Welcome to Rhinebeck School of Music’s Ukulele Primer Course with Erin Hobson!
This course is designed for complete beginners, but is also helpful for anyone who wants to brush up on technique, dive deeper into rhythm, expand chord vocabulary, and add songs to their repertoire.
Through the video lessons and accompanying PDFs, you will be provided with everything the beginner ukulele player needs to be able to grasp the basics of playing.
By the end of this course you will have learned:
- The different types of ukuleles, their features and parts.
- How to tune the instrument.
- How to play five basic chords and be able to change between them.
- Right hand techniques and different strumming patterns to accompany your chords.
- Simple melodies, playing one note at a time, across a number of strings with proper left hand technique.
- How to apply this knowledge and play songs.
Each video tutorial contains a bulk of content that is broken down later into smaller sections with play-along videos for you to practice to. PDFs are available to download with each video.
The main goal of this course is to teach you how to play the ukulele with very little obstacles, so that you can just focus on playing the instrument.
While the ability to read standard notation is certainly a valuable skill (and one which I highly recommend), it falls beyond the scope of this course.
As such, all melodic information in this book is presented as tablature so that the inability to read music does not act as a barrier to those who wish just to play!
This course is the first in a series that will be released by Rhinebeck School of Music. If you wish to expand your knowledge beyond these basics, keep an eye out for the next one.
Good luck on your journey and have FUN!!
Your Instructor
Erin Hobson (Director) is a partner in an independent record label and publishing company and an accomplished singer, songwriter, guitarist, who has been teaching private and group lessons for 20 years. Erin studied with amazing guitarists, like local legend Steve Gravino, before attending SUNY New Paltz for Jazz Performance with Tom Dempsey and Mark Dziuba. She later moved to Los Angeles, CA where she studied wth Jazz greats Ron Eschete and Ted Green and eventually landed her first teaching job at Instrumental Music in Thousand Oaks, CA.
Erin plays and teaches a variety of styles on Acoustic and Electric Guitar, as well as Ukulele. She offers instruction in Sight Reading, Basic and Advanced Music Theory, Chord Construction, Chord Melody, Lead Guitar, Scales and Modes, Improvisation, Acoustic Finger Style and anything in the genres of Folk, Funk, Jazz, Blues, Metal, and Rock. Lessons are catered to the individual student and their musical taste and skill level. Beginners and hobbyists are welcome.
Erin is a warm, approachable person, who truly cares about her students and helping them learn. She is especially patient with young children and beginners.
For samples of Erin’s playing and teaching style, visit www.redhookguitar.com or her YouTube channel. Catch Erin performing locally with The Compact by visiting www.the-compact.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
Congratulations and thanks again for choosing to start your ukulele journey with Rhinebeck School of Music! Stay tuned for more courses and we'll see you at the next one!