I have a 4 year old little boy, that loves my basses and loves to play with them. As you might imagine, they swallow him whole, so there isn't much hope for really teaching him anything, hands on, anytime soon. It occurred to me, (ignoring the obvious differences in tuning and other fundamental differences), to the casual observer, a uke, is just a tiny 4 string bass. Is it something any of you have contemplated, or experimented with, the idea of getting a little one started learning bass, on a ukulele? It seems, in terms of getting his hands on something he can physically handle and becoming familiar with the basic posture, hand movements, etc. to be a no brainer. That said, I'm nobody's "musician", i'm a novice to the core, who learns by tabs and determination. Which is to say, I'm fully aware of how absolutely absurd the idea may be. So by all means, give it to me straight, doc... Any thoughts? First post, btw. So, hi all I'm Jerry, in Houston. Thanks!
Firstly, welcome! As Bassweazl says there are ukelele basses out there. Kala's are probably the best, but pricey. I'd say go for it ... even with an ordinary uke. At the least, it'd get his fingers ready for a 'real' instrument.
i´d want one too for noodling around on the couch, but the kala´s are too expensive for that. does anyone know if there are cheaper ones worth trying?
A regular Ukulele has a totally different feel and approach that a bass uke. Not to mention sound. A Rondo Hadean bass Uke is perfect. And it won't break the bank.Rondo Music Banjos and Ukuleles
At four? If your kids are anything like mine, four is so young that getting ANY instrument into their little paws is great. I wouldn’t get hung up on the number of strings, nor the type of instrument. If they’re willing to play it, go with it.
most kids don't develope any musical inclinations until age 10 or 12. Until then, just keep instruments around the house. Remember kids that young have virtually NO attention span.
+1 on the Hadean Bass uke. Nicely made, good sounding (if you like the sound of a bass uke), and very affordable compared to some of the alternatives. Depending on his size, there’s always the 25” micro basses such as the Ibanez Mikro to consider.
i started on piano at age 6 ... ( but that was eons ago ) i know for piano ... a whole new world of music opens up as soon as your fingers can reach an octave .. ! before piano , i was noodling around with a melodica for a year-ish ... great for little fingers ..! the small bass ukes would be cool ... and it's also something you could use .. !
If you don't want to spend that much on an instrument that might end up getting smashed: Hadean Bass Uke UKB-22 Fretless - RondoMusic.com Rondo has the Hadean line of ukulele basses.
It's like the "real world". People keep talking about it and so far it seems I haven't gotten there. I think that ukuleles and the world I'm living in must be imaginary. Oh well, these ukes and this world work for me so I'll just keep waiting for the real thing. On topic, a uke should work as a first instrument but I'd say if you really want to give him a good start, go with piano lessons either now or in a year or so like @DavC mentioned.
I agree. If he's into hitting, plucking, etc. any kind of thing that he feels is making music, then let em at it! I bought my son a Bronco bass when he was about 8. Even that was way too big for him, but he had some fun with it. It was actually quite awesome--he'd lay it flat on the floor and we'd run it through all kinds of stomps--multiple delays, fuzz, you-name-it-- and he was doing abstract drone noise music at 8! He's not toying with it much now (he's 12), he still grabs it from time to time. It sits right by the piano and he's more into that these days, but the bass did get him started.
by the time Esperanza Spalding was five years old she'd taught HERSELF to play the violin and was performing with The Chamber Music Society of Oregon. She's now on track to become the worlds greatest living bassist...so, I'd say four is OK and Uke is OK.
Every kid should have a uke to play around with. Its a great introduction to stringed instruments. Cheap digital keyboard/synths are good too. Both are inexpensive so you're not out much of the kid loses interest or breaks it.