A couple of questions about the ukulele and guitar?

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I don't think it's ever necessary to learn one instrument as a prerequisite to another. That being said, it wouldn't hurt to learn ukulele first.

Teaching yourself an instrument is not always the easiest thing to do. It's very possible, though, I did it and so did a whole ton of other people.

I'd advise the second uke. I bought the first one for 25 Canadian dollars a few years ago, it was a pile of junk, although it wasn't unplayable. For a beginner's guitar, I usually recommend paying $200-300 USD, whatever that translates to. Brand is something I don't usually say, because the competition in the beginner's guitar market is strong enough to insure you don't get ripped off. Price and quality usually match up fairly well.

To compare ukulele to guitar, it's like a guitar but missing the bottom two strings, and obviously shorter and in a higher tuning. Often a ukulele will be tuned DGBE (though it's common to use a couple other ones), compared to a guitar's EADGBE, so it's like the top four strings, only the D is an octave higher (which I'm convinced is only like that for the purposes of confusion). In other words, what you learn on ukulele will transfer over to guitar, except for the two added strings....Show more

Ukulele is a fairly easy instrument to learn, but it's a mistake to look at it as an easy way to work up to guitar. Decide which instrument motivates you (guitar, uke, or piano) and then dedicate yourself to that. For what it's worth, once you've learned guitar, you'll be able to pick up a uke and start playing almost immediately. Sore fingers is a common complaint for beginners.....especially if you're using a cheap guitar or if it's out of adjustment. If you decide to pursue guitar, have yours checked out at a guitar shop. It won't cost you anything to get an estimate. Then you can decide whether to use the old guitar or buy a better one. The ukulele is potentially easier on your fingers because of the low tension nylon strings. It's not as versatile or complicated instrument as guitar, but fun to learn because it's easy. It's more difficult going from uke to guitar than the other way around. Piano is always a good instrument to be familiar with. All the notes are lined up in a row with the flats and sharps differentiated from the whole notes. It's a logical, visual linear representation of western music which will help you visualize music theory when you apply it to other instruments....Show more

I would advise guitar...but only because I'm biased. I think you'll find it more versatile WRT the kinds of music/style you can play...possibilities are endless. Once you learn the basics of guitar you'll find the uke fairly easy I would imagine, so why not do both. I taught myself guitar, although I do wish I had taken some theory lessons to learn the scales/note progressions etc. The one essential is a chord dictionary - pick one up....Show more

i belive guitar is easier, there are alot more lessons on you tube and not so much for ukelele(did i spell that right..i dont think so) well anyways, ya guitar is to me easier, the ukelele, has another kind of har to it, but dont get me wrong both are somewat hard at the begging but like any intrument youll get better, ive played guitar for 3 years, and now i can pick up ukelele and somewat play, but if i started on ukelele then if i ever saw a guitar well i wouldnt know how to play...does this make sense, sorry for my speeling errors and well this mess of an explanation...Show more