How to Hold an ‘Ukulele

This is basic stuff. It’s also important. If you don’t hold the ‘ukulele correctly you will be hampered in everything you try to learn. Don’t worry, it’s not hard.

Hold the ‘ukulele against your chest with your forearm on the top edge of the body so that your strumming hand (right hand for rightys, vice versa for lefties) can reach almost to the 12th fret. If you have one of the bigger sized ‘ukuleles you might want to place it on your leg when sitting. When standing, the friction of your arm across the soundboard should be enough (with minimal help from your fretting hand) to keep the instrument under control and not falling on the floor.

With your fretting hand (left hand for rightys, vice versa for lefties), put the pad of your thumb on the back of the neck somewhere in between the nut and third fret. Make sure your thumb is not curled over the top of the neck – that will restrain you from changing chords quickly. Your thumb should be placed with only a little bit of the tip visible. Your wrist should stay fairly straight unless you need to twist it a bit to reach a chord like G7. Depending on the chord, you can rest the neck on the base of your index finger. Your fretting fingers should be close (give or take 10-15 degrees) to parallel with the frets. It helps a lot if you trim your fingernails short on this hand. Otherwise your nails will be holding the pad of your finger off the fretboard. Keep your elbow a couple inches away from your side as you hold the ‘ukulele. If you were to draw an imaginary line from your shoulder to your fretting hand, you’d want your  elbow along the line.

In a nutshell:

Do:

  • Hold the ‘ukulele in a relaxed manner.
  • Keep your thumb behind the neck.
  • Keep the ‘ukulele upright and against your chest.
  • Keep your fingers relatively parallel to the frets – unless you are playing a chord that requires you to turn your wrist.
Don’t:
  • Let the ‘ukulele slide flat onto your lap. This makes things much, much harder for your wrist.
  • Squeeze the ‘ukulele to death. Find the happy medium that supports the instrument but also lets you relax.
  • Hold your elbow way out.
  • Hold your elbow tucked all the way in or in front of you.

Left or Right Handed?

Most people play the ‘ukulele right handed, using their right hand to strum. There are a few who feel it is more comfortable to play left handed, and strum with their left hand. There is no “best” way. I write left handed and I play right handed – I don’t know why, it’s just what feels comfortable and I never even considered playing the other way. If you are torn about what way to play, I would recommend trying the ‘ukulele right handed first. It will be easier.

If you do end up playing backwards you must pick between two stringing options: play the ‘ukulele how it is, just upside down (A string closest to your face), or take the strings off and put them on backwards (G string closest to your face) – mirror of a right handed ‘ukulele. You will have to decide what is right for you, but the former is going to give you the ability to pick up any ‘ukulele and play it. This in itself is a huge reason to learn “upside down”. You don’t want to be stuck needing a specially tuned instrument to play.

Other Info:

Strumming – How to make your strumming hand as graceful as possible.

Straps will do most of the holding for you!