6 Best Online Ukulele Lessons 2024

Looking to learn the ukulele? Trying to find online ukulele lessons?

The ukulele is a relatively well served market, and there are some excellent options to choose from. But it can be hard to tell, especially from the outside looking in, which service is going to meet your needs.

In this guide, we compare the best online ukulele lessons for beginners and pros alike.

If you're in a rush though, Uke Like The Pros is easily our choice for the best online ukulele lessons ever. They provide easy-to-follow, but in-depth tutorials and cover a wide range of topics. Whether you're a beginner or more experienced, you'll find something for you.

Uke Like The Pros

Uke Like The Pros is a site offering ukulele, baritone ukulele, and guitalele courses and memberships for beginners, intermediates, advanced players, baritone ukulele players, guitalele players, and more.

One thing lacking from many online lessons sites is a roadmap – a detailed plan one can follow to know where they’re going, and ultimately to get to where they want to go on their instrument. Even if it exists somewhere in the teacher’s mind or notebook, it often doesn’t exist at all for the student.

Uke Like The Pros not only has a detailed roadmap on their website, you don’t even need to sign up for any of their courses to be able to peruse it.

As the name suggests, the aim of Uke Like The Pros is to help you play like the pros!

Price

Update: There's currently a sale on all courses via this page.

Uke Like The Pros has a $20 course of the week promotion you can take advantage of to check out their content.

They also have an option where you can buy two courses to get one free. There are 10 packs in total, which are as follows:

• Starter Pack
• Beginner Pack
• Music Reading Pack
• Songs Pack
• Pro Pack
• Fingerstyle Pack
• Advanced Pack
• Baritone Pack
• Guitalele & Guitar Pack
• Ultimate Pack

All packages cost $157, except for the Ultimate Pack, which you can purchase for $997.

There are also three membership plans, including:

• Standard Membership – $12.99 monthly
• Premium Membership – 7-day trial, $19.95 monthly
• Platinum Membership – $39.95 monthly

Naturally, each level of membership offers a different amount of support and content, and we suggest referring to the website for more information.

How Much Training Is There?

There are a total of six categories of courses. Here’s what the categories are as well as the courses that are available in each category (you can also access the courses here):

• Beginner ukulele courses. Includes Beginning Ukulele Starter Course, Beginning Ukulele Bootcamp Course, Beginning Ukulele Fundamentals Course, Kids Ukulele Course, Beginning Master The Ukulele #1 Course, and Beginning Practice & Technique Bootcamp, for a total of six courses.
• Intermediate ukulele courses. Includes Intermediate Master the Ukulele #2 Course, Ukulele Music Reading Course, 23 Ultimate Chord Progressions Course, and Beginning Ukulele Fingerstyle Course, for a total of four courses.
• Advanced ukulele courses. Includes Ukulele Blues Mastery Course, Beginning Ukulele Soloing Course, Ukulele Fingerstyle Course, and Jazz Swing Mastery #1 Course, for a total of four courses.
• Fun song courses. Includes 21 Popular Songs For Ukulele, Christmas Songs For Ukulele Course, and Guitar Fundamentals Course, for a total of three courses.
• Baritone ukulele courses. Includes Beginning Baritone Ukulele Bootcamp, Baritone Blues Mastery Course, and Beginning Baritone Fingerstyle Course, for a total of three courses.
• Guitalele courses. Includes Guitalele For Ukulele & Guitar Players Course and the Guitalele Blues Mastery Course, for a total of two courses.

