Ukulele Exercises Series (books)

How do you get your practice on the ukulele? Go to a jam session? What do you play? A song? An etude? A strum pattern? A chord progression? Are you able to play everything you want to play? Watch YouTube and learn by yourself? Join the 100 Days Ukulele Challenge? Or simply, take a course on the ukulele.

Announcement 15th November 2024
The third book in the 36 Ukulele Exercises Series Common Chord Progressions is now released. Next is the fourth book:

Ukulele Crossword Puzzle Book on 1st December 2024.

Watch this space for the announcement new books in this series:

• Harmonized Exercises for Ukulele Campanella Style
• Instrumental Intros, Interludes, and Outros.
• Ukulele Accompaniment Patterns.

Order Ukulele Exercise Books from Anne Ku

Why Ukulele Exercises?

When I learned to play the piano on Okinawa, I practiced scales, arpeggios, cadences to warm-up before the rigorous technical exercises of Hanon, Pischna, and Czerny. I studied one piece for performance in a recital. I practiced alone and took private lessons. I performed solo pieces from memory in recitals and eventually with other instrumentalists (including vocalists).

When I learned to play the ukulele, I was flooded with song sheets. I had to learn the songs I didn’t know by listening and looking for sheet music. I got my practice by jamming in ukulele clubs in Hawaii, London, Boston, and at porchfests and ukulele festivals. I was never given an “exercise” or “etude” to study for the purposes of improving technique. The goal was always to learn a song. Other than jam sessions, performance in front of an audience was never as a soloist but always in a group.

I sold a few copies of the ukulele exercises for fingerstyle chord melody (excerpted above) at the recent Nutmeg Ukulele Festival. Here’s the response from an enthusiastic owner of my yet-unpublished 20-page book (PDF).

These are terrific exercises to help improve one’s fingerstyle playing for sure!   Each exercise seems to have a specific goal  in mind, and the progression is well thought out.  I will use these exercises in my daily practice going forward.  This exercise volume definitely deserves wider distribution to the ukulele community.  They are excellent!

I began writing exercises for my students so that they could tackle fast chord transitions in songs, tablature reading, fingerpicking accompaniments, and chord melody arrangements.

At Nutmeg Ukulele Festival, I offered each book (PDF copy) for US$20; two for $30. It makes sense to offer three for $40. Four for $50?

I’m also compiling my best puzzles for the Ukulele Crossword Puzzle Book – full of fun activities. Can you finger a chord by the four fret numbers, as shown below? Communicating by fret numbers is a good way to transition to reading tablature.