Get Going on Ukulele in 7 Days

The ukulele has just 4 nylon strings and small fret spacing — the easiest sing-along instrument to start with. On day one get to know all the parts, hold the uke steady, then tune the four strings to standard pitch GCEA — with good pitch, every step after sounds right.

• See step 1, “Meet the Ukulele · How to Hold It,” and cradle the uke gently with your right forearm→
• See step 2, “Tuning: GCEA and the High G” — the 4th string being higher is a feature, not a mistake→
• Open the ukulele tuner and bring each of the 4 strings until the needle centers and turns green→

The C chord just takes the ring finger on the 1st string, 3rd fret — one finger and you're playing. Taste the reward of “a clean sound” today.

• Take step 3, “Your First Chord: C,” pluck string by string to check each rings clear, then strum down evenly with the thumb→
• Match C's shape in the ukulele chord library, and get to know this “map” while you're at it→

Am also takes just one finger; keep Am's middle finger and add an index finger and you've got F — by the end of today you'll have three chords in hand.

• Take step 4, “Add Am and F,” practicing the switch by watching the “fingers that stay put / move the short way”→
• With the metronome at 60 BPM, change chords in slow motion: strum each chord for 4 beats, loop C→Am→F, slow over sloppy→

G is a three-finger “triangle” shape, the hardest one in these 7 days — but with C–Am–F–G (1–6–4–5) complete, hundreds of pop sing-along songs open up to you.

• Take step 5, “Round Out with G,” lock in the triangle shape, and focus on smoothing F→G and G→C→
• Use the “one-minute changes” method: with the metronome, switch cleanly between F↔G over and over and count them→

Give the left hand a rest and drill the right hand today. Three levels, step by step: all downstrums → down-up strums → the ukulele's signature “island strum,” with the mantra “down, down-up, up-down-up.”

• Take step 6, “Right-Hand Rhythm,” keep the wrist loose like flicking off water, and go through all three levels→
• Go to the strum-pattern library and follow the strumming animation: touch the strings to sound them, and keep the hand moving even when it doesn't→

Join C–G–Am–F into a loop — that's the skeleton of countless songs. Get the whole loop smooth with all downstrums first, then switch to the island strum to upgrade the groove, and be sure the chord lands right on beat 1.

• Take step 7, “Play Your First Song: Four Chords, Go,” and get the whole C–G–Am–F loop flowing→
• Start the metronome at 60 BPM, play the whole loop nonstop for 2 minutes, and speed up in small steps once it's steady→

Pick the friendliest one from the songbook, “Oh! Susanna”: just three chords, C, F and G7. G7 is also three fingers and a close cousin of G — just match it in the chord library and fret it. Play it all the way through and you've graduated.

• Look up G7's shape in the chord library (three fingers, easier to fret than you'd think)→
• Play all of “Oh! Susanna” following its progression: verse C C G7 C, chorus F C G7 C→
• Check in at “Today's Practice” and log your first ukulele song, played in 7 days→