Gifts for Ukulele Players

Be it Christmas, New Years, a birthday or an anniversary, time comes when it hits you: you did not get a gift for your kid, wife, or family member. And now all you are left with is a couple of days to decide what to buy. And the process of buying a gift, no matter how close you are to the person can be quite hard. And it doesn’t even matter how well you know the person or how long you have known them. There are people who just are not easy to buy for. I would know, I mostly just give people books as gifts while I look at their mildly disappointed faces as they realize that I basically spent like an hour in a bookstore to buy gifts for everyone for the entire year. That being said, when I know that the person I am buying for is interested in music, be it just the bands or actual instruments, I go bonkers. I spend hours and hours on researching the specific instrument/band they are interested in and come up with lists of what I can get them. I will also not deny that I do that partially so that I can buy some of those items for myself… In any case, if you have a person in your life who is interested in playing an ukulele or already started on that journey you are in the right place, my friend. There are so many different and fascinating gifts you can get for someone who is even mildly interested in ukuleles, it might be hard to narrow down your choices. Well… the number one thing, of course, is the budget. If it is your kid’s birthday you probably want to spend a bit more than on Janice, your colleague you constantly wants to chat during your lunch time. The budget it the first thing, the second factor in deciding what you are going to get depends on how “serious” you want the gift to be. I mean, if someone you know has had an ukulele for years and needs a new one you might want to get them a new one (unless, it’s that Janice woman). If you are looking for a smaller gift, stuff like mugs and small accessories that are related to ukuleles in one way or another, might be a good idea (they are also so much cheaper). In this post I will be discussing some of the more functional accessories and gifts.

A New Beginnings – New ukulele

Most ukuleles cost under $100 unless it is something special. So if someone you know has had a ukulele for a while and it has worn out, or if that someone has wanted to get a ukulele but never got around to buying one, this might be your chance. There are a lot of guides that will tell you what to look at when you are choosing a ukulele for the first time. You can also check out our handy guide to what you should be looking at when you are choosing a ukulele.

Ukulele Learning Kit

If the person you buying a ukulele for is a complete novice you might consider getting one of those ukulele learning kits. This kits usually have a set that includes a ukulele (duh), straps, tuners, capos, and much more. Some of them also include lessons for making your first steps in learning how to play the ukulele. For that, you can also check out our article on ukuleles for beginners that include some interesting sets and kits.

Picks

They add dimension to your playing as well as make it more comfortable. Picks usually cost under $5 so maybe get a few other smaller gifts or one big one if this is someone “special”. If it is an “Under $10 Gift” for like Secret Santa or something along those lines, just picks will probably do.  

Stands

I have told my friends the story of how I ruined my first guitar because I just leaned it against a wall in my dorm room one too many times. BUT there’s a reason why I constantly annoy people about it. You gotta keep your baby safe. Be it a $1000 guitar of a $50 ukulele. That is why a guitar stand, at least in my opinion, is a great idea. It might not be as fun or cool as some other gifts but, trust me, it will come in handy and save the person you are buying for a couple of dollar on fixing up the damage if they do not have a stand. AND they do not even cost that much. For instance, you can get this cheap but functional Instrument Stand for Violin, Ukulele and Other Small Instruments or a more expensive but compact Kala Mahogany Ukulele Stand Out.

Strap

Straps are always a functional gift that will be very useful for anyone even if they are not performing or practicing on their feet. I know getting someone just straps might not be that much fun, but there are a lot of cool and cute looking straps that can also function as “decorations”. For instance, TheHUGStrap, one of many, many Etsy stores, sells a lot of great quality, comfortable straps that look super nice.

Lessons

Ukuleles are generally not as expensive as some of the other instruments BUT getting a good teacher is still expensive, no matter what instrument it is. That is why a lot of people decide to self-learn through youtube. Even though youtube is a great idea for learning sometimes learning apps or online courses/websites can give you more structure. Personally, I prefer paying a little bit to be sure that I am taught by a professional. And also there is not a better way to “force” yourself to do something than by reminding that you paid for it. Udemy has ukulele lessons that are not that expensive: https://www.udemy.com/play-ukulele/. There is also ukuleleunderground.com that has monthly classes. There are a lot of websites that offer monthly classes for quite a small amount of money so if someone you know is not that good at playing on ukulele a class would be a great idea.

New Strings

Strings are always a great idea. Does not matter if you have changed the strings on your ukulele a week ago, a day ago, or an hour ago you need to have back up strings. Dirt and sweat dull the strings and that consequently dull the sound. Maybe strings are not the most exciting gift to give, so it can be sort of a “side gift”. And of course, if you do not play ukulele yourself you can find out more here in our article about ukuleles for beginners.

Conclusion

If someone you are buying for is interested in ukuleles, trust me, you are in luck. There are so many things that you can get for them. From actual ukuleles to strings or picks, to stands and mugs that have some ukulele theme on it, the choice is all yours. One thing you have to determine is your budget and from there you are all good. The good news is, there is a gift for any budget. Even if you only have $5-10 you can find something interesting and functional. And on that note, I hope you have found something to your liking and GOOD LUCK!