How to Choose the Best Way to Learn Ukulele

BY NICOLAS GRIZZLE | FROM THE SPRING 2025 ISSUE OF UKULELE

Like a good road trip, much of the fun in learning to play ukulele is the journey. Similarly, deciding the “best” way is subjective; do you take the most efficient and direct route, or meander the backroads to find hidden gems? Or maybe a combination of the two? Here we take a look at the different avenues available for learning ukulele to help you find the path that is right for you.

“What’s the best way to learn ukulele?” That’s a question Google or AI chatbots can’t really help with, because there isn’t one specific answer—it’s particular to the person asking. In short, if it feels good, it’s right. There are a handful of ways to learn a musical instrument, and if we apply them to ukulele it is easier to narrow down what might work for you.

For the purposes of this article, I’ve broken down the categories as follows: self-study; one-on-one lessons; online academies; and group classes and workshops. There is definitely some crossover between them, but most ukulele learning today can fit into at least one of these categories.

No matter how you learn, the keys to progressing on any instrument are practice and discipline. Those “keys” don’t exactly start the engine on the party bus, but there are ways to make them happen that can be fun and motivating. Some of those aspects, like community, discovery, and performance, are inherent in the methods of study discussed here.

SELF-STUDY

There is a lot of great ukulele info available online these days, and much of it is free. You can find almost anything you’d want to learn on YouTube alone. Many top teachers post lessons to YouTube and other social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. There are also sites like liveukulele.com, doctoruke.com, gotaukulele.com, and, if we can toot our own horn a bit, UkuleleMagazine.com, that offer free, expert instruction. There are also free apps like Yousician and Ultimate Guitar that have a lot of solid ukulele content.

The advantages of self-study are many. In addition to being cost-effective, you get to determine the pace and direction of your own learning. And if you’re feeling inspired, you can dive right in and explore any given topic, song, or technique in the moment; odds are there’s a free lesson about it somewhere you could find right now.

The downside, as you may have experienced, is that there is so much information out there that it can be difficult to sort through. Plus, the quality of instruction varies greatly. For every helpful resource, there is at least one other that is confusing, convoluted, or contradictory. It’s easy to get sidetracked, too, especially when venturing down the YouTube rabbit hole.

Then there’s the issue of discipline. When you’re using self-study as your only learning avenue, you also have to be the one keeping yourself accountable. And it’s easy to slack off when things get tough. “The best way to improve is to practice things you’re not good at,” says ukulele teacher Perry Stauffer. “And when I’m self-practicing, I have a tendency, if I’m not careful, to practice the things I already do really well.”

Something else to be careful of is reinforcing bad habits. Without a teacher or community to check in with, you might be doing something the “hard way,” or even in a way that is ergonomically strenuous and could lead to injury over time.

ONE-ON-ONE

Apps and websites can be useful and innovative, but they’re no substitute for a direct student-teacher relationship. This old-school way of learning has been around quite a while—thousands of years, actually—and it shows no signs of going away any time soon. It may look a little different these days in the digital world, but the basic principles of one-on-one lessons are the same as they ever were.

The advantages of this avenue include personal attention and a curated curriculum. As a student, you can decide where you want to go on your ukulele journey, with an experienced teacher there to guide you. And if you aren’t quite sure what you are looking for, you can trust the teacher to lead you on a great four-stringed adventure.

“I have always loved in-person one-on-one lessons,” says teacher Sarah Maisel. “I always feel like I get the most out of those, and then it makes me feel like I’m accountable to someone.”

Regular one-on-one lessons can be extremely valuable for students, especially beginners. They allow a teacher to assess a student’s foundation and appropriately assign exercises, songs, and, if necessary, adjust how a student holds and plays the instrument. But not everyone can afford weekly, or even monthly lessons—and that’s OK! There’s still tremendous value in the occasional “check-in” lesson, including clarifying information gleaned from self-study, group lessons, and workshops, or maybe getting a personalized song transcription that matches your skill level and style.

Most of the teachers I spoke with for this article do offer one-on-one lessons, though the bulk of those lessons take place these days online via Zoom. This digital connectivity offers students and teachers a chance to connect from anywhere in the world, without having to worry about commuting, weather, or forgetting their instrument at home (trust me, it happens).

Jeff Peterson has taught one-on-one lessons for nearly 30 years. Though most of these sessions take place online now, he still does teach the occasional in-person
private lesson and admits that being physically present in the same room together sometimes has its advantages. “On the computer screen, I can’t reach in and move someone’s hands,” he says, with a laugh.

ONLINE ACADEMIES

The online academy format has blossomed in recent years thanks to  developments in streaming technology. This format combines group instruction with a library of pre-recorded lessons.

