Best ukuleles for beginners 2024: Get started on the uke with our pick of tropical beauties

So, you see your future as a ukulele-toting musical maestro? Well, good on you, you couldn't have chosen a more entertaining instrument to learn to play. The best beginner ukuleles offer four short strings of pure, unadulterated fun. An instrument for bringing out the eternal optimist in even the most cynical of us, one quick strum will transport you to a land of joy and happiness. A sunny, tropical haven where life's a beach but nobody's ever going to kick the sand in your face.

On a less whimsical note, ukuleles are both practical and easy to master too. Their small size makes them easy to tuck away in a tiny apartment, and they're brilliant for taking on camping trips or to the beach. Just shove them in your backpack, or the back of your car and away you go.

Learning to play is like studying the guitar, but much more straightforward because you have a third fewer strings to worry about. Chord shapes are easier, and scales are a doddle. Frets are closer together too, so there are no pain-inducing stretches to make. If you already play the guitar then you're well on your way to uke utopia. 

Yes, they have a very distinctive sound, but they're more versatile than you may think. After decades of being overlooked as a serious instrument, the uke suddenly sprang back into fashion in the late 1990s. You couldn't switch on the telly without hearing chirpy, overblown ukulele music accompanying adverts for everything from cars to toilet paper. 

Happily, things settled down and, rather than dying of overexposure, the ukulele reinvented itself by adding subtle texture and interest to songs by the likes of Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Grace VanderWaal. Eilish and VanderWaal even have their own Fender signature models with VanderWaal becoming the youngest Fender signature artist in history. 

Today, you can find it appearing in almost every genre from jazz to dance to chart belters. It's never been more popular, and there's never been a better time to pick one up and start learning.

The quick list

Best overall

Kala is a big name in the ukulele game, with a vast range that covers every base from beginner to expert player. It's certainly a brand you can trust to deliver instruments built to a good standard, even at the lower price points.

Its KA C RW Mahogany Concert hits the sweet spot, both in terms of pricing and sound. You get a mahogany body and neck, rosewood fingerboard and Graph Tech nut, all for around the $/£100 mark. As you'd expect from the construction, it sounds very clear and direct with good projection.

It looks rather smart too, with its satin finish and classic cream binding. This is a ukulele that successfully demonstrates why it's worth spending that little bit more than entry-level prices.

Best for live

Cordoba's mission has always been to make nylon string acoustic guitars cool again. It may appear to be an old company, steeped in heritage, but it was only founded in 1997. Since then, it's been successfully luring steel string players – both acoustic and electric – to its superbly built nylon strung guitars. 

The point being? Well, this is a company that knows about craftsmanship, it knows how to build lightly constructed instruments that resonate beautifully. And, it has its finger on the pulse.

Ukulele construction is very, very similar to classical guitar construction. So, who are you going to trust to build yours? A company that usually screws together weighty electrics and now markets cheap ukes as a side-line, or the luthiers at Cordoba?

The 20TM-CE is more expensive than some other ukuleles in this buyer's guide but then it is completely handmade with a solid mahogany top, back and sides. It has a built-in undersaddle Piezo pickup and Belcat electronics, ready for when you're ready for your first stage performance. 

It's also a thing of beauty.

Best for kids

If your little one keeps getting precariously close to your guitar and has expressed an interest in playing an instrument, the ukulele is a great route to go down. With a low barrier of entry, the Mahalo MR1 is an ideal option for testing the water with any young, budding musician. Costing around $/£30 the MR1 has a ludicrously small price tag, meaning if they don’t quite take to it, your bank account won’t be wounded beyond repair. 

However, don’t be fooled, the MR1 is no mere toy. Where other affordable ukes stumble, the MR1’s tuning pegs are capable of holding the tuning steady, hurrah! The MR1 is also available in a cornucopia of fantastic finishes and the handy travel bag makes traveling to lessons with it a breeze. 

Mahalo has also strung the MR1 with Aqua Nylgut strings, a sign of their earnest commitment to providing young beginners with an instrument capable of learning on. Although the committed beginner will likely outgrow the MR1 rather quickly, it is a great option for those wanting to find their feet.  

Best Fender

Fender makes all manner of ukuleles and is possibly best known for its models that mimic the looks of its classic Strat, Jazzmaster and Tele guitars. Call us boring if you like, but they seem a little ostentatious to us (but great fun!). We prefer the traditional look of the Zuma, with its classy sapele body and abalone rosette.

