About Us
Meet Our Ukulele Team!
Meet the passionate team behind My First Ukulele! Experienced musicians and music educators whose goal is it to help you fall in love with playing the ukulele!
Jay Searle - Founder/Writer
Hi there, my name is Jay and I love everything about music! I’ve been playing guitar on and off since I was about 8 years old. I also played the saxophone (tenor) in high school, and have started taking piano lessons a couple of years ago which I am really enjoying. “But what about the ukulele?” I hear you say…
I was first introduced to the ukulele by my grandfather, who was a passionate player. When he passed, I was gifted one out of his five ukuleles so that I may continue learning and making music.
Since then I have been on a journey to improve my own playing, whilst sharing my love of music with as many people as possible.
John Allnutt - Writer
Hello there! I am John and have been playing music most of my life but began teaching percussion and stringed instruments in 2008. I am an active educator and performer in the Bluegrass region of Kentucky in the United States.
My wife and I love to perform on the ukulele and ukulele bass and encourage our students to have many opportunities to perform locally; from farmer’s markets and local businesses to places in need of musical cheer such as senior citizen centers.
I am currently very active with my Facebook group and YouTube channel – John’s Ukulele Cafe where I cover instructional and audio reference videos from the Daily Ukulele series of books by Jim and Liz Beloff.
Shaylie M - Writer
Hi! My name is Shaylie and I have loved music since I can remember. My love for music started in dance lessons as I began to learn how to coordinate movements to the rhythm of music. I pursued music as I entered school and found I loved to sing.
I participated in music all through high school and chose to major in music education. I developed a deep appreciation for the instrumental side of music. Since completing my degree in Music Education emphasizing in both vocal and instrumental, I have taught elementary general music. I love the opportunity to connect with young students and share music with them.
In my time as a music teacher, ukulele has quickly become one of my favorite instruments to teach to students! Ukulele can be simple for beginners and has a positive, uplifting resonance.
Our Mission
At MyFirstUkulele.com, our mission is to be help beginners embark on their ukulele journey, much like my grandfather did for me. We understand that taking those first steps can be both exhilarating and daunting. That’s why all of our content is written with beginners in mind, breaking down complex musical concepts into easy to digest pieces. Our primary aim is to provide accessible, comprehensive resources to empower beginners to learn, play, and ultimately, master this fantastic instrument.
We hope to fill this website full of useful tips, lessons, song guides, product reviews and anything else that we think is worth sharing. You’ll learn to play ukulele chords, ukulele songs, all with the help of our tutorials and uke tabs. We have assembled a team of experienced ukulele players and musicians to help me in producing this content, so rest assured that you will be in good hands as you explore what this site has to offer.
Our Review Process
Choosing a musical instrument can be a difficult process. Not only are there so many options to choose from – different ukulele brands, makes, models, sizes, etc – but they can be costly too. That’s why our writers thoroughly research each product using reputable sources, making sure that all aspects of its construction and sound qualities are assessed, before putting pen to paper. We also research what other customers have had to say about the product, and only selecting instruments that we feel our readers would love to read about.
Review disclosure: Our reviewers are totally independent and provide in-depth, unbiased reviews of products. They don’t receive any compensation for reviewing certain products unless otherwise explicitly stated prior to the article.
Affiliate disclosure: As an affiliate, we may earn a small commission from purchases made from products listed on our site. This comes at NO additional cost to you. To read more, view our disclaimers page here.
A Musical Journey...
At the end of the day, music is all about having fun and expressing yourself. If by visiting this site, We are able to help even just a handful of people experience the joy of music, then we’ll consider that to be a win.
So on that note, thank you for visiting.
May you have fun in your journey to becoming a better ukulele player and feel free to provide any suggestions on how you think we could improve the site. After all, music can lift the heaviest hearts and bring joy to all those it touches…
