You’ve been teaching yourself ukulele for a couple months now and play religiously every day.

You even know a handful of beginner ukulele chords and a strumming pattern.

You want to continue to see improvement.

But you don’t want to pick up bad habits.

And you also don’t know if you’re even using your time wisely to learn the most important things.

You’ve heard it’s possible to learn an instrument by teaching yourself. Heck, your neighbor Jim said he learned the “self taught” way. However, if you’ve never played an instrument before, how do you know if you’re on the right track? What are the best practices for teaching yourself? And is it even possible?

If I were to go back in time and learn ukulele again, I could probably list 100 mistakes I made, but out of all of those, I would absolutely avoid making these 3 mistakes.

I want to warn you though – some of what I’m about to say might make you feel uncomfortable.

Mistake #1: Not Making Music With Others

So I get it.

You want to teach yourself in the comfort of your own home because you’re shy about playing music.

In fact, you were told many years ago you couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket, so reasonably, you’re afraid to put it out there that you’re learning to play ukulele.

I was really shy when first started learning piano. My mom and dad taught me when I was around six years old to play hymns on the piano at home. I was perfectly content playing inside the comfort of my own home for the first several years until I was invited to play with the church youth group at age 14. I was so afraid but I’m thankful my parents encouraged me to push past that fear. Because it wasn’t until I started playing with my peers that I accelerated my learning in a way I didn’t even know was possible.

For instance, I discovered new ways to play rhythm because I saw how others played differently the same song.

I learned how to play chords in a different voicing to complement others in the band.

And I even figured out how to start improvising simple melodies.

It’s perfectly fine to be content playing music by yourself but if you want to improve even faster then don’t close yourself off to playing ukulele with others whether that’s with a private teacher, local ukulele club, grandkid, or your neighbor Jim down the street.

I wish I would have pushed past that fear sooner as a self-taught musician because of how much I learned from playing with others.

Mistake #2: Learning the Wrong Things

The most important thing about teaching yourself ukulele is to play the music you want.

When you’re learning as an adult, there’s no arbitrary levels to tick off like Grade 1, Grade 2, etc. The new gold standard is asking yourself if you’re playing the songs you like and want to play.

Life’s too short to waste time trying to play music you have no interest in playing.

For example, if you want to be able to look up the chords of your favorite songs, figure out the right strumming pattern, and play it, then, there’s no need to learn scale positions all across the fretboard because someone told you you’re not a real musician if you don’t know your scales. Instead, you should be practicing as many different chord variations as you can and practicing changing chords with different strumming patterns.

But if you want to be able to fingerpick melodies solo on your ukulele, then, that will require you to learn the fretboard, in which case, I wouldn’t be spending a whole lot of time learning hundreds of different strumming patterns.

Take time to think about your true song goals and write them down.

Then, think about what skills and techniques are needed to play those songs:

• Fretting hand technique
• Strumming hand technique
• Picking hand technique
• Chord knowledge
• Fretboard knowledge
• Theory
• Rhythm

… and so on.

When you can identify the kinds of skills or techniques you need to practice, you can build a practice plan.

This is where a teacher or course really speeds up this process but if you’re committed to teaching yourself then you must take the time to think through these things and write them out.

Mistake #3: Worrying About Bad Habits

I know you want to teach yourself ukulele in the absolute best way without any mistakes.

But I need you to let it go.

Learning an instrument is a process.

You will make bad habits.

But there should be one good habit that you always have…

The most important habit you must have learning to play ukulele is setting aside the time to make music every single day.

No exceptions.

There’s nothing more important than this.

This is the most fatal error you can make teaching yourself to play ukulele.

But if you are dedicating the time daily, even for just fifteen minutes, then, you’re already winning.

Because if you dedicate the time, you’ll be able to address any bad habits that pop up along the way. But if you never take the time, well, then, you’ll be wishing in five years you would have started five years ago.

Is It Even Possible to Teach Yourself Ukulele?

Yes, it’s possible to be “self-taught” but notice what I’m talking about above…

1. Playing with others
2. Getting clear on the music you want to make
3. Practicing daily

Self-taught players are supported and inspired by other people, follow a plan to play in a specific style, and have built their practice habit.

This requires a lot of effort and thought.

If you find that it’s hard to figure it all out on your own, then, join me in the Strumming Tricks online course I teach which is the best way to go from beginner to playing 20 different songs in 7 distinct styles.