The free online lessons and articles linked here point to the main subjects available on Live Ukulele. There are over 300 uke articles, resource sheets, and video tutorials created by myself, a professional ukulele instructor and performer, and drawing from almost 20 years of experience. Enjoy!
Recent Updates
- “21 Guns” by Green Day TAB (May 8, 2025)
- Serving the Music (May 3, 2025)
- Private Zoom Lessons (Apr 24, 2025)
- Singing with Joey Bradley (Apr 19, 2025)
- Huh? What? Avoiding Ear Damage (Apr 5, 2025)
Jump to:
- Fundamentals
- Gear
- Live sound
- Timing
- Strumming
- Lead picking
- Articulation techniques
- Chords
- Scales
- Playing by Ear
- Theory
- TABs
- Song Sheets
- General
- Baritone
- Reviews
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The Live Ukulele Podcast is home to some of my most in-depth content
Fundamental Lessons
Free ukulele tutorials and guides on core concepts
- ⭐ Easy picking quick-start guide ebook
- Novice lessons – how to play for noobs
- Beginner lessons – a getting going guide
- Intermediate lessons – things to study for improving players
- Advanced lessons – expert tips and advice
- Practicing – how to make faster/better progress
- ⚙️ Fretboard charts & mechanics – the notes on the fretboard
- 🚸 Ukulele for kids – tips to get children playing the uke
- Holding the ukulele – proper playing posture
- 📜 History of the uke – 1878 to now
- 🗨️ Pronouncing “ukulele” – oo-koo-le-le vs. you-ka-lay-lee
- Taking lessons – how to find a teacher and excel
- How to tune – tuning methods, tips, and alternate tunings
- 🌡️ Warmup exercises – warmup drills to improve your dexterity
Gear Lessons
Tips and info on the material items used to create music
- Gear I use: essential list
- Parts of the ukulele
- 🗂️ Ukulele buying guide – what to shop for
- Choosing the “best” uke – the philosophy of buying ukuleles
- 🏷️ Ukulele prices – cost, value, and quality explained
- Hawaiʻi made ukes – the “four Ks”
- Sizes – soprano, concert, tenor, and baritone
- Cases – how to store your ukulele safely
- Wall-mount hangers – display your ukes
- Picks & plectrums – thumbpicks to fingerpicks to guitar picks
- Fingernail care – the best way to file long nails
- Straps – a great way to attach an ukulele to your body
- Strings – finding a perfect set
- How to change strings – guide for all bridge and headstock styles
- Low-G strings – how they work and why you should care
Live sound/recording:
- 🎸 Amplification basics – how to plug in
- Pickups – USTs, SBTs, and microphones
- Amplifiers – Amps to PAs
- Preamps – Balance & Refine Your Uke Signal
- Effects – enhancing and changing your sound with pedals
- Impulse responses – better tech, better sound
- ⏺️ How to record your ukulele
Optimize your gear and settings to get a killer amplified ukulele tone and learn the key elements of live sound.
Software:
Take your playing to the next level with premium ukulele resources from Brad Bordessa. These materials feature Brad’s unique and empowering teaching style, covering essential topics you need to succeed.
Almost everything here is provided for free. If you like what you see and want to enjoy even higher quality content, check out my paid lesson products.
Timing & Metronome Lessons ⏲️
Arguably the most important and under-practiced aspect when someone learns to play ukulele
Strumming & Rhythm Lessons
Chords and harmony playing
- ⭐ How to figure out any strumming pattern – ebook & video lessons
- ⭐ Learn to strum five Hawaiian songs – video lessons
- ⭐ Ebook guide to strumming and picking technique
- Hawaiian Vamps – picking & strumming turnarounds
- How to make hard chords easier
- How to strum – tips & technique
- Strumming patterns – DDUUD and many more
- 🇯🇲 Reggae strumming – patterns and styles
- How to change chords faster
- Muting chords and notes – how to dampen
Lead & Picking Lessons
Single note playing
- ⭐ Learn to pick five Hawaiian songs – video lessons
- ⭐ Video guide to lead & melody playing
- Articulations – techniques that facilitate and decorate
- 🎹 Harmonizing melodies – how to add a 3rd, 6th, or 10th
- Fingering tips – playing with smarter hand movements
- Fingerpicking the ukulele – PIMA and other styles
- 🎵 Sequencing scales – beautiful practice patterns
- Hawaiian style ukulele – lesson on capturing that Hawaiian sound
- How to solo – improvising on the ukulele
- Picking patterns – string sequences to replace strumming
- Playing cleanly – how to avoid buzzing
- How to create solo fingerpicking arrangements
- Tone – how to play with better sound
Articulation Techniques
Decorations, textures, and tricks to facilitate movement
- Bending – how to string bend
- Hammer-on – how to play multiple notes upward with one attack
- Harmonics – how to chime
- Mono strum – strumming all the string, but only sounding one note
- Octaves – playing a high and low note together
- Palm mute – choking the strings for a plucky tone
- Pull-off – play multiple notes downward with one attack
- Rake – add a percussive edge to your notes
