Mandolin vs Ukulele - Which to start with?
Which is better as a first instrument, Mandolin or Ukulele?
As much as we love mandolins, Ukulele has some major advantages as a first instrument to learn. The use is easier to play and costs significantly less. These to reasons alone make it the better choice for most players. Of course there is a lot more to it. Read on to see why we choose ukulele over mandolin
We might be biased
Well, this is no mystery. while the ukulele is great, we deal with a lot of mandolins and it has become a Folkmusician specialty. So why then, would we recommend ukulele over mandolin? That just it, we wouldn't unless it really was the better choice here.
I was around 7-8 years old when I received my first Ukulele as a gift. I had already had some experience with guitar by this time, but it was't the greatest quality instrument and was rather painful to play. Not so with the uke! And this brings us to the first major advantage for beginners. Ukuleles are just easier to play.
8 vs 4 strings
A mandolin has 8 strings, where a ukulele only has four. Additionally, a mandolin's strings are metal where a uke would normally be nylon. This makes for a huge difference in string tension. The mandolin's strings are physically harder to push and there are twice as many of them! A reasonable quality uke is very easy to play and you don't need a lot of strength or thick calluses. Ease of play goes to the Ukulele.
Learning the instrument
This part isn't as straightforward. In general, the ukulele is going to be the easier instrument for most players to get a grasp on. The mandolin has a much more intuitive tuning. As far as memorizing the notes, the mandolin has the advantage here. Where it balances out is in the technique. The styles of music that mandolin is used for require higher degrees of skill. And going back to the physical difficulty... Combined with this, it will take quite a bit more time to sound presentable on a mandolin.
Which costs more?
Mandolin vs. ukulele cost isn't even close. Where a nice mandolin will start around $300, you can get a comparable ukulele for under $100. To take it one step further, many go the $50 ukes are not bad at all. It is safe to say that a beginner ukulele can be purchased for 25% of the cost of a beginner mandolin. Naturally there are a lot of variables here, but you get the point. Ukuleles are MUCH cheaper than mandolins.
That about sums it up! I hope this helps with your research. Here are some best selling ukuleles for beginners:
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