The Ukulele Masterclass By Jake Shimabukuro Review
Pros
- The quality of videos is very high
- The user interface is easy to work and you can watch the courses from virtually anywhere
- The classes are affordable and taught by world-class teachers
- Invaluable advice and teaching that you wouldn't get anywhere else
- Provides Mock negotiation exercise - 60 seconds
- Your classes available on smart TV's, phones, laptops, and tablets.
- Teaches The role of speech patterns & body language
Wondering how suddenly people around you are talking about Ukulele? Some of your friends are also starting to play this instrument? Or maybe you are experiencing a sudden vibe to play it?
Well, this is not witch-craft. This is the talent and popularity of Jake Shimabukuro playing out. His level of influence and his skills combined with the explosive popularity of MasterClass is what makes Ukulele a talking point today.
Jake Shimabukuro holds up a special recognition in the world for his talent. And this course perfectly shows how Jake will make you learn and feel inspired about using Ukulele.
No wonder why everyone you know and wherever you go discuss Ukulele.
Feeling excited about using one yourself too? Well, Jake Shimabukuro is here starting his course on MasterClass.
So, here's my review of Ukulele with Jake Shimabukuro on MasterClass.
However, before diving deep into the review, I'll talk about what is a Ukulele and what is MasterClass.
So let us start our review then.But before that, let us know a bit more about the MasterClass.
What Exactly Is MasterClass?The Masterclass is a contemporary education platform with state-of-art teaching and exploding popularity. The Masterclass is the brainchild of Aaron Rasmussen and David Rogier. It kick-started in the year 2015 and has to date delivered numerous incredible courses to one million-plus students.
I found Masterclass incredible because of two excellent reasons.
To start with the caliber of instructors on-board with Masterclass.com is implausible. They bring in the most people in a particular field across the globe to teach a particular course. For example, they have 3 times Michelin Star Chef Gordon Ramsay to teach cooking, Neil Gaiman to teach the art of writing, Helen Mirren to teach acting. So all in all the instructors are legends of their respective fields, making them the best choice of teaching. The MasterClass thus becomes very detailed and engaging as it is taken up by people who are experts in their particular field. These classes are crafted in such a way that your online learning experiences become engaging with relevant assignments and workbooks along with the videos which are pre-recorded.
The second fantastic thing about the masterclass.com is the out of the world quality of video production, which are visually aesthetic. The average length of a video tutorial is around three to twenty minutes, and you can rewatch it anytime you want.
Overall it is safe to say that it is a fantastic fusion of entertainment and education.
So just like any over the television streaming services like Netflix, you can just binge-watch MasterClass. But unlike Netflix, you will not just be sitting on a couch with a bunch of snacks and numbing your head hours into a series instead learn some amazing skills along with it.
Thanks to the global pandemic of the novel Coronavirus, most of us are going to be locked down at home. In my opinion, you can make the best out of this available time period by taking up a masterclass of the skill you like or wish to learn.
So once you buy the yearly all-access pass of $180, you get to attend masterclasses of more than 80 well-known instructors in different domains like Design, Culinary Arts, TV and FIlm, Photography, Sports, Fashion, Technology and Science and a lot more. You can take up a class of your choice anytime you wish to, and you can continue to access it until you cancel your subscription.
You can watch these lessons pretty quickly on the MasterClass mobile app or laptop, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, and also on Roku devices.
About Jake Shimabukuro
What is a Ukulele?
Ukulele is often misunderstood or misinterpreted for some other instruments such as guitar or banjo. However, it is an entirely different instrument even though it is based on the same chord design.
The origins of Ukulele is said to be of the 19th century. Historians believe that Ukulele is a Hawaiian modification of a Portuguese instrument that looked like a machete. It was a small-guitar lookalike instrument, and it was shown to the Hawaiian people by the Portuguese immigrants. It slowly gained popularity along the Hawaiian coast and gradually throughout the world.
Ukulele Construction
The Ukulele is made of wood. However, some variants are there which are made from plastic or other such materials. The cheaper variants of Ukulele are generally constructed from plywood or cardboard. The expensive ones are being built by quality woods such as mahogany.