- Slide – zipping from note to note
- Tapping – using your right hand to hammer and pull notes
- Tremolo picking – how to play the same note repeatedly very fast
- Vibrato – wiggling the pitch of notes for expression
Chord Charts & Chord Lessons
Reference diagrams + photos and tutorials for applying ukulele chords to music
- ⭐ Ukulele Chord Shapes – my premium reference tome that will help you understand how to move chords around the fretboard
- Basic chord charts – diagrams for 1st position major, minor, and 7th shapes
- How to play E major – tips for a dastardly chord
- Advanced chord charts – multi-voicing diagram sheets
- How to read chord diagrams – illustrations and explanation of several notation styles
- How to make hard chords easier – finger tips and song adjustments
- Jazz chords – shapes and common progressions
- Barre chords lesson – how to place your finger for a clean sound
- Blank printable chord diagrams
- Constructing ukulele chords – theory and practice
- How many ukulele chords are there? – math and perspective
- Diminished and augmented chords – easy repeating shapes
- Mandolin-style open chords – big voicings that leverage the uke’s tuning
- Power chords – how to play rock and roll with a uke
- Resolving 7th chords – leading the ear where you want it to go
- Understanding slash chords – find a “Em7/C”? Here’s what you do!
Scale Diagrams
Reference diagrams + fretboard layouts for almost every ukulele scale
- 🆓 150 page PDF scales collection – huge .zip download with 300dpi charts and 14 scale types in every key
- Tabs of ukulele scales – note-by-note tablature for many popular scales in every key
- How to learn and memorize scales – tips for real-world usage of scales
- Video tutorials for basic scale patterns
- Modes – the theory behind these pseudo-scales
Playing by Ear Lessons 👂
How to figure out music on the ukulele using only your ears
Music Theory
Technical explanations of how music works
- ⭐ Theory workshop – 80 minutes of video instruction on practical music theory
- Theory – how to explain why music works the way it does
- How to read standard notation
- Transposing – how to move chords and melodies into a new key
Tablature
TAB notation for the lead parts of many ukulele songs in PDF
- ⭐ Single String Songbook – 20 easy one string TABs for beginners
- Main TAB index – all of my transcriptions in many genres
- 🔥 Dominator Ukulele TABs – the new home of Dom’s top-notch, note-for-note transcriptions
- 20 Easy TABs – a list of some beginner-friendly melodies
- Converting TABs to YOUR tuning – tutorial on how to convert guitar and low-G/high-g TABs
- How to read tablature – tutorial on understand TAB notation
- Blank TAB sheets – for notating your own songs
- Best TAB making software – programs for engraving music
Song Sheets
Chord and lyric sheets for strumming and singing
- ⭐ Lead sheets for five Hawaiian tunes – PDFs & video tutorials
- Main song sheet index – Live Ukulele original sheets
- Two chord ukulele songs for very beginners – the easiest songs you can find
- Easy ukulele songs – popular tunes with four chords or less and easy fingerings
- Hawaiian ukulele songs – a reference list of some of the most popular and easy tunes you’ll hear at a kani ka pila
- How to make a song easier – tutorial on simplifying complex songs
General Lessons
Everything else…
- Creating a band – tips for putting together a gigging group
- Finding inspiration – getting out of a rut
- Kani ka pila – jam circle tips
- Links – other great ukulele websites
- Ukulele myths – legends about the uke
- Setlists – ordering your songs for performance
- Song endings – how to stop play
- How to spice up a boring song
- Weird sounds
Baritone Ukulele
Lessons for the philosophy of DGBE
- Baritone learning philosophy – how to use any GCEA resource for DGBE
- Main page – about the baritone uke and tunings
- Baritone chords – how to transpose chords from GCEA to DGBE
- Baritone strings – the best strings to use for long scale
Reviews
My opinions on certain gear and stuff that I use
- Review index – ukes, pedals, books, etc
- Recommended recordings and books – great music that I think every ukulele player should listen to
- Gift guide – things to get for the uke player in your life
Video Ukulele Lessons
My Youtube channel has over 200 videos and livestreams of ukulele content. Be sure to subscribe!
Ukes For Ukraine
Ukes For Ukraine raised over $11,000 for World Central Kitchen, who are providing meals and food to people affected by the war. Watch the replay for hours and hours of world-class instruction and performances:
Live Stream Lessons
For 20 weeks beginning at the end of 2020 I broadcasted lessons live on Youtube about various ukulele subjects. They are non-sequential and hold lots of great tips and advice for all levels of players. Here is the playlist where they can be found:
My premium video courses are some of the best ukulele lessons you can find. Check them out here:
Browse my video courses and ebooks