat is ideal. Sit on the edge of it, so your back is straight and not slouching. Put your