Thinking about learning to play ukulele this summer?

First of all, what do Taylor Swift, Ryan Gosling, Pete Townsend, Jake Shimabukuro and Duane “The Rock” Johnson all have in common? If you guessed that these really big stars all play really tiny stringed instruments, you’re right. Ukuleles are having a moment and showing up everywhere from indie songs to famous surfers strumming as a way of unwinding.

Let’s feed your ears first.

23 inch Ranch Concert ukulele voice

21 inch Ranch Soprano ukulele voice

CELEBRITY

Summer is in full swing so I’m bringing you More 100 reasons to learn to play ukulele. I hope you find a reason to start taking ukulele lessons!

1. Playing the ukulele will immediately make you cool.

2. Playing the ukulele (especially with friends) is a really fun activity.

3. You can take a ukulele anywhere, unlike a tuba which is much less portable.

4. Though I can’t seem to find the supporting scientific evidence, I’m sure people who play the ukulele get more dates than those who don’t.

5. The ukulele is one of the easiest instruments to learn how to play.

6. Playing the ukulele makes a strong impression on people.

7. If you are left handed, playing the ukulele will help you learn how to use your right hand more, and…

8. If you are right handed, playing the ukulele will help your learn how to use your left hand.

9. Be the life of the party! There is always a crowd of people around a uke player.

10. If you want to get ambitious, you can learn a third chord and open up thousands of songs for the ukulele. Most blues songs have three chords. You can be the premiere Robert Johnson of the ukulele!

11. If you are short on cash, you can play your ukulele on the side of the road for tips, whereas other hobbies do not usually pay for themselves.

12. Ukuleles are relatively inexpensive starter instruments. A cheap ukulele can be purchased for under $50, and even expensive well-made ukuleles are not as expensive as some other instruments.

13. When you play the ukulele this summer, your listeners will instantly think they are in some tropical locale and will be thankful for it.

14. If you learn to play the ukulele this summer, when winter comes you can throw some sand around in your living room, turn on some bright lights, and pretend you are at the beach. Instant cure for the winter blues!

15. Ukuleles are sturdy instruments, so they handle being near the beach (salt water, sand, sun) better than other less durable instruments like expensive Stradivarius violins.
16. Ukuleles are cheap enough that if you happen to be playing one while lounging on your flotation device and someone tips you over, soaking your ukulele, you can get a replacement without too many tears shed.

17. I mean, the party will definitely be over once the ukulele is out of commission, but certainly by the next weekend you can have another ukulele ready to go.

18. Ukuleles are great items to have around at summertime carwashes. You can make your friends do all of the hard work, and everyone thinks you’re doing something because you’re busy playing your ukulele for the customers. It’s a win-win situation.

19. The same goes for lifesavers. If you are on a summer cruise and your ship suddenly springs a leak, you can flip your ukulele over really quick into the water, creating a vacuum seal between the water and the sound hole of the uke. Instant flotation device! (Actually this might not work, but you know, it sounds good in theory!)

20. Which brings me to the next point. Let’s say the ship is going down, but there is a life raft on board. Ukuleles make great paddles in any emergency situation.

21. Ukulele’s have such a sweet tone that everyone loves to hear them played. They bring an instant smile on everyone’s face. The only other instrument to do that is the banjo according to Steve Martin, although there are a few people out there who were freaked out by the movie Deliverance so they don’t like banjos. No one has made a ukulele movie that freaks people out, so you’re gold!

22. On a more serious note, ukuleles practice is supposed to increase manual dexterity in the fingers, giving you increased ability to do anything you need to do with your fingers, like typing.

23. Playing the ukulele exercises both sides of your brain. For those of you who are more analytical, it will increase brain function related to the artistic side of your brain.

24. Likewise, for those of you who are more creative, not only does it give you an outlet for self-expression, it also helps develop some of your reasoning skills.

25. Learning how to read ukulele tablature helps you develop reasoning skills too. And gives you an extra cool thing to put on job resumes!

26. Ukuleles are so cheap, they also make great presents for your friends. You can start buying everyone you know a ukulele and get a ukulele orchestra together!

27. Learning how to play the ukulele will give you a good excuse to wear a Hawaiian shirt.

28. If you play the ukulele people will start inviting you to play at all of their luaus, and if you play it right, you won’t have to cook for yourself at all this summer!

29. Most people aren’t aware of this little fact, but ukulele players make better companions than non-uke players. Think about it. Whenever anyone is feeling down, a ukulele player whips out the ukulele, and instant sunshine!

30. Which brings up my next point, though I don’t have the science to back it up, I’m sure that the friends of ukulele players are less depressed than the friends of non-ukulele players. So if you take up the ukulele, your friends and family will benefit from it, thus making you a humanitarian.

31. You might even win the Nobel peace prize if you keep up playing the ukulele.

32. Playing the ukulele will give you a good excuse to wear that grass skirt you have hanging in your closet!

33. Old time Uke player, and friend of Beatle George Harrison, Joe Brown had this to say about the ukulele – “You can pick up a ukulele and anybody can learn to play a couple of tunes in a day or even a few hours. And if you want to get good at it, there’s no end to what you can do.”

34. When you play cover songs in front of people, their reaction might inspire you to start writing your own music, and that could be the start of your personal ukulele career!

35. If you start learning to play the ukulele this summer, by the end of the summer, you will have learned all the necessary chords needed to play most of the songs that you might want to learn.

36. By starting to play the ukulele this year, you can guarantee that you will be invited to everyone’s pool parties and barbecues next year as well!

37. Ukulele is a great instrument for people of all ages to learn to play, so you can share your uke with anyone and everyone in your family.

38. Anyone who has learned how to drive a car can learn how to play the ukulele. In fact, learning how to play the ukulele is far easier than learning how to drive a car, so if you want to play music, learn the ukulele and your musical dreams will be fulfilled.

39. Speaking of fulfillment, everyone has a musical dream, but a lot of people are shy. Learning how to play the ukulele will help build your self-confidence and inspire you to break out of your shell.

40. Learning the ukulele will give you one more impressive skill that makes you a unique and interesting person.

41. And furthermore, is there anything more attractive than a beautiful person wearing beach attire, wind-blown hair swept back by the breeze, and strumming a beautiful Koa wood ukulele? I didn’t think so either, so if you’re looking for that special someone, what better way to impress them than being the above mentioned person.

42. In fact, playing the ukulele is a great stress reliever. If your boss complains, offer to buy him or her a ukulele and teach them what you already know. Then everyone can come to work in flip-flops!

43. Ukulele is a perfect instrument in case you are riding your bike to the pool. Most ukuleles come with some sort of backpack style gig bag or you can get one. You just throw it on your back and away you go. Imagine trying to do that with a cello? Or a baby grand piano? The ukulele is much more portable.

45. Playing the ukulele is a very useful skill for people in many types of jobs. People who work with children find that playing the ukulele soothes the kids, people who work with elderly people find that the ukulele soothes older people, and people who work with animals find that playing the ukulele soothes the animals.

46. When you play the ukulele every possible dream you could ever have will come true. Want to be the president? Done! Every single president could play the ukulele. Okay, that’s not entirely true, but they could have if they had had me for a teacher!

…

Anyway: You come or not, the ukulele is always there waiting for somebody.

To be or not to be, that’s a question up to you!

The last 54 reasons are on the road!