Teaching yourself how to play the ukulele isn’t by any means impossible. After all, the ukulele is one of the easiest string instruments to learn, as opposed to a violin or six-string guitar.
Nonetheless, there’s no denying that structure is very beneficial when it comes to learning a new instrument, especially with complete beginners, and that’s where platforms such as Uke Like The Pros come in handy.
Uke Like The Pros is a comprehensive online ukulele lessons website that offers courses for beginner, intermediate, and advanced players.
Despite the stiff competition from popular online ukulele lesson sites such as ArtistWorks and Ukulele Buddy, Uke Like The Pros has maintained its status as the leader of online ukulele courses.
If you’re contemplating signing up for a Uke Like The Pros membership, we urge you to stick around because, in this Uke Like The Pros review, we cover everything you need to know about the website and what it has to offer so that it’s easier for you to make an informed decision.
Let’s get down to brass tacks, eh?
| Facet | Rating |
| Instructors and Teaching Style | 5/5 |
| Pricing and Guarantees | 5/5 |
| Variety of Lessons | 5/5 |
| Trial Period | 5/5 |
| Exclusive Features | 4/5 |
| Overall Score | 4.9/5 |
Show contents
Uke Like The Pros – An Overview
Uke Like The Pros is the brainchild of San Diego-based ukuleleist, guitarist, singer, and songwriter, Terry Carter, who has earned a Master of Music degree from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Music degree from San Diego State University.
Terry has worked with a host of prominent musicians, including Weezer, Josh Groban, bassist Duff McKagen from Guns n’ Roses and Velvet Revolver, and The Los Angeles Philharmonic, to name a few.
Not only that, but he has also worked with quite a few award-winning artists, including two-time Grammy winner composer, Christopher Tin.
To add, Terry Carter has written tracks for various TV shows on big-name networks like MTV, Animal Planet, and CBS. The guy is legit, is what we’re trying to say.
Despite his 25 years of experience playing and teaching the ukulele, Terry Carter has only started giving online ukulele lessons via his platform, Uke Like The Pros, since 2017.
In addition to pre-recorded lessons that you can purchase off the website, Uke Like The Pros grants students the ability to engage in one-on-one interactions on a weekly basis.
Uke Like The Pros also has a strong presence on social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, making for an awesome online community that’s quite engaging.
With regard to Terry Carter as an instructor, we have no complaints whatsoever. The music teaching methods and instruction style he chooses to implement have proven effective with countless students. Also, we love how engaging and enthusiastic his character is; it makes it easy to follow along with his instructions without getting bored.
Another thing we like about Carter’s approach is that it’s so simplistic yet so detailed at the same time. He doesn’t bombard you with overly technical terms and concepts, especially in beginner lessons.
Carter holds regular Q&A sessions and webinars to communicate with his students and help them overcome any difficulties they might be facing. The webinars also serve as an opportunity for students to jam and play along with their instructor.
Positives:
- Engaging lessons for all skill levels
- World-class music instructor
- Live webinars and Q&A sessions
- Flexible membership plans
- Offers a money-back guarantee
- Engaging online community
Negatives:
- Some courses are expensive
- No site-wide ‘search’ function
Get Uke Like The Pros If:
- You’re a beginner, intermediate, or advanced ukulele player
- You’re looking for an online uke community to be part of
- You’re looking for personal one-on-one interactions
- You’re looking for online uke courses at affordable prices
- You’re looking to take lessons with a world-class teacher
What Courses Does Uke Like The Pros Offer?
Uke Like The Pros isn’t one of those platforms that only offer beginner-friendly courses like Ukulele Buddy. It offers courses for complete beginners and advanced players alike.
With Uke Like The Pros, you can sign up for a monthly/yearly membership and get access to all of the courses, or you can purchase specific courses without being tied to a monthly/yearly financial commitment.
One of the most notable courses Uke Like The Pros has to offer is the free Ukulele Fundamentals course. As you probably guessed, this course is geared primarily towards total beginners.
Other popular courses include Master the Ukulele 1, Master the Ukulele 2, Beginning Baritone Ukulele Bootcamp, and Fingerstyle Ukulele. The following paragraphs help shed light on some of these courses.
Beginning Ukulele Bootcamp
Having finished the free Ukulele Fundamentals course, your next step as a beginner is the Beginning Ukulele Bootcamp course. It’s composed of 25 core video lessons that cover everything from essential ukulele chords and chord progressions to fundamental strumming patterns.
All of the content within Beginning Ukulele Bootcamp, as well as all other Uke Like The Pros courses, are downloadable. So, you have the option to stream course videos in HD or download them onto your computer or mobile device for offline viewing.
Music Reading Course
Whether you play the ukulele, guitar, guitarlele, violin, or any other musical instrument, learning how to read music is an essential skill to pursue.
Uke Like The Pros offers an outstanding music reading course that focuses primarily on ukulele players. The course includes over 45 UHD video lessons that cover everything a uke player should know about music reading. There are also downloadable backing tracks and printable music sheets for convenience.
Purchasers of this course get to enjoy a music reading book sent to them via email. They also get to enjoy a personalized learning experience. You’ll learn to play classic songs like Aura Lee, Amazing Grace, Ode to Joy, and Wildwood Flower.