Starlight Academy, run by Perry Stauffer and Dani Joy, offers two tiers for members. The first tier includes one class per month, while the top tier includes five classes per month plus access to four years’ worth of recorded lessons on techniques, songs, and other topics. Like most online academies, each new lesson is recorded, meaning the library keeps growing as time goes on.

While the teachers at these academies are generally quite proficient in any style you’d want to learn, many have their own specialties. For example Ukulele Corner, run by Peterson, has extensive sections on Hawaiian, classical, folk, and blues music, as well as fingerstyle and other techniques. And Starlight offers classes on ukulele bass and includes several jazz tutorials.

There’s also a social aspect to academies. James Hill’s Uketropolis, for example, offers a wide range of formats built for socializing. In one section of the academy, “Ukuloudly,” Hill presents an arrangement every few weeks specifically for the group to play and record together. Ukulele Corner has its own form of a social network, too—a forum where students can share what they’re working on, ask for help, or just chat. “Many friendships are made” through this forum, says Peterson. He adds that when he was studying music at the University of Southern California, “I learned as much from the other students as I did from the teachers.”

Maisel and Craig Chee’s lessons on ArtistWorks are an interesting hybrid of one-on-one lessons and academy format. The duo pre-records lessons for the site, and students can submit videos of themselves and ask questions. The teachers then send the student back a video with their feedback and upload their responses for current and future students who may have similar questions. “That’s a great system that allows students to work on their own time, but still get individual feedback,” says Maisel.

The academy format also shares some overlap with self-study, as recorded lessons offers plenty of opportunity for individual exploration. The difference, however, is that the academy lessons are generally curated into groups like skill levels, styles, or techniques that can help guide you toward your musical goal.

GROUPS AND WORKSHOPS

Something unique to learning ukulele as compared to other instruments is the community aspect it invites. It’s not so common to fly solo with the jumping flea as it is with guitar, for example. To many, the best part about learning ukulele is, in fact, the community it creates. 

“There’s something special about a group of people getting together to pursue the same goal,” says Joy. “They can laugh with each other, celebrate with each other, and encourage each other.”

There are many different types of group lessons, with the most popular probably being the ukulele club meeting. While they’re not all structured as a lesson, per se, it’s hard not to learn something new from either the group leader or a fellow strummer at any given meeting.

In-person workshops are another type of group lesson. These are focused sessions centered on one topic, style, technique, or idea, often found at festivals or retreats with an expert leading a small group of passionate students. This format does offer space for individual questions and guidance, but it’s not as personalized as a one-on-one lesson since there is usually a set amount of information to cover in a limited amount of time. This can be an advantage, says Joy, because “with a group, you’re going to get farther faster because there’s no pause button.”

Group lessons also abound online. In addition to the sessions offered by membership-driven academies, there are free group lessons that offer curated selections of ukulele delight. For example, Jim D’Ville’s monthly Pop-Up Uke sessions on Facebook have been going strong on for several years now and are broadcast from a variety of locations. The Ukulele Club of Hawaii has also recently started offering a live online broadcast from Honolulu of its regular group meetings, with an information packet and sheet music available to download prior to the meeting.

Online group lessons also offer something that in-person groups can’t: the ability to practice or noodle without disturbing your fellow students. “When you have an online approach, everyone has their own bubble,” says Stauffer. ”Students can improvise in that bubble. If that happens in an in-person class, everybody gets distracted.”

CHOOSING THE BEST PATH

The thing to remember is that there is no one perfect solution. The “best” way to learn is really by combining different aspects of the educational journey. For example, self-study allows for total freedom in what, when, and how you study. Plus, it’s free! But it also can lack focus and be overwhelming with so many options available—and you don’t always know if the material or method of study is effective, efficient, or even musically accurate. But self-study combined with the occasional one-on-one lesson, either in-person or virtual, can open doors to self-discovery and be musically exciting. 

Same goes for group classes and workshops. Once you start practicing the material you just learned in a group lesson, you’re bound to have some questions. That’s where a one-on-one lesson or further self-study can help hone what you are working on. Online academies and the community they offer can be a great way to stay motivated, and they’re even more effective when supplemented by self-study or one-on-one lessons.

While there may not be a right answer for the best way to study ukulele, there really are no wrong answers, either. It’s about trying ways that interest you, and sticking with what works and what feels right. That includes finding the right teacher, or teachers, for your learning style.

”I’ve learned form a lot of different teachers, and there’s a lot of different ways of doing things,” says Joy. “The main thing is there’s no definitive answer for anything; it’s really just subjective for a lot of stuff.”