I took up playing the ukelele just a few years ago – My kids gave me a uke for Christmas, and it’s still the greatest gift I have ever received.  I can’t recommend it enough. The return in fun and relaxation compared to the investment in time and (virtually no) money is sky-high.  Here are just a few reasons why you should consider it.

• It’s really fun – Ukelele pairs well with all the best things in life: campfires, beaches, boats, hammocks, beer, sappy songs.
• People will sing with you – The uke makes people feel happy and comfortable.  It’s as unintimidating as you can get, and people really love to sing along. And, if you didn’t already know… singing together is just about the best thing people can do.
• It is intensely chill – Takes me from a 10 to about a 3 in no time and drops my blood pressure by about 100 points… without fail.
• It’s easy to get started – You can play a serviceable “You Are My Sunshine” with about 5 minutes of practice (seriously).
• You can play some seriously cool tunes – Any Beatles song will automatically work, same with Willie Nelson and the Police. Standards all work too, of course (Stardust has some tough chord progressions but it is immensely satisfying and romantic to play). And, pulling out a Pixies song or two during an impromptu sing-a-long is about as rad as it gets.
• It’s a great way to experience the benefits of dedicated practice – When you spend time playing and working at getting that really hard song down, you’ll really feel (and hear) the difference;  Very satisfying.
• They’re cheap – You can get a uke for $20 that’s good enough to plunk around on and a really solid one for between $50-75.
• They’re super portable – A uke will easily fit in any backpack, lap, or overhead bin.
• It’s easy to find the chords for pretty much any song you want to play – Google has got the uke covered.
• Over the Rainbow – 🙂