Master the Ukulele 1 and 2
Master the Ukulele 1 and Master the Ukulele 2 are pretty much the platform’s flagship courses. We’d say that they’re geared towards advanced beginners, as they go in-depth into ukulele playing techniques and actual songs; in a gradual manner, mind you.
The first Master the Ukulele course covers a wide range of topics, from advanced chord progressions and strumming techniques to fingerstyle ukulele playing. By completing this course, you can consider yourself an intermediate ukulele player.
Master the Ukulele 2 puts a huge emphasis on music genres and song styles, more so than playing techniques. It covers genres like blues, reggae, country, pop, and more.
The two courses complement each other very well, so if you’re going to buy one, we recommend buying the other as well. It’s highly likely that you’ll find a discount on both courses, granting you unlimited access as well as downloadable backing tracks and music sheet at an affordable price.
Other Courses
In addition to the above-mentioned courses, Uke Like The Pros has a host of other excellent courses that encompass everything a uke player would like to know about the instrument. The website’s content library is updated on a regular basis, so you get to enjoy more content every so often.
One of the courses that stood out to us as we were sifting through Uke Like The Pros’ content library is the Fingerstyle Ukulele Mastery course.
We’re quite fond of fingerstyle playing, and so we’re hyper-critical of all fingerstyle courses. We think that Uke Like The Pros’ is one of the better ones we’ve seen. It comes with a fingerstyle mastery workbook, challenge workbook, and 16 original pieces composed by instructor Terry Carter.
We also love the 15-Day Fingerstyle Challenge course, which is followed by a 6-week live Q&A session about all things fingerstyle.
Another course we really like is the Guitarlele for Ukulele and Guitar Players course. As the name suggests, this course aims to help ukulele players who are fond of guitars learn how to play the guitarlele, which is basically a six-string ukulele.
We also like the Beginning Baritone Ukulele Bootcamp, which, as the name implies, covers everything you need to know about playing a baritone ukulele.
There’s a lot to like about Uke Like The Pros, really. Apart from the lessons, we love the live sessions on Instagram and YouTube, the challenges and jam sessions, and the ukulele giveaways, to name a few.
What Are the Courses Like?
Exceptional, to say the least!
Apart from Carter’s enjoyable approach to teaching, we love how all the videos are available in HD quality. We also like that each video lesson comes with backing tracks for practice purposes.
The videos are shot from a few different angles, enabling the learner to get a good look at what the instructor is doing. There are also close-up shots that help the learner see the chords being played. To add, each lesson is accompanied by chord diagrams, notations, music, and TAB.
Every lesson page consists of a few set elements, including the video player, music sheet, backing track, comments section, and links to other related ukulele lessons within the same course. The comments section contains useful feedback from other students. You can leave your feedback as well.
There’s the option to mark certain ukulele lessons as “complete,” which comes in handy if you forget where you stopped during your previous practice session.
Like many ukulele learning websites, Uke Like The Pros adopts a self-paced learning approach. Once you pay for your membership or the course of your choosing, you get to enjoy lifetime access, meaning you can pick up your ukulele and start practicing at any given time.
What sets Uke Like The Pros apart from such websites, however, is that it doesn’t just rely on pre-recorded videos. Uke Like The Pros users get to enjoy live webinars, Q&A sessions, and an active online community. These elements aren’t present in other ukulele learning programs that adopt the same self-paced learning approach.
Uke Like the Pros Memberships – The Perks
Now that we’ve learned about the variety of courses Uke Like The Pros has to offer, it’s time to talk about cost. Uke Like The Pros has three membership plans that complement each other very well in the sense that they cater to a wide range of ukulele learners. Let’s talk about each plan briefly.
Standard Membership
The Standard membership is a monthly plan that costs $13. When you subscribe to this plan, you get to enjoy a 7-day trial period and a cool Uke Like The Pros t-shirt when the trial ends.
The Standard plan grants the learner access to Beginning Bootcamp Course, Master the Ukulele 1, and Master the Ukulele 2. Also, you gain access to downloadable music sheets and backing tracks.
To add, this wallet-friendly membership plan enables you to have weekly live calls with instructor Terry Carter. It also grants you access to the Uke Like The Pros forum.
The Standard membership plan comes with a 100% money-back guarantee, meaning if you’re no longer satisfied with the content, you can cancel your membership at any time.
Premium Membership
Unlike the Standard plan, the Premium plan can be paid for on a monthly or yearly basis. Let’s talk about the monthly Premium plan first.
The Premium membership plan, be it monthly or yearly, grants you access to all of the current and future content Uke Like The Pros has to offer. Put differently, you get to enjoy over 300 ukulele lessons, flagship courses like the 23 Ultimate Chord Progressions course, downloadable music sheets, and backing tracks.
Premium plan users also enjoy a free t-shirt, live Q&A sessions, monthly giveaways, and access to the Uke Like The Pros online community.
Like the Standard plan, the monthly Premium plan comes with a 100% money-back guarantee, so you can cancel your membership at any given time with no questions asked.