Uke Like The Pros also includes an array of special workshops (12 in total). They are as follows:

• Ukulele Care Workshop With Chris Oliver
• Ukulele Ultimate Workshops
• Music Recording Workshop With Per Kjeller
• Ukulele Circle Of 5ths Workshop
• Ukulele Chord Inversions Workshop
• Baritone Strumming Workshop
• Ukulele Music Theory Workshop
• Ukulele Dominate The Major Scale Workshop
• Ukulele Music Reading 1 Workshop
• Ukulele Practice & Technique Advanced Workshop
• Ukulele Rhythms Workshop
• Ukulele Music Reading 2 Workshop

Instructors

Uke Like The Pros founder and creator Terry Carter is also the primary instructor. Carter is based out of San Diego, and he’s a songwriter, ukulele player, and guitarist. He’s worked with the likes of Josh Groban, Weezer, Duff McKagan, and others.

Carter has produced tracks for a variety of commercials and TV shows, has a long list of producer credits, has written ukulele and guitar instructional books, has appeared on TV, has taught at various universities and colleges, and more.

The Verdict

By reputation, Uke Like The Pros is one of the best online ukulele lesson resources available, and we agree. The website is simple, clear, and easy to navigate. There’s a roadmap for students to follow. There are courses serving every level of playing, and there are even baritone and guitalele courses (which can be harder to find elsewhere).

Prices are more than fair, especially when you consider that there are $20 course promotions, buy two get one free offers, and even low-cost memberships. Of course, courses can be purchased piecemeal if you prefer.

Additionally, the instructor is skilled, experienced, and more than qualified to teach. You can’t go wrong with Uke Like The Pros.

Ukulele Buddy

Ukulele Buddy was created by JP Allen, who’s been featured on Fox News, CNN, Austin Community College, and more.

The idea is this. Ukulele Buddy lessons were set up so you could have fun learning the instrument while impressing your friends with your newfound skills.

Fun is a major focus here. Allen wants you to have fun as you’re learning, because learning is easier when you’re having fun. The logic may not be airtight, but the sentiment is well understood.

Allen’s approach is to provide weekly seven-minute videos to supercharge your progress. Yes, I was surprised to learn this too, and many are. But Allen has plenty of glowing testimonials.

Price

Ukulele Buddy is quite affordable, at $67 with a full one-year money back guarantee.

How Much Training Is There?

Upon purchase, you will instantly be granted access to over 10 hours of video lessons. The training includes chords, rhythm, strumming patterns, reggae grooves, writing songs, tuning, muting, picking, and more, in a variety of styles – pop, Hawaiian, soul, classical, reggae, rock, folk, and the blues.

The course also includes four digital booklets and song eBooks.

Instructors

JP Allen has been performing and teaching for over 20 years. He toured with Grammy nominated Abra Moore and he taught at Austin Community College as well as the University of Texas.

That’s about all we were able to dig up about him, and do find it interesting that there is limited information on him, but maybe the mystery adds to the intrigue?

The Verdict

Ukulele Buddy promises to be something a little different. Instructor JP Allen’s approach is to keep it quick, fun, and easy. Rather than bogging you down in information, he introduces technique, theory, and concepts in a very digestible way that keeps you engaged.

ArtistWorks

ArtistWorks offers music lessons across a diverse range of instruments, including piano, guitar, banjo, strings, woodwinds, and much more. Of course, they offer online ukulele lessons as well.

The ArtistWorks ukulele program includes hundreds of ukulele lessons for all levels and playing styles, and videos that can be looped or played back in slow motion.

ArtistWorks also gives you the ability to submit your video to the instructors for review. The instructors will offer a video response with specific guidance to help you keep progressing on your instrument.

Price

ArtistWorks has three plans you can choose from, which are as follows:

• 3 Month Plan – $105
• 6 Month Plan – $179
• 12 Month Plan – $279

How Much Training Is There?

There are a total of 249 lessons available in the following categories:

• Beginner Ukulele – 66 lessons
• Intermediate Ukulele – 94 lessons
• Advanced Ukulele – 32 lessons
• Craig & Sarah Duets – 14 lessons
• 30 Day Challenges – 18 lessons
• Special Guests – 12 lessons
• Practical Music Theory for Ukulele – 13 lessons

ArtistWorks has recently added a Ukulele Certification Course as well, which comes with 12 weekly lessons at four skill levels, ear training, soling, sight reading, three quizzes, and video exchanges (which are required).