Traditionally Ukuleles were made from a uniquely Hawaiian wood named Koa.
Ukulele is made in a figure-eight shape resembling that of a small guitar. However, Most of the Ukuleles come in irregular shapes such as an oval or a cutaway shape.
This shape is generally paired with four strings. However, these can be paired in courses too, which can make the Ukulele of up to eight strings. These strings were made of catgut in the past. However, they are made of nylon polymers now. You can also choose the string material for various different variations in pitches.
Types of Ukuleles
There are various different variants of Ukulele. The most known and used types include Soprano, Baritone, and Tenor. Among these, Soprano is considered as the standard type of Ukulele.
The Soprano is just the next one in size to the smallest size. It is considered as the original size of the Ukulele. Concert variation came in around the late 1920s and was developed as a better version of the existing Soprano. Afterward, every variant brought in a variation over the previous type such as a deeper base or higher-pitched tone.
There are more than ten variants of the Ukulele. Each variant is chosen according to their requirement in the song.
Ukulele is a very lovely sounding instrument and has been used in various music masterpieces.
The Course Ukulele Masterclass
Now that we have understood what MasterClass is and what Ukulele is,we will now look at what is this course, the course contents, and my course review. The course is divided into a total of six sections. Each section has one or more than one video. Each section will take you at most an hour to complete. However, how much practice you do is totally up to you.
I will be explaining each section one-by-one. At the end of this, I would explain what I liked as well as what I disliked about this course. I will end the article with a short conclusion which will comprise my opinion about the course and whether you should take it or not.
Section 1: Introduction to the TrainerThe course starts with a brief video about our trainer Jake Shimabukuro. The video length is around 4 minutes, and here Jake explains how he will teach you and what his objectives are along with an introduction of himself.
So who is Jake Shimabukuro, and why is he famous for?Well for beginners, he is one of the persons who actually made Ukulele famous in this world of Pop music. Around fifteen years ago, Ukulele was just a folk instrument, and no one played it like today. There were no uke societies where people gather and play Ukulele and all. This was the time where Jake started to emerge. On the video-sharing platform YouTube, Jake shared his amazing Ukulele cover of the famous song "While My Guitar Weeps" by the legendary Beatles. This video was enough to show the power of the Ukulele to the world.
Since then, there was no going back for the Ukulele star Jake. He made various covers of famous songs using Ukulele as the primary instrument.
He has taken Ukulele to masses. Still, he would never take this credit. From him, the original Hawaiian people who played Ukulele and made Ukulele famous worldwide are the ones who are worthy of the recognition.
Currently, Shimabukuro is working on Trio, an album consisting of various fusion elements. Some names associated with the album are the likes of Nolan Verner on piano, Dave Preston on guitar, and Preston's wife Rachel on the vocals. They also planned to go on a tour for this album, which was however postponed due to this quarantine period.
The trio has been a wild ride for Jake. The band has recorded some very different and never thought-of songs and covered various others such as Floyd's "Wish you Were Here".
James Shimabukuro is a reasonably new name at the MasterClass roster. However, he is not any rookie when it comes to teaching. In this course, he will share his complete experience with Ukulele and what he faced to revive the Ukulele again. It was not even him for which I joined MasterClass. I joined the course for some of the big names like Gordon Ramsey, whom I consider my idol in cooking. It was just a fine day when I slipped into this course, and I absolutely loved his teaching style and his attitude.
A couple of months later, I was there to buy a Ukulele and try this course with all my will.
That is the power and teaching expertise of Jake Shimabukuro.
Section 2: The Ukulele basicsThis section is a place where Jake will tell you all the essential details and must-know things about your Ukulele.
- How to pronounce the Ukulele name?
- The basic types of Ukulele.
- How to hold the instrument
- The fretboard theory
- Learning about thee chords
The basics are dropped here. This part goes a bit deeper and will tell you the advanced things related to Ukulele. These things include the advanced and more complex chords, the melodic and rhythmic transitions. Moreover, it also consists of a part where you will get to know about how to create your own sound and melody.
