Populele ukuleles offer something that I haven’t seen from a stringed instrument: a smart learning experience so you can start creating music faster. The ukulele is already a great instrument to begin your musical journey: they’re great for children too, but not just for children. I never played one before trying the green uke shown in the image above and I found it extremely easy to learn a few songs. In this article I’ll give an example of a song I learned and recorded today while preparing this contest article. You’ll find a variety of colours of the Populele 2 at Best Buy and we are giving away a white one and the green one I used in this contest.

What are the benefits of a smart ukulele

The Populele 2 is a great sounding instrument that offers something you won’t find elsewhere: it is smart. Yes, tech sites throw that word around a lot and it applies in some cases more than others. There is no denying that this ukulele is smart thanks to its integration with the Popumusic app that can light up the notes to play on the fretboard. Before I get into some details i suggest you read the review by Darren Blakeborough posted on the Best Buy Blog. Darren does a great job explaining the features.

One interesting point Darren brought up is that he had always thought there must be a way to apply the features of the game Guitar Hero to learn how to play a real instrument. Populele has figured it out. Their app offers a selection of activities, including Guitar Hero style gamification, to accelerate anyone’s learning. I tried Jason Mraz’ I’m yours and in a few minutes I had learned the chords and strum pattern. At first I was terrible. But in a few minutes I was able to sing along. I then took my newfound uke skills to learn a song I had never played: Billie Eilish’s 8. I recorded it after a couple of practice runs.

Ukulele music is more popular than ever

This song that I just played was new to me: I’m more of an eighties/seventies music person. In fact the first song that I played using the Populele 2 was Peaceful Easy Feeling by The Eagles. However, when I searched for new songs to play there were hundreds of options from which I selected the Billie Eilish song. I saw her on SNL once and really liked her tone, so thought I’d give this one a try.

What song would you play first if you win one of these awesome instruments? Perhaps you don’t want to win for yourself. Many parents put their children in music lessons at this time of year; you might be thinking that this is perfect for your child. Consider these questions as you enter this contest!

How to enter

Entering this contest is easy and you can enter in two different ways.

  1. In a comment below tell us who you are entering this contest for—yourself, a child, a friend (first name only please)—and what song you think should be played first on it if you win.
  2. In a comment below Darren’s review article, tell us one thing Darren talked about that you like best about this musical instrument.

What you can win

At the end of this contest, we’ll randomly select two (2) winners. One will get the white Populele 2 that Darren tested for his review article, and the other will get the green Populele 2 that I tried.

This contest runs from Sept 9th to Sept 25th

Remember that you can enter in two different ways.  Tell your family and show them Darren’s video and my video so they see how great this musical instrument is: they’ll definitely want to enter this contest too.

Win a Populele smart ukulele Contest Rules and Regulations

Good Luck

Martin Renaud
Editor in Chief
Martin loves working with the talented editors and writers on the Best Buy Blog as Editor-in-Chief. During his spare time he is either working on his next novel, cooking up a masterpiece in the kitchen, or adding some smart tech to his new home on Mayne Island in British Columbia.

447 COMMENTS

  1. For my son, who at 27 has found his love for music. My Mother in law loved her music and it was a passion they shared across Provinces.
    She passed away suddenly last year, and this would be a great way to reconnect him with her through the love of music.
    He would love the modern redesigned sleekness of it and the ability to learn from the app.
    Thank you
    Rest Easy Mom.

  2. I’m entering for myself. The first song I would love to play is It’s a Wonderful World. I have been playing the ukulele for 5 years and this would be Great to take our seniors group to help me improve and keep up 🙂 Darren talks about designing it after Guitar Hero style gamification, to accelerate anyone’s learning makes perfect sense. Thank you !!

  3. I am entering for myself.My first song to play would be Over the Rainbow.What a great prize and I would love to win this and learn to play .

  4. I’m entering to win this for Nathan…so that he can play some of his own music that he’s written for his band This Harbour!

  5. I would like to win this for our nephew Chris who is a struggling musician and I would make him play Tiptoe Through The Tulips for me! lol

  6. I am entering for myself – Michael. I want to learn to play many songs, but I think I’d start with Creep by Radiohead, just like Sandra from Superstore.

  7. For my son, Miles. His first song would probably be somewhere over the rainbow the Israel Kamakawiwo’ole version.

  8. I am interested in playing myself with this great instrument. I’d like to try out a classic song from yesteryears, Leaving on a Jet Plane, which is great to play on a ukulele.

  9. I’d love for my daughter to start learning to play the ukulele! She loves to sing “Lava” (the Pixar song) together with me!

  10. I’m entering to win this for myself 🙂 and I’d like to learn some easy kid’s tunes to impress the grandkids. Perhaps Old McDonald Had a Farm and The Wheels on the Bus.

Comments are closed.