The Best Ukulele Books For Music Players

Looking for more ways to improve your ukulele skills? Look no further! YouTube tutorials are great, and so are online tab/chord sites, but sometimes it’s nice to have a tangible resource you can hold in your hand (or pack in your uke case!). That’s where ukulele books come in.

Can’t read music? Not a problem – ukulele music books use chord charts and tabs, not standard music notation! And while it may be less popular than the guitar, there are still tons of high-quality music books for the ukulele, you just have to know where to look.

Here are some great music book recommendations to get you started!

ULTP Ukulele Books

If it’s lesson books you’re after, Nobody has you covered quite like Terry Carter with his Uke Like the Pros series of books.

Looking for a book on fingerstyle ukulele books? Got it! Practice routines? Got it! Soloing? Got it? How about reading music for the ukulele, or baritone ukulele, or guitarlele? I think you get the point!

Three Chord Songs Book – Ukulele

If you are just starting out and only know a few basic chords, the Three Chord Songs Book could be the perfect fit for you!

Featuring 60 songs, this convenient sized 6” by 9” book will fit in most uke cases and has chord diagrams for each song. With songs like Leaving on a Jet Plane, Twist and Shout, You Are my Sunshine, and Hound Dog, this book has plenty of hits for any lover of classic music.

But what about younger uke players?

The Elise Ecklund Songbook

If you found yourself scratching your head at any or all of those song titles listed above, let me propose to you a songbook which features a few more modern offerings. Songs like, Train’s Hey Soul Sister, Taylor Swift’s ME! And Billie Eilish’s Bellyache. How does that sound?

The Elise Ecklund Song Book fits the same 6” by 9” profile, and is a great option for any fans of the YouTube star, or anyone looking for a more up to date songbook.

The Ultimate Ukulele Fake Book

Don’t let the name fool you, there is nothing fake about this one! This one is as real as it gets – It probably won’t fit in your uke case though, cause The Ultimate Ukulele Fake Book has 400 songs!

This one is almost like a uke coffee table book. Any time you’re looking for something new just flip open to a random page and learn a new song!

Fun fact: The term fake book comes from books containing lead sheets used by jazz musicians. They were named fake books because the lead sheets allowed the musicians to “fake it” when they didn’t know a song.  To confuse matters, sometimes fake books are also referred to as real books. Go figure!

4 Chord Songbook

Just like the aforementioned 3 chord songbook, but with 4 chords!

A mix of new and old, this book has 50 hot songs to choose from, ranging from Brown Eyed Girl, to Lady Gaga’s Poker Face.

The Beatles for Ukulele

Are you a fan of the Beatles? We’ve got a book for that!

The Beatles for Ukulele includes 20 of the band’s most popular songs including: Can’t Buy Me Love, Let It Be, Here Comes the Sun, and more!

Jake Shimabukuro Teaches Ukulele Lessons

So far we’ve focused exclusively on songbooks, but that’s not the only kind of ukulele book available! For instance, Jake Shimabukuro Teaches Ukulele Lessons is a 90 page book that includes 14 lessons taught by one of the worlds most well known ukulele players.

And the best part? The book also gives you access to 90 minutes of video to go along with the lessons. It’s kinda the best of both worlds!

So there you have it, whether it’s songbooks or lesson books you’re after, music books are a great way to supplement your learning, and there are tons of great ukulele specific books out there, you just have to look!

For more lessons on chords, techniques, and songs to help you along on your own uke journey, make sure to check out our site www.ukelikethepros.com. We offer you a bunch of great ukulele content that comes hand-in-hand with an awesome ukulele community that will support you in this journey.