It can do humor too, just take a look at the Tele style headstock complete with inline tuners, or the tongue-in-cheek versions in vintage Fender colors Lake Placid Blue and Burgundy Mist.

Looks aside, the Zuma is a strongly built, well specified ukulele with a rich tone that balances both warmth and clarity in a very pleasing way. Its excellent sound and concert size lends this uke to fingerstyle, as well as hearty strumming.

We can see this little uke being casually strummed on its namesake Zuma beach in Malibu or played with more proficiency in the studio. A versatile beginner ukulele for sure.

Best premium

OK, we admit it. Perhaps we're taking the 'buy well, buy once' ideology to extremes here but bear with us.

Why should beginners be cursed with cheap, awful, unplayable 'starter' instruments? Who propagates cynical nonsense such as 'all the gear, no idea'? We should all be free to buy whatever we can afford, without the fear of jealousy-fuelled judgement. 

Of course, affordability is an issue for almost all of us, which is why we've included eight very good instruments at a broad range of price points in this buyer's guide. But we shouldn't ignore the top end. 

Not all beginners are cash-strapped youngsters. It's common for those facing retirement to take up an instrument because they finally have the time. Sometimes, they have the disposable income too. So, this choice is for them.

The Martin Concert Uke FSC is a premium instrument for those who value craftsmanship and the environment. Every piece of mahogany used in its construction is sustainably sourced, as it should be.

There's very little decoration on show, it's rather a plain looking instrument, but the investment has been made in quality tonewoods and build, not bling.

This is a beautiful, understated uke that sends out all the right messages. Maybe it really is the only ukulele you will ever need – what could be more sustainable than that?

Best vintage

This is a fantastic little uke for throwing in the back of your car and just speeding off, seeing where life will take you. What is it about Gretsch? It seems to ooze more vintage cool, more authentic heritage, than almost any other brand out there. And this little uke has been soaked in a good dollop of the stuff.

Its authentic good looks are matched by an equally authentic tone. Mahogany is a great choice here. Soprano ukuleles can sound weak, subdued and top-end heavy, but the mahogany just punches through with its powerful, focused midrange and lack of harsh, ringing overtones. 

Not one for chunky fingers, but nevertheless a powerful little beast that will look and sound the part in any folk, country or bluegrass setting. Hang that, we'd take it anywhere…

Best budget

Back in the day, Epiphone used to make world-class guitars that were right up there with the very best. More recently, (well, over the past 60 years, since it was bought by Gibson) it's earned a reputation for building world-class inexpensive guitars that are, in the main, every bit as good as its pricey rivals pretend to be. 

Epiphone is the guitar brand of the people. Inexpensive instruments that are built like a Lexus, look like a Jaguar and play as fast and smooth as a Tesla. 

The EpiLani shares all of these values. This is an unashamedly budget instrument from Epiphone, designed from the ground up to be thrust into the hands of beginners. It even ships with a handy chord chart.

For the money, it's one of the best beginner ukuleles around. It's all-mahogany tone punches well above its weight, fretwork is tidy, intonation is good, and it's neatly put together. 

There's an awful lot of rubbish out there at this price point, but if you're on a tight budget then this is a good choice.

Best acoustic/electric

Ortega takes its fun seriously. A lot of thought has gone into the cute RU5CE, and it shows. Many of the beginner ukuleles in this buyer's guide are all mahogany, which is a good choice, but it's refreshing to see the classic combination of a bright spruce top matched with the warm sapele back and sides.

Little touches, like the sealed machine heads, built-in tuner and the lightly applied finish that lets the natural wood grain through, demonstrate that somebody at Ortega cares.

The fretwork on our RU5CE is excellent, with even, carefully filed frets and no discernible buzzing. The walnut fretboard is smooth and fast.

The icing on the cake, at this price point, is the inclusion of an undersaddle Piezo pickup and accompanying MagusUke electronics. 

Unfortunately, the laser etched Butterfly and Grass artwork on the bridge will prove a bit 'Marmite' to many. You'll either love it or hate it.

Best for guitarists

The Yamaha Guitalele is a uke for the guitar player who doesn't like ukes. Or, more accurately it’s a mini-guitar, six strings 'n all, with a ukulele-sized footprint. If it sounds like we're being a bit negative about the Guitalele, we're not, it's actually very good.

