Music Theory for Ukulele: Master the Essential Knowledge with this Easy, Step-by-Step Method for Beginner to Intermediate Players

Ik heb veel keer geprobeerd om theory te leren. Met deze boek gaat het snel en makkelijk. Goed uitegelgde en makkelijk te begrijpen. Ik had vroeg vooruitgang met mijn spelen, transcriben en schrijven van liedjes met begrip nu van scales and akoord families. Ik ben er erg tevreden mee.

After more then 30 years of playing the drums, I really wanted to be able to play something that you could get a tune out of. I'd previously dabbled with the bass guitar and the harmonica, but to no avail. Then a few years ago, my sister bought me a Ukulele for Christmas. It was a modest soprano and two things quickly became apparent. One, I really liked (trying) to play the Uke, and two, a soprano fretboard was too small for my chunky and untutored fingers. A visit to the late, lamented Duke of Uke shop and I now have a very nice Tenor, which is a couple of sizes up and much more comfortable for me to play.Having had a few lessons (highly recommended if you're starting out - learning as a group helps enormously), I started to wonder about some of the theory behind the music I was trying to play.I'd already got a few books that contained chord diagrams and scales, but while they showed *what* the notes were, they didn't explain *how* they'd been arrived at. I was now curious about things like...Why are scales made up of certain notes, and how do you figure out what they are?How do you work out which notes are in a chord?What's all that I V IV VII stuff about?If a chord is made up of three notes, how can I be playing it on a four stringed instrument?All this, and more, really started to bug me. Many years ago, I'd bought a book on music theory and quite frankly it baffled me. But then a few months back I came across David's book, and the reviews suggested that it was intended for the novice, was Uke specific and most importantly, written in plain English!SIgn me up for some of that.Few things in this life live up to expectations - even fewer exceed them, but David's book definitely fits into that latter category. If you want to play the Uke and have even a passing interest in the music that you're creating, then treat yourself to a copy of this book. It will, in the aforementioned 'plain English', walk you through the basics in a way that even a musical dunce like me can understand.Take it slow, read each chapter a few times and then try answering the questions that David sets for you to check your understanding, and you'll be amazed at the progress that you make. It's light-hearted, easy to understand and you don't need any musical knowledge at all before you open the book.In my experience, by the time someone understands a subject well enough to teach someone else, they've forgotten what it's like to be a novice, and so make too many assumptions and leaps. David is clearly one of those talented few that knows his stuff, but still knows how to present it to those of us that don't.If you've got a Uke and you have any interest in music theory at all, buy this book.You will not regret it.

Wirklich gut verständlich, auch ohne Vorwissen. Kleine angenehme Lernpakete. Ich kann das Buch nur empfehlen!

丁寧で、やさしく説明している点は高評価に値すると思います。

The book describes mostly chord theory: relationship of chords to scales and keys, chord families and their basic structure, common chord progressions (chords that sound nice together when played in sequence), derivation of minor chords, dominant 7th chords, etc.This book describes these things in a very simple, easy to understand way. Much better than other books I've read, which have often left me confused.

In a nutshell: I suspect this book won't be for everyone (although I believe it could be *understood* by anyone). It delves more deeply into concepts that are not technically *necessary* to pick up a ukulele and start playing using chord diagrams. However, if you are like me, and you like to learn by asking probing questions, this book presents music theory in a way that will teach you the ins and outs of things like chord progressions, not by having you simply memorize them or follow along a cheat sheet, but by helping you to build a chord progression from scratch--even if you are like me and have never even heard of a chord progression before now.I am just about 50 years old and I started playing the ukulele a month or so ago. I've been able to read sheet music since I was a kid from playing the flute and dabbling with the piano, and I had a very basic understanding of piano chords, but I have never played a stringed instrument before and I have no background at all in music theory. I started out with a beginner's book that was great for showing how to hold the uke, the basics of reading a chord diagram and strum pattern, and some very easy songs--within the first few days I could play Happy Birthday and Take Me Out to the Ballgame. However, I was pretty overwhelmed by the sheer number of chords, and I had no idea what the difference was between C major, C7, Cmajor7, etc.I have never learned well from rote memorization. Some people may be able to be told that 4x6=24 and just accept that it is, but I need to know *why* 4x6=24. I can't just be told, ok this is the fingering for a C major and this is a C7 because it just is. That was the downfall for most of the starter uke books I was seeing. I tried googling those things, but was mostly coming up with websites full of music theory that were over my head. I was beginning to despair that I was too old for this stuff to start making sense. Enter this book...I was hesitant at first because I was concerned it would be as over my head as the websites I tried, but it absolutely is *not*. Mr. Shipway does an excellent job of making basic music theory accessible even to someone starting out from scratch. With each chapter he builds on the lessons before, with simple quizzes at the end to help you gauge your understanding. I found myself flipping back and forth as I went forward, reinforcing what I had learned. I felt like a world of music was opening up to me--for example, I've done woodwind and piano scales before but always had the worst time remembering where the sharps and flats fit in for different keys; now I actually understand how a major or minor scale is built, making it so much easier to recall them. If I forget, I can reason it out myself instead of relying on rote memorization.It is important to note, this is not a songbook. The hands-on lessons are brief, and are used to give context to the overall chapter topic. It's also not a long book, so it is pretty much a jumping-off point to get you going. I got through it all in about 4 days--though I have since gone back to go over several chapters multiple times. However, I consider it an invaluable asset that gave me a vocabulary and a new way of looking at music that I know will serve as a strong basis for advancing. I truly do not think I'd be enjoying my uke nearly as much as I am now without it. I already have the sequel on the way. If you are the sort of person that considers yourself a life-long learner and you want a level of comprehension that goes beyond just looking at a chord diagram or a tab, you will not go wrong with this book. It was worth every penny.