Instructors

ArtistWorks’ online ukulele lessons are hosted by Craig Chee and Sarah Maisel.

Craig Chee is a performer and instructor. He started out on the piano and cello, and eventually switched over to the ukulele to honor his roots. Craig has studied with the likes of Troy Fernandez and Jake Shimabukuro.

Sarah Maisel began violin lessons at an early age. She took a brief detour into theater during her college years, but found her way back to music in 2006, at which point she discovered the ukulele.

Craig and Sarah are married, and they tour the world as a duo, performing and teaching everywhere they go.

The Verdict

ArtistWorks has obviously made a valiant effort to create and provide students with loads of content, which includes warmup exercises, chord shapes, strumming exercises, picking techniques, songs, scales, 12 bar blues, duets, live streams, and more.

Overall, we find their curriculum robust, in-depth, and thorough.

The addition of a Ukulele Certification Course will appeal to many, especially in a world where everyone wants the time, they invest into themselves to count for something they can proudly display on a resume or website.

Those who are current or previous ArtistWorks customers will likely enjoy their online ukulele lesson offerings as well, as you have a good idea of what to expect already. Their platform is quite cost effective too.

While Craig and Sarah weren’t born yesterday, they certainly aren’t as experienced or accomplished as Uke Like The Pros’ Terry Carter (give it time). That’s not a value judgment, mind you, because every student’s needs are a little different, and you may resonate with certain teaching styles over others.

All in all, though, we find ArtistWorks’ online ukulele lessons more than fair for the price.

Ukulele Tricks

Ukulele Tricks is home to plenty of ukulele related content – free lessons, books, courses, songs, ukulele tuner, ukulele chord library, baritone ukulele chord library, a blog, ukulele buying guide, and more.

The aim of their courses is to teach you how to strum, fingerpick, play certain genres (like the blues, country bluegrass, and jazz), minor arpeggios, chord melodies, and songs.

We suspect it was inspired by Guitar Tricks.

Price

Some courses are currently open for enrollment, others are not. Depending on when you visit the website, you may or may not be able to take certain courses.

The prices shown below apply only to courses that are open to enrollment as of this writing.

Here is an overview of courses and prices:

• Strumming Tricks – $97
• Country Bluegrass Strummin’ – $47
• Jazzy Strummin’ – $47
• Minor Arpeggio Studies – $47
• Chord Melody Christmas Songs – $47

There are also two songbook offers available. They are:

• 20 Beginner-Friendly Christmas Songs – $19
• 20 Beginner-Friendly Christmas Songs Fingerpicked – $19

How Much Training Is There?

This will vary somewhat based on the course you’re taking.

Here we’ll offer an overview of each:

Strumming Tricks

Strumming Tricks will teach you how to change chords, figure out the right strumming pattern for any song, play songs, sing and play, strum faster while keeping time, percussive strumming, and the art of performance.

The Strumming Tricks course also includes four bonuses – Strumming Tricks Practice Plan Calendar, Strumming Tricks Workbook, online support from instructor Brett McQueen, and Country Bluegrass Strummin’ online video lesson course.

Country Bluegrass Strummin’

Country Bluegrass Strummin’ will teach you the “boom-chicka” strum, alternate picking patterns, “railroad tracks” rhythm with percussive mutes, muted rhythms and fast uptempo strums, and country bluegrass songs.

In addition to over 60 minutes of HD video lessons, you also get access to over 30 pages of lesson worksheets and a lesson discussion area.

Jazzy Strummin’

Jazzy Strummin’ aims to teach you the jazz muted strum, various barre chords across the fretboard (major, minor, diminished, and seventh), rhythmic fills with the triplet strum, rhythmic variety and jazzy chords, and jazz standards.

In addition to over 60 minutes of HD video lessons, you also get access to over 30 pages of lesson worksheets and a lesson discussion area.

