How to choose your first ukulele

If you want to play ukulele, the main piece of gear you need is a ukulele.

But, when you’re a total beginner, you don’t know where to start! How can you possibly know how to choose your first ukulele, when you can’t play it yet?

Also, you aren’t sure how it will go, so maybe you don’t want to spend more money than you have to.

I get that. Buying musical instruments can have so many traps for newbies.

When I was a kid, learning violin, my parents got suckered into paying far too much for a violin that wasn’t that great. (I only realised this years later, when I worked at a violin workshop.)

Actually, my parents had a bad experience buying a piano too. It wasn’t in tune and they had to return it to the shop. There was a reason why it was going for such a low price…

But I am delighted to tell you that choosing a beginner ukulele is much simpler and cheaper than choosing a violin, or practically any other musical instrument.

In this post I’ll explain how to buy a ukulele that you can start learning to play with confidence. How much you can expect to spend; what size ukulele to choose; where to buy a ukulele. And how to find out if you can still play your old family ukulele.

How to choose a beginner ukulele

These are the four main factors to consider, when buying your first ukulele.

1. Decide on your price range

You don’t have to spend much money on a starter ukulele. That’s one of the many great things about playing ukulele. A good beginner ukulele will cost you under $US100. Really. Truly.

I don’t recommend spending less than $60, because cheap ukuleles often don’t stay in tune. You might save $10 or $15 – but you might also buy yourself some annoying tuning problems.

With any other instrument – flute, guitar, keyboard, violin, etc – you’d have to spend hundreds, just for a beginner’s model.

Most people in my classes start with a basic ukulele. After they’ve been playing for six months or so, some of them choose to upgrade.

If you really want to invest in something better than a cheap instrument right away, you can get a pretty good ukulele starting from $200. But this isn’t essential.

You may even be able to buy a hand-made instrument for a few hundred dollars, if you get in touch with a local ukulele maker.

2. Choose a reliable brand

Makala Dolphin is a very reliable beginner ukulele in the basic price range. NB this is not an affiliate link. They are made by the famous Kala brand – you can spend much more on a beautiful Kala ukulele, but when you’re starting out, you don’t have to.

There’s a reason why Dolphins are so popular – they’re very consistent in quality. Also, they come with a good quality set of strings, already fitted. Your main choice will be which colour – pink, blue, red, white or yellow!

But there are plenty of other good brands too.

Every music shop will have a different range of brands.

3. What size ukulele is best for adult beginners?

Ukuleles come in a range of sizes, from soprano (the smallest), to concert, tenor and baritone.

Your first ukulele will probably be a soprano. Most of the cheapest ukulele models are sopranos.

I prefer playing a soprano ukulele myself.

Some adult beginners (especially men) choose a concert sized ukulele to start, rather than one of the tiny sopranos. It has a bigger fingerboard, which may make it easier to play if you have large fingers.

However, this isn’t a hard and fast rule. I know plenty of men who are happily playing soprano ukulele without any problems.

Soprano, concert and tenor ukuleles are all tuned the same.

I suggest you don’t choose a baritone ukulele if you’re a total beginner. It has different tuning, so the chord shapes will be different.

However, if you can already play guitar, a baritone uke might be a good pick, because four of the strings are tuned the same as a guitar.

4. Buy from a local music shop

Three good reasons to buy from a music shop (if you have one nearby), rather than online:

1. Accountability

If anything goes wrong, you have some accountability. E.g. if the ukulele doesn’t stay in tune, you can take it back and they’ll fix it or exchange it. This is harder to do when you buy online.

2. You can ask advice

A music shop with knowledgeable staff is a community resource of useful advice. You are supporting the local music economy.

3. You can hear what the ukulele you’re thinking of buying sounds like

Ask the shop assistant to tune it and play a few chords for you. If they can’t do that, they don’t know anything about ukuleles, so you should buy somewhere else!

But: a word of advice about music shops!

if you’re going into a music shop, decide ahead of time how much you want to spend. Otherwise you may be charmed/ persuaded into spending more than you intended.

Some of my students say firmly: “Alice told me to buy a Dolphin.” (I’ve heard this from local music shop staff.)

But money spent on a ukulele isn’t a waste of money, because you’re going to enjoy playing it. I know you are.

Music shops in Hamilton, NZ

In my hometown, Hamilton, New Zealand, two specialist, ukulele-friendly music shops I recommend (and they don’t pay me any commission to say this) are:

Shearer’s Music Store, in Anglesea St, across from the bus station. There’s plenty of parking in front of the shop.

Keith MacMillan Stringed Instruments, 36 High St, Frankton – next door to Village Organics, across the road from the railway line.

What about hiring a ukulele?

People sometimes ask about hiring a ukulele to begin with. Buying a ukulele is so cheap that hiring isn’t really worthwhile.

If you’ve only spent $70, you can pass it on to someone else and recoup some of the money, if you decide the ukulele isn’t your thing. (But I hope you’ll want to keep going!)

Is it okay to play your Dad’s old ukulele?

If you have an old family ukulele, or if you buy a ukulele at a yard sale, I recommend getting it checked out at a local music shop.

They’ll be brutally honest about whether Dad’s old uke is still playable. However, one of my students discovered she’d inherited a valuable instrument!

Whether your family heirloom is trash or treasure, you’ll at least need a new set of strings. Good ukulele strings will cost approximately $US10 for a set. This is a good quality ukulele string. (Not an affiliate link.)

It’s not worth the time and bother to put on cheaper strings. Good quality strings will get the best sound out of a basic ukulele – and they should last well.

If you ask the music shop to put the strings on for you, expect to pay something for their time and skill.

Want to start playing?

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Do you want more help? Check out my Self-study Beginner Ukulele course

Take a deeper dive with my Strum With Alice Self-study Beginner Ukulele Course.
This USD $75 self-study course takes you from absolute beginner to confident player—based on my experience teaching hundreds of new uke players like you.

You’ll learn how to play a bunch of easy ukulele beginner songs. Comes with videos and a downloadable ukulele beginner songbook.

Learn more about the course here: Strum With Alice Self-study Beginner Ukulele