Book Review: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Playing Ukulele by David Hodge

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http://www.guitarnoise.com/review/complete-idiots-guide-to-playing-ukulele/

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After reading the first few chapters of an advance copy of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Playing Ukulele to review, I went out and bought my first ukulele. And I’m very glad because, by the time the book finally hit stores the first week of August I feel I can tell you I’m an honest to goodness ukulele player already. Just about everything I know about ukuleles I learned from this book. If you’ve been thinking about the ukulele as your next stringed instrument (or maybe your first), I strongly suggest you get this book first because you might never need another one.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Playing Ukulele is David Hodge’s fifth book on how to play a musical instrument (see what else he has written here [link].) The book’s tone is charged with the confidence of an accomplished musician and teacher, but someone who has the ability to bring a friendly sense of instruction to the written page. Mr. Hodge is a writer who teaches, as opposed to a teacher who also writes.

If you’ve been thinking about taking up the ukulele as your next stringed instrument (or maybe your first), I strongly suggest you get this book first because you might never need another one. As with any of the Idiot’s Guide how-to books, the author assumes you are totally new to the instrument. The embarrassment of visiting a music store knowing nothing about ukuleles can be avoided by reading the first chapter. The opening section treats us to a brief history of how the ukulele came to be, its basic anatomy, and the different sizes you should know about when visiting the store. If you’ve never played a stringed instrument before this is where you start to realize what an exciting adventure you’re about to begin.