Minor Arpeggio Studies

In Minor Arpeggio Studies, you’ll learn how to pick eighth note and triplet rhythm arpeggios, play chords across the fretboard, finger positioning, melodic arpeggio-based pieces, as well as expressive and emotive picking.

Besides the 60+ minutes of HD video lessons, you’re also given access to over 30 pages of lesson worksheets and the lesson discussion area.

Chord Melody Christmas Songs

In Chord Melody Christmas Songs, you’ll discover the process for learning challenging chord melody songs, how to pick and strum simultaneously, and receive tips and tricks on how to play chord melody Christmas songs.

The course gives you access to over 30 minutes of HD video lessons, over 30 pages of lesson worksheets and the lesson support area.

20 Beginner Friendly Christmas Songs Strummed

This songbook includes 20 song arrangements, 12+ suggested strumming patterns, 40 MP3 audio track performances, and a master chord diagram list.

20 Beginner Friendly Christmas Songs Fingerpicked

This songbook includes 20 song arrangements, 12+ suggested picking patterns, 40 MP3 audio track performances, and a ukulele tab reference guide.

Instructors

Brett McQueen is the founder of Ukulele Tricks and author of Ukulele Exercises For Dummies. McQueen started learning the uke at the tender age of six, studied music in university, and has been teaching ukulele since 2010, when Ukulele Tricks was established.

The Verdict

Ukulele Tricks is on to something. It’s a friendly brand with courses ukulele players are likely to be interested in. The courses are priced affordably, and some come with multiple bonuses. Some courses also come with lifetime access.

We do wonder whether it might make sense for them to add a membership or “buy all courses” option, though it looks like there might be some overlap in content.

Speaking of content, the “less is more” approach seems to be popular in this market. But in this case, we do feel the content offered by Ukulele Tricks to be a little thin. It’s still great quality, but it’s always nice to see a little extra guidance and support for the students who need it (e.g., optional lessons).

Further, although I know my way around a ukulele, and would know which course to pick, I think some beginners coming to the site for the first time would be confused looking at the courses offered. This problem is easily solved, either with the option to book a discovery call with McQueen, or with a simple note indicating which courses are beginner, intermediate, or advanced.

Learning Ukulele With Curt

Learning Ukulele with Curt is an expansive ukulele site featuring news and updates, ukulele history, gear, luthiers, festivals, clubs, chords, lessons, series, songs, books, workshops, glossary, free newsletter, and more.

In their own words, it’s one of the most comprehensive ukulele sites online.

Learning Ukulele with Curt doesn’t make any big promises as to what you’ll be able to achieve digging into their resources. In fact, the website is largely self-serve. It’s basically “Here are a bunch of links and resources, the rest is up to you.”

Price

While much of the content on Learning Ukulele with Curt is free to browse, they do have membership plans depending on your desired level of access (you can’t, for example, download any of the lesson PDFs without first being a member).

Here’s an overview of membership levels, cost, and what they make available:

• Bronze – Free. The Bronze plan gives you limited site access, and it includes a few hundred lessons, the ability to view all of Curt’s books, some songs, as well as Ukulele references and resource material.
• Premium – five-day free trial, $9 per month or $81 for an annual subscription. Premium membership gives you access to discounted Zoom workshops, all premium lesson downloads, all premium play along jam tracks, unlimited 24/7 access to all assets and resources, all books, and unlimited private email correspondence.
• Premium (Forever) – $199. Get everything in monthly or yearly Premium plans plus free Zoom masterclasses and workshops, prioritized email access, and sneak peek / previews of Curt’s new books.

Curt also offers personal one-on-one lessons at $60 per session.

How Much Training Is There?

Learning Ukulele With Curt has been around since 1992, and is therefore a huge site with resources too numerous to mention. We’ve done our best to offer an overview of how much training is available on this website, but the following list should not be considered comprehensive.

