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. I am entering for myself since I would like to pay an instrument since I am retired now.
    I would like to play Somewhere Over the Rainbow since we danced it together at his wedding and it was lots of fun, good memories.

  2. I am entering for my daughter and I think it would be fun for her to learn Love Yourself as she enjoys the song and it shouldn’t be too hard to play.

  3. I’m entering for my husband Peter who would certainly pick Dirty Old Town by the Pogues as his first tune.

  4. I am entering this contest for my husband. He loves to secretly sing and this instrument would be a cute accompaniment. I hope that he will play our wedding song, “Just The Two of Us”.

  5. I am entering for myself and the first song I would play on it is Happy Birthday. It’s a fun, quick, and simple song. One that’s perfect for a test run before you jump into the good stuff. I’ve also neve played a ukulele so it’s probably the only song I could quickly adapt over to a new instrument.

  6. Myself and my three kids would love this instrument. First song played on it would have to be Riptide by Vance Joy

  7. i would like to play this instrument myself , Mary , and i would learn first of all how to play the song Hey ,Soul Sister, such a great uplifting song

  8. I would buy it for my best friend Rachel who loves ukuleles! And then I would ask her to play me Another one bites the dust by Queen

  9. I am entering for Kiera…my granddaughter…
    The first song to be played should be Happy Birthday….since my birthday is coming up!

  10. I’d enter this for my good friend, Bo, who is actually aspiring to learn the ukelele. I’d then request that she play AKMU’s Dinosaur!

  11. The first song I would play would DEFINITELY be Muffin man by Frank Zappa.

    I am entering for myself and the rest of my roommates 🙂

  12. I’m entering this contest for myself :).

    The first song I would definitely learn to play on this ukulele is “Tonight You Belong to Me” (as heard on The Jerk).

  13. I am entering for myself, Catherine. I would love to learn and would probably start with Tip Toe Through The Tulips.

  14. I’m entering for me, and I think the first song to be played on the uke is Tiptoe Through the Tulips by the great Tiny Tim.

  15. I would give this to my girlfriend, she’s always saying she’d like to learn an instrument (sadly she is tone deaf) but who knows maybe she’ll rock it. I think she should learn tip toe thru the tulips 🙂

  16. I am entering for myself as I love to take the music theory I know and try it on new instruments. This looks like an awesome product! The first song I will play is ” The lion sleeps tonight”! by Elton John

    • I would be getting this for my sister. She recently started playing the Ukulele, and this would be a fantastic gift for her.

      I’m not sure what she would learn first… she used to be a big fan of Sarah McLachlan, perhaps one of her songs.

  17. 1- I’m entering this contest for myself & if I win, I think the first song on it should be “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen.

  18. I’m entering for myself, and I’d love to play “Somewhere Over the rainbow” and keep on practicing until I was half as good as “IZ” KamakawiwoĘ»ole and then practice some more. My fave ukelele player

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