# ukulele for my kid?



## puckhead (Sep 8, 2008)

I am thinking of getting my daughter a ukulele for her 6th birthday - to get her started with a guit-thing of her own.
She has always taken an interest in my guitars, so I want something that she can work on making notes of her own.

a) is it decent idea? or better to try to find a squire mini or something?
b) are these $30 ukuleles at L&M decent enough, or is there a better option. Obviously doesn't need to be great, just not fall apart.

thank you.
plink plinky plink.


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## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

Kala 100 dollars will get you a decent intro uke. The 30 dollar ones are stage props, and if you go to L&M often enough you will see them falling apart on the shelves there. UKE has become HUGE too now that they are taught in grades 4, 5, 6. Our L&M has been selling out their inventory ever week or two since spring.

Kala Ukulele-StoreFront Product Detail Page










The pineapple is a "novelty" uke, about 100 dollars, and my 8 year old loves it.

My 11 year old is waiting on the red mango. Really good sound from it, it is about 330.

Kala Ukulele-StoreFront Product Detail Page










But in the baritone instead of tenor.


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## tonydawe (Feb 25, 2009)

i love my baritone uke. it's tuned DGBE so if one was to learn chords on a baritone it'll transfer directly over to guitar. other ukes, while the finger placement would be the same, the notes themself would not. i had a $30 mahalo uke for a while and did just fine with it. it didn't fall apart and aside from needing to tune it every 10 minutes or so it was great. i also never got new strings for it which could also have made a difference.

the constant tuning thing may be tricky for a 6 year old so something a little more expensive that will stay in tune a bit better may be required.

my $0.02.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

the cheaper ones are toys--and depending on what you want out of them might work.

When I was in Hawaii years ago I was hoping to buy a uke--but the ones I saw were either toy ones or expensive well made ones. One store had handmade koa ukes that were out of what I could afford. Too bad-they were beautiful.


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## kat_ (Jan 11, 2007)

I spent a few saturdays playing with the cheap ukes at work this winter. We had 2 in the store, both the same make and everything, but one of them was complete garbage and the other was pretty fun to play. If you spend some time going through a few you might be able to find one that's ok.


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## puckhead (Sep 8, 2008)

thanks for the feedback, all.

I think I will check out the inventory at L&M and see it I can find a decent one.
don't want to get too expensive (as cute as she is, she can be a little gorilla at times), 
and I still have my first acoustic that I will give her once she gets big enough.


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## Brigham (Dec 23, 2009)

Uke would be great for a six year old, I teach a lot of little kids and even with the smaller guitars they often have trouble trying to play at all. A uke would be much easier, since the fretboard is smaller and the strings aren't as tough.

I have one of those cheap $30 dollar ones, a Mahalo, that I bring to school just to screw around with. It's decent for the price, but I don't expect it to last long and it doesn't play well at all (it's not even in tune with itself beyond the fourth fret or so). If she has any level of seriousness for learning it, it might be better to by a more expensive one. Although, if you want it might be a good idea to get her the cheap one to see if she's even that interested, then by a nicer one once she gets better


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## puckhead (Sep 8, 2008)

just for closure, I ended up getting this one for $30.
the sparkles were the clincher.


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## Mike MacLeod (Nov 27, 2006)

Do NOT underestimate the uke. It is a very very cool instrument in it's own right. It was THE instrument of the jazz age. Check old sheet music from the 20s to the 40s. No guitar chords. All uke chords. Few people played the guitar. Many folks played a uke. See Jake Shimabukuru play "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" on YouTube. Or Canada's own James Hill. It will be an eye opener. I'm getting more and more folks buying ukes from me these days. Listen to the radio and TV commercials; you will start to hear uke in many of the beds to these commercials.

Don't give your daughter the idea that she can "graduate" to the guitar when she is old enough. Nothing can turn someone off more than 'training' wheels. There is really nothing playable under $100. They tend not to stay in tune or intonate. If you really want someone to hate music, give them a crappy instrument. They will blame themselves and not the instrument every time.

And let her see you learn it for yourself. The chord shapes are the same. This of a uke as a Guitar capoed on the 5th fret and missing two bass strings.

And, I may get flamed for this.  But a Baritone uke is a poor sister in the uke community. It's not really considered a uke.

anyway, have fun.


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## puckhead (Sep 8, 2008)

Mike MacLeod said:


> Think of a uke as a Guitar capoed on the 5th fret and missing two bass strings.


that's a great way of looking at it. thanks.
Today is her birthday btw, so we've already had a bunch of fun with it this morning.

edit: Canada's own James Hill...... holy crap.
[video=youtube;qsOhmN2mpHI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsOhmN2mpHI[/video]


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

I had some wise a$$ comment but .. that vid was indeed humbling. Big comeback of the uke. There was even a story on CBC radio on it last winter


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## Mike MacLeod (Nov 27, 2006)

When I 'discovered' the uke about 10 years ago, all my guitar playing buddies were threatening an intervention. Now many of them are playing and teaching the uke. I can also recommend Janet Klein. Hunt her up on YouTube. Some really great stuff. Also: The ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain will truly make your jaw hit the floor.
Honestly it is the next big thing. ....... And you heard it hear!


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## Guest (Sep 2, 2010)

Get her a Guitalele/Guitarlele. It's a small miniature guitar that sounds like a ukulele. That way she learns the fingering for chords, and doesnt have to re-learn them when she transitions to a guitar.


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## -mbro- (Apr 3, 2010)

The really cheap ukes are OK. But they need to be tuned constantly


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## kevintylor (8 mo ago)

puckhead said:


> I am thinking of getting my daughter a ukulele for her 6th birthday - to get her started with a guit-thing of her own.
> She has always taken an interest in my guitars, so I want something that she can work on making notes of her own.
> 
> a) is it decent idea? or better to try to find a squire mini or something?
> ...


Hi @puckhead,

You've made the best decision to getting your daughter a ukulele. It doesn't matter she'll play guitar in the near future, ukulele is also a very best and classical music instrument which have it's own worth and value.


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

kevintylor said:


> Hi @puckhead,
> 
> You've made the best decision to getting your daughter a ukulele. It doesn't matter she'll play guitar in the near future, ukulele is also a very best and classical music instrument which have it's own worth and value.


YOu realize this is a 12 year old post. LOL His daughter should be 18 now based on the date. Would be interesting to know how this all turned out. But he hasn't been here in over 2 years either. LOL
*puckhead*
Registered · From Vancouver
Joined Sep 8, 2008
*Last seen Sep 30, 2019*


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## FatStrat2 (Apr 7, 2021)

His single post has a sales link in his sig, it's basically polite spam.


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