Here’s what you can expect to find at Learning Ukulele With Curt:

• 750 lessons
• 140 songs
• 90 books
• 20 workshops

Instructors

Curt Sheller established Learning Ukulele With Curt in 1992, and he is the primary instructor. Sheller is a jack of many trades, dipping his toes into music, graphic design, programming, and competitive racewalking. And when I say “dipping his toes” I really mean the man has dedicated himself to mastering these disciplines.

Guitar was Sheller’s primary instrument until 2003 when he began taking more interest in the ukulele. The ukulele quickly became his primary instrument in performance and in instruction.

The Verdict

Members of Learning Ukulele With Curt have literally said they’ve spent days on the site only to keep discovering something new. We have no doubt that’s the case because there are pages explaining even the slightest of references, never mind the hundreds of lessons.

The cost of membership couldn’t be more reasonable. Whether you sign up to be a Bronze or Premium member, there are options suitable to anyone interested in learning with Curt.

That said, we were initially scratching our head at the pricing scheme, and we assume there are plenty of visitors who’ve felt the same way. Listing each plan in order of price would make a big difference.

Curt’s experience is not in question, and he is clearly an experienced, knowledgeable, and skilled teacher. His position that ukulele isn’t all fun and games and that it requires time, dedication, and effort is well gotten. That said, he is actively naming and criticizing competitors, which is a little risky.

We can see where he’s coming from, because in marketing it is common practice to establish the “enemy,” but naming them is a whole other matter.

This does not speak to the content itself, however, and that is something Curt is not in short supply of.

Ukulele Underground

Ukulele Underground promises to be the ultimate resource on all things ukulele. They offer live one on one coaching and private lessons, an expansive course library, and weekly live streams to fill the cracks. They also have a sizable song library, which is free to access.

Price

Ukulele Underground has three pricing plans, including:

• 30-Day Access – $30. Gives you access to all Ukulele Underground+ content and expires after 30 days.
• Monthly Subscription – 14-day free trial, $19.99 per month. Includes two 15-minute private lessons per month, weekly live coaching, access to all Ukulele Underground+ content, weekly Q&A video, Ukulele Improvement Systems, Ukulele Underground University courses, sorted song library, and members forum.
• Year Access – $159.95 annually. Access to everything included in the Monthly Subscription.

How Much Training Is There?

In total, there’s over 500 hours of content, 200 tutorials, weekly live coaching sessions, discounts, and downloadable resources.

Courses are divided into three playing levels – beginner, intermediate, and advanced.

Instructors

Ukulele Underground was established in 2007 by co-owners Aldrine, Ryan, and Adam.

Aldrine refers to Aldrine Guerrero, head instructor of Ukulele Underground. He moved to Hawaii from the Philippines at seven and began performing in middle school. He would soon go onto perform across the world.

Aldrine has three EPs and four albums to his name, and he’s been featured on the radio, TV, and the movies too. He’s also a very familiar face on YouTube, especially in the ukulele community.

Inside the membership, you will also find lessons from the likes of Jason Arimoto, Bruce Shimabukuro, Craig Chee, Kalei Gamiao, Chris Salvador, Imua Garza, and others.

The Verdict

Ukulele Underground has some of the most polished ukulele videos on YouTube. Aldrine Guerrero’s skill to interpret any popular song on the uke is not in question, and his rhythmic and lead playing alike are masterful.

The site also offers plenty of training, covering strumming and switching chords, blues ukulele, singing and playing, fingerpicking basics, soloing and flatpicking techniques, genre breaking techniques, music theory, soloing techniques, and more.

The cost of entry is either competitive or on par with other sites, and with the amount of support available, you can’t go wrong here.

All in all, Ukulele Underground is a very polished offer. If there’s any downside, it’s that the site focuses more heavily on beginner and intermediate content over advanced content. The content is also quite detailed, and some students may find this a little overwhelming.

What Should I Look For In Online Ukulele Lessons?

