3 Reasons Why You Should Not Start Playing On A Ukulele If Your Goal Is To Play Guitar

By Maurice Richard

It looks like a really good idea to start learning on a ukulele. They are much smaller, they have less strings and are much cheaper.

But there are some problems to this line of thinking that you are not likely aware of. They are definitely not the same instrument so you need to be careful when making this decision.

Although some of the skills you will learn when playing ukulele are similar to what you would learn to do on a guitar, they are not the same and it is not necessarily a good idea to start this way.

Here are 3 reasons why you should not start playing the ukulele if your actual goal is to learn to play guitar.

1. It Has A Very Different Feel

Ukuleles are a lot smaller than guitars and that makes them a lot easier to hold, balance, and control than a full-sized guitar.

This is a good thing and would allow you to focus more on actually learning to play the instrument.

However, this also means that you are going to have to hold it differently than you would a guitar. Your picking hand and especially your fretting hand will develop different technique and different muscle memory that you need for guitar.

It's not all wasted of course, some of this will be transferable, but unless playing a ukulele is your actual goal, you should consider other alternatives.

I would prefer to see you learn to play guitar if that is your ultimate goal. You can make it easier by starting on a 1/2 sized or 3/4 sized acoustic or even better, electric guitars.

2. It Only Has Four Strings

This may not seem like a big deal and maybe you think it's an advantage over a guitar and I can understand why you would think that. Less strings should make it easier to form chords and learn to play!

But here is the problem. If your ultimate goal is to play guitar you are now learning chord forms that will differ from the full chords you need to learn on a 6-string guitar.

Although there are some things that will be transferable to a guitar like your dexterity and finger strength, you will have to learn entirely new patterns to play guitar properly.

It would be much better for you to start learning on a guitar right away and get used to all 6 strings. That way you are working towards your goals immediately and getting there sooner.

It is a bit more difficult but if you buy a smaller scale guitar as mentioned in the previous section you can totally minimize this.

3. Delay Learning To Play Guitar

This is by far the most important reason you should not start playing on a ukulele if you true desire and goal is to play guitar.

It may feel good when you start learning on ukulele and feel you are making progress towards your ultimate goal but it will mostly be in vain.

That's because you are not developing the actual skills needed to play guitar. When you decide to make the jump, you will have to get comfortable with a totally new instrument.

Yes, they are related but as mentioned above, they are not the same and many of the skills and the muscle memory you will develop with ukulele will not be transferable.

The best thing you can do if your ultimate goal is to play guitar would be to start learning on it as soon as possible so you can learn the right skills today, not in the future.

That way all that time and energy you would be putting towards ukulele will go towards guitar and you will be able to play it much sooner than you would otherwise.

Make It Easier To Start On Guitar With The Right Teacher

Starting to play on ukulele would be easier than guitar. No doubt. And if you read the 3 points above you realize this is not all good news.

Some people find guitar too difficult to learn at first and switch to ukulele. Most of them try to learn on their own and run into problems. That's normal.

I tried to learn guitar on my own at first and I can attest that it is not easy and quite frustrating. Finding the right teacher changed all that.

Instead of starting on the "easier" instrument, like ukulele, find the best guitar teacher in your area who can help you be successful and start learning guitar immediately!

The best teacher is highly trained, has experience helping people like you learning guitar and proof to back it all up.

This way all your time, effort, energy and money is being invested in the actual instrument you want to learn and will get you there much sooner!

About The Author:

Maurice Richard is a professional guitar teacher that operates out of the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. He has been a member of an elite guitar teaching mentorship program since 2007 and has taught many people how to learn to play guitar. You can learn to play guitar today by going to his website right now!