This part is a bit advanced, and it is the section that can make you ready to play the Ukulele in front of a broader audience. This includes advanced strumming techniques, learning harmonics, and much more.
Section 5:The stage and your trainer
Here is the part where you would see your trainer Jake jamming to the classics such as "Bohemian Rhapsody" and leave you overwhelmed.
Section 6:Jake still has some tricks left to him.
This is the part where Jake will create an original song in front of you. The best part, he shares how to do this wonder.
Who Is The Ukulele Masterclass For?
This MasterClass can work wonders for anyone who wishes to learn playing the Ukulele. The Instructor Jake does an incredible and wondrous job in teaching everything may it be the most basic skills to the skills which are pretty advanced. Like for example, creating distinct sounds or creating dynamics into your own playing style. So in my opinion, if you have fingers to spare and know how to count, you can quickly learn to play the Ukulele. The people who already have experience in playing Ukulele Jake emphasizes his viewer to put in time in playing the basic melodies with emotions and beauty like each and every note matters the most in the song.
The fundamental theme of Jake Shimabukuro 's MasterClass is to primarily have fun and Okage Sama De (meaning, I am what I am because of you). Here Jake tells you how interacting with others and sharing your experiences with others will make you grow both as an artist and as a person. . He also believes that one should play their instruments with love and emotion and should maintain the habit of persistent practice.
The Jake Shimabukuro's Masterclass Workbook
This MasterClass workbook will work as a guide for you in order to practice all the vital and crucial chords that you will come across in video classes. The best part about these workbooks is that they are really very organized and have a lot of simples to follow descriptions and diagrams included in it, which can help you a lot with your assignments. I also came across a unique and incredible introduction to each and every part of the Ukulele and the history of this instrument.
The Key Takeaways From The Ukulele MasterClass.
The MasterClass crafted and designed by Jake is astounding and victoriously connected all the fundamental and essential techniques like learning cords, strumming along with the significance of creating an attachment with the instrument so that you can really bring the emotion out each time you play. The MasterClass covers the fundamentals in a manner that is easy and straightforward to follow even if you are someone with no prior knowledge about music.
Simultaneously I felt that the class was very well led the way of its viewers into much more advanced level chords, the understanding of melody, dynamics, and rhythm in playing the Ukulele. The other thing that amazed me is how the change in the order of pitches can make you feel as if it is altogether an entirely different chord.
Thus the viewers not only get an incredibly guided instruction on the practical aspects of playing the Ukulele but Jake has also incorporated great music styles like the outstanding performance of "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Hallelujah". You will again come across how you can create an extensive variety of sounds by just bringing about a change in rhythm and dynamics of every chord even if the instrument just has four strings.
At last, I also found that the class also focuses on how you can begin to let all your creative instincts come together in order to compose songs of your own and along with every lesson you will also learn how you can re-imagine the songs on the basis of your style of playing.
FAQs
👉What if I don't like the MasterClass?
Well, MasterClass provides you with a refund period of around 30 days in which you can easily claim your money back if you are not satisfied with the course.
👉Isn't MasterClass and this course a bit pricier than the others on Coursera, Udemy etc?
The masterClass is a bit pricier, no doubt. However, you will see the top list artists themselves make an excellent video quality and the videos. So it is worth the extra.
👉 Why should I choose Jake over any other Ukulele trainer?
Jake is the person who brought the Ukulele buzz back to society. So who better will it be then the trendsetter himself for you? He definitely is the best trainer for Ukulele you can find anywhere in the world.
Testimonials Ukulele Masterclass By Jake Shimabukuro
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My Final Thoughts: The Ukulele Masterclass By Jake Shimabukuro Review 2020
The Masterclass was breathtakingly astonishing from the very start of it. The class created by Jake is very much detailed and also inspiring at the same time. All in all, it is a bliss for anyone interested in taking up this stupendous instrument.
So if you are someone who wants to learn how to play Ukulele or trying to unlock the fullest potential of Ukulele then this class is meant for you.