You’ve looked at the best of the best, and you’ve explored all available options from a variety of angles. But maybe you’re not sure which online ukulele lessons to go with yet. Hey, no problem – we all struggle with making buying decisions every now and again.

The right solution for you won’t necessarily be the right one for another. But there are a few criteria worth exploring if you’re still not sure. They are as follows:

• Content matched to your needs
• Reviews and testimonials
• Qualified instructors
• Budget

We explore these in more depth below.

Content Matched To Your Needs

Whether you’re a beginner, intermediate, or advanced player, you’re obviously looking to become a better ukulele player. Otherwise, you would not be interested in taking online ukulele lessons.

Before purchasing any course or subscribing to any membership, it would be wise to look at what they offer in terms of content. Do they have content for beginner, intermediate, and advanced players? Do they cover songs you don’t already know? Will they teach you techniques and theory you haven’t picked up yet?

While this mostly falls under the category of “obvious,” if you end up purchasing a course filled with material you already know, you will feel cheated. Conversely, if you’re a complete beginner and end up buying a course that’s too hard for you right now, you’re bound to be frustrated.

So, identify what it is you’re working on right now. Are you starting from scratch? Do you want to learn how to fingerpick? Is it time to learn the ins and outs of soloing?

Pick content that’s matched to your needs. This will ensure that you’re satisfied with your purchase and that you get the most out of it.

Reviews & Testimonials

Reviews and testimonials aren’t everything. As noted earlier, people tend to resonate with different teachers and different teaching styles. So, what works for you isn’t guaranteed to work for another.

That said, it certainly can’t hurt to read what other customers are saying. Did they have a good experience? Bad experience? What was their reasoning?

Some people leave negative reviews to troll or take down a brand. Then again, many businesses are guilty of gathering positive reviews from people who’ve never purchased anything from them. That’s another reason reviews and testimonials aren’t always reliable.

That said, they can still help you make your purchase decision and are therefore worth scanning.

Qualified Instructors

Do the teachers really know what they’re talking about? For the most part, we don’t think there are any “posers” out there, especially not the instructors and services mentioned above. But it’s always nice to know that your instructors have real-world experience to bring to the table and that they know their stuff.

While some instructors have a relatively sparse online presence, some people do like privacy more than others, so we don’t automatically assume they have something to hide.

Also, one doesn’t necessarily need all the credentials and qualifications in the world to be a great teacher. There are times when people are truly skilled at teaching and can be very helpful even if they aren’t the best players themselves.

All things being equal, though, it’s always a good idea to find a teacher who can play.

Budget

What are you prepared to spend on online ukulele lessons?

We do think it’s a good idea to go with premium lessons rather than hunting for free lessons on blogs and YouTube, because there can be a lot of conflicting and incorrect information. That said, we also recommend consulting your budget for any purchase you’re thinking about making.

Some sites offer memberships, which are usually more than reasonable. This is good for people with a relatively predictable lifestyle and income, as it makes it easier to keep up with payments.

Some sites give you lifetime access to their courses for a one-time fee. This can be a great solution for those whose income isn’t quite as steady, but have a good sense of when they can afford to spend a little more.

At the end of the day, though, there is no one size fits all. It’s a matter of what works for you!

One thing to avoid, no matter what, is going into debt to make the purchase. Don’t end up crying over your credit card bills at the kitchen table when you could be enjoying the process of learning the ukulele.

Top Online Ukulele Lessons, Verdict

There are several quality options to choose from when it comes to online ukulele lessons. If in doubt, we recommend Uke Like The Pros, but the other sites and instructors mentioned here have plenty to offer too. Depending on what you’re looking for in terms of content, price point, and teaching style, others may prove very viable options.

Learning an instrument is a personal journey, and everybody goes about it differently. What matters most is your love of your instrument and staying true to who you are. If those two things are in place, there truly are no mistakes, only learning experiences.

We wish you all the best on your ukulele learning adventure.