Okay, so what about the yearly Premium membership? Well, it actually happens to be the website’s most popular subscription plan because it helps the user save a considerable amount of money.
With the yearly plan, you get the same benefits as the monthly plan, from flagship courses like Jazz Swing Mastery, Fingerstyle Ukulele Mastery, and 23 Ultimate Chord Progressions, to downloadable tracks and sheets.
One of the differences between this plan and the other plans is that you get to partake in a music theory workshop. Not only that, but you get to enjoy the Dominate Major Scales workshop.
Further, the yearly Premium membership plan gives you a 10% coupon that you can use in the Uke Like The Pros online store to purchase the ukulele of your dreams.
You’d expect such a value-packed membership plan to not include a money-back guarantee, but to your and our surprise, the yearly Premium membership does include a money-back guarantee, enabling you to cancel your membership at any time.
Uke Like The Pros Memberships Costs
The current prices for Uke Like The Pros’ Standard, monthly Premium, and yearly Premium plans are $12.99/m, $19.95/m, and $188/y, respectively.
Please bear in mind that these prices are subject to change and that Uke Like The Pros always has offers and discounts.
Another thing worth noting is that, in addition to monthly/yearly subscriptions, Uke Like The Pros offers users the ability to make stand-alone purchases, meaning you can just buy the course you need without being tied to a monthly/yearly financial commitment.
Uke Like The Pros – Alternatives
From what we’ve learned so far, it’s not hard to see why Uke Like The Pros is considered the king of online ukulele lessons. Are there other websites worth checking out, though?
Off the top, we think Ukulele Buddy and ArtistWorks are excellent alternatives. Let’s talk about each one briefly.
Uke Like The Pros vs. UkuleleBuddy
Popularity-wise, Ukulele Buddy is right there with Uke Like The Pros. There are, however, a few distinctions between the two platforms. For starters, Ukulele Buddy is geared primarily towards beginners, whereas Uke Like The Pros has courses for all skill levels.
Secondly, the two platforms differ in terms of pricing. Ukulele Buddy adopts a single subscription model, through which you gain access to all of the website’s courses for a fixed price of $67. Uke Like The Pros, however, offers more flexible pricing options.
To add, Ukulele Buddy doesn’t offer learners the chance to partake in live sessions with their teacher. In fact, teacher interference with Ukulele Buddy is very minimal, which makes it an ideal platform for those who enjoy learning at their own pace.
Uke Like The Pros, per contra, puts a huge emphasis on interaction and engagement, evident in the form of live webinars, Q&A sessions, challenges like the 15-Day Fingerstyle Challenge, jam sessions, giveaways, and more.
For intermediate or advanced ukulele players, Uke Like The Pros is certainly the better option. If you’re a beginner, though, you can go for either platform, depending on whether or not you champion engagement and interaction.
Uke Like The Pros vs. ArtistWorks
ArtistWorks, like Uke Like The Pros, is designed for ukulele players of all skill levels. Naturally, though, both platforms have a number of differences.
For starters, the ArtistWorks subscription model comes in the form of three, six, and twelve-month plans. The pricing is between $23.25/m and $35/m. Sadly, ArtistWorks doesn’t come with a free trial or a guarantee.
ArtistWorks is great in terms of student-teacher interaction. Students have the opportunity to send their teachers videos of their playing to receive personalized feedback. Further, students can go for one-on-one lessons for a more personal teaching approach.
Community-wise, ArtistWorks has a pretty active online community where ukulele players of all skill levels share their experience, tricks, and techniques.
The most notable difference between ArtistWorks and Uke Like The Pros is that the former offers courses for a wide range of instruments, whereas the latter strictly revolves around the Ukulele.
This basically means that if you play another instrument and you’re looking for a ‘two birds, one stone’ type of deal, ArtistWorks is an excellent choice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Uke Like The Pros Have a Money-Back Guarantee?
It does. All of the courses and membership plans come with a 100% guarantee, meaning that if you’re not satisfied with the content or if you’re no longer benefiting from your membership, you can have your money back with no questions asked.
Is Uke Like The Pros Good for a Beginner?
Uke Like The Pros is excellent for beginners. It’s packed with lessons and resources that are primarily for beginners, including a free fundamentals course and the Beginning Ukulele Bootcamp course.
Is Uke Like The Pros Expensive Compared to Other Sites?
Not at all. Uke Like The Pros strikes the perfect balance between value and affordability. Not to mention that its flexible subscription model makes it accessible for everyone.
Final Thoughts
All things considered, it’s safe to say that Uke Like The Pros is, indeed, the king of the hill when it comes to online ukulele lessons.
Beginner, intermediate, and advanced uke players will find a ton of value in Uke Like The Pros’ offerings. And if you champion an interactive and engaging learning experience, you’re going to love Uke Like The Pros’ webinars, live Q&A sessions, giveaways, challenges, jams, and active online community.
Pricing-wise, Uke Like The Pros is accessible to everyone. Whether you’re looking for a monthly or yearly subscription, or you’re looking for stand-alone purchases, Uke Like The Pros has got it all. And since all the courses and subscription plans come with a 100% guarantee, what do you have to lose?