There is however, no getting away from the fact that it's not really a ukulele. But that's OK. If you're a guitar player who craves a strong hint of that uke sound but doesn't want to have to learn a new instrument to get it, then the Guitalele is perfect for you. If you prefer the versatility that two extra strings bring, then the Guitalele scores again.

There's nothing to dislike about the Guitalele. It benefits from Yamaha's legendary build quality, its comparatively large size means that it sounds full, large and loud, and it's nicely specced with a spruce top, meranti (similar to mahogany) body and rosewood fingerboard. It can handle any repertoire a ukulele can, plus everything in your guitar songbook. 

What's not to like? It's not really a ukulele…

Buying advice

Beginner ukulele wood and string choices 

Visit any online guitar forum and you'll find exhaustive (and often exhausting) discussions about the qualities of various tonewoods, and how they influence an instrument's sound. Is it the same in ukedom? Yes, absolutely, but at the 'value' end of the market brands will be choosing wood based on cost, not tone. 

Another lively debate will concern solid wood vs laminates, with the latter being the underdog. Solid wood, for tops, backs and sides, is nice to have but laminates can still sound fantastic, and save you a wad of cash.

Spruce
Spruce, a light-colored pine, is commonly specified for acoustic guitar and ukulele tops because of its bright yet full sound. It's the inoffensive do-it-all timber that reacts just as well to fingerpicking as it does strumming. Stiff and light, it yellows to a gorgeous, pale butterscotch shade with age.

Maple and cedar
Maple can be used for tops, backs, sides, necks – pretty much the whole instrument. It's much harder than spruce and has a clean, sparkly, transparent tone that can be strident but never harsh. Dense and heavy, it can be beautifully figured, but also yellows with age. Cedar has similar qualities to spruce but it's much darker in color and warmer in tone. Just like spruce, it's only used for tops.

Mahogany
Mahogany is a favorite of ukulele luthiers. Dense and dark reddish in color, 'hog' has an abundance of warmth and an emphasized midrange. Its 'woody' tone packs a powerful punch, and it will sustain seemingly forever. Mahogany is commonly used for tops, backs, sides and necks. Sapele, which is closely related to mahogany, looks and sounds similar.

Rosewood
Rosewood is perhaps the most commonly sought-after wood for the back and sides of a ukulele. A good piece of rosewood looks simply gorgeous. Rich, dark and embellished with swirling, rippling figuring, it takes gloss finishes particularly well. Fortunately, for us players, it sounds every bit as good as it looks right across the frequency range – a warm bottom end is balanced beautifully by transparent, zingy highs.

Koa
Koa is perhaps the ultimate wood for a ukulele, not least because it hails from Hawaii. It looks stunning, with a rich caramel color and complex figuring. It sounds pretty good too, but can be a touch bright at first, so you may have to wait a few years for it to mellow. Koa is typically used on the backs and sides.

Unfortunately, koa is desperately expensive, usually well beyond the budget of beginners and expert players alike. Still, it's good to dream.

String choice
Ukulele strings are almost always nylon. Ukes tend to be lightly built, with no truss rod, so the tension of steel strings would pull one apart in no time. Frankly, steel strings would be too bright for an instrument that's already a bit treble-heavy anyway.

There's nothing to stop you from using a pick on nylon strings though. Try experimenting with felt or leather picks made specifically for ukes.

How we choose products

Here at Guitar World, we are experts in our field, with many years of playing, creating and product testing between us. We live and breathe everything guitar gear related, and we draw on this knowledge and experience of using products in live, recording and rehearsal scenarios when selecting the products for our guides.

When choosing what we believe to be the best beginner ukuleles available right now, we combine our hands-on experience, user reviews and testimonies and engage in lengthy discussions with our editorial colleagues to reach a consensus about the top products in any given category.

First and foremost, we are guitarists, and we want other players to find the right product for them. So we take into careful consideration everything from budget to feature set, ease of use and durability to come up with a list of what we can safely say are the best beginner ukuleles on the market right now.

Find out more about how we make our recommendations, how we test each of the products in our buyer's guides and our review policy.

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• Best guitar tuners for acoustic, electric and ukulele
• Guitar accessories for beginners and beginner guitar gear essentials
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