Cordoba 15CM Concert Ukulele Review

Cordoba is famous for making handmade, affordable ukuleles and acoustic guitars.

Their creations boast high-quality components, attractive finishes, and carefully selected wood. The 15CM is one of their popular entry-level ukuleles.

Aside from the modest price, this instrument is ideal for beginners because it’s comfortable to play.

Here’s a comprehensive Cordoba 15CM Concert Ukulele review to help you figure out if it’s the best ukulele for you.

Cordoba 15CM Concert Ukulele Review

The 15CM is Cordoba’s best-selling ukulele for those looking to pick up the instrument.

This handmade ukulele features a mahogany top, back, and sides, creating a clear, rich, and high-quality sound.

It also features a satin matte finish, an abalone rosette body, and cream binding.

At a quick glance at this beautiful instrument, you’ll see Cordoba’s stringer quality control.

Who Is This Product For?

Beginners and professional players alike will appreciate the Cordoba 15CM because of its good looks, sound quality, and easy playability.

If you’re looking for a ukulele for beginner adults, a concert ukulele like the 15CM will bring more advantages.

Firstly, this uke has a larger body that allows for greater resonance. Secondly, it’s suitable for adult hands.

This ukulele has a long neck, giving enough space between frets.

Moreover, it comes with a more straightforward and flexible key control.

This ukulele can also play various types of music since it can create varying sounds.

What’s Included?

Once you buy the Cordoba 15CM, you will get a beautiful, handmade ukulele that features a mahogany top, back, and sides, an ivoroid body, an Abalone-style rosette fingerboard and bridge, and a satin body finish.

Unfortunately, the instrument doesn’t have a case or strap, so you must buy these accessories separately.

Overview of Features

Cordoba has been manufacturing stringed instruments in Spanish tradition since 1997.

They have an excellent reputation for building quality instruments, and the Cordoba 15CM keeps the company’s standing high.

This gorgeous ukulele offers a warm tone, a rich sound that is a pleasure to listen to, and a sturdy body that will last for several years.

• Build

Cordoba handmakes their ukuleles, so the craftsmanship and attention to detail are pretty good.

Unlike many beginner ukuleles, this one doesn’t skimp on quality.

Besides that sturdy, beautiful wood body, the 15CM features ivoroid binding, silver tuners with a pearl button, premium Aquila strings, and a sleek satin finish.

As with other models, Cordoba did an excellent job picking durable components for the 15CM’s hardware.

The rosewood bridge and fingerboard are sturdy, and the tuners are easy to use.

While many entry-level concert-size models have many tuning issues, the 15CM is an exception.

The ivoroid binding highlights the honey color of the wood, while the dark rosewood bridge and fret board perfectly contrast with the mahogany, making for an elegant look.

Undoubtedly, the 15Cm is one of the most beautiful ukuleles in its price range.

• Sound Quality

Since the neck, body, and tuning head of the 15CM concert ukulele feature a mahogany construction, this ukulele has a well-balanced and moderate tone.

Solid mahogany, like the one used in Cordoba’s instruments, produces a focused sound thicker in the low and high mids and more punchy in the mids.

A concert size ukulele comes in between soprano and tenor on the tonal spectrum.

It also features a longer neck which creates more tension on the strings.

Thus, the 15CM is less likely to fall out of tune from fretting.

Another advantage of a longer neck is it creates wider spaces between the frets.

As a result, it’s significantly easier to form chords and achieve full notes on the string.

How to Get the Most Out of It

The Cordoba 15CM’s comfortable design and playability make it an excellent choice for beginners.

If you’re just starting to learn how to play the ukulele, here are a few tips to help you make effective and efficient progress:

• Maintain Good Form and Posture

Holding the ukulele is the most important thing to get right at the beginning.

An uncomfortable position can hinder your learning experience.

If you’re sitting down to play the instrument, sit upright and support your ukulele below your chest.

• Tune Your Instrument Before Playing

Make it a habit to tune your ukulele before playing.

Learning chords to a song while your instrument needs to be in tune will get you nowhere.

There are a couple of ways to tune a ukulele, and one of the easiest is to use an electronic tuner.

Learn the most popular ukulele chords. As a beginner, most songs you will play likely have these chords: C, G, F, D, and A.

To practice these cords, consider using a metronome and learn them slowly and then steadily increase the tempo or speed.

• Play as Slowly as You Can

Once you have mastered the basic chords and can do basic strumming, you can start changing between chords.

Practice this with many different chords as slowly as possible to avoid making mistakes.

Remember that the most important thing is to be accurate and not quick.

Alternatives

The Cordoba 15CM is undoubtedly one of the best choices for budget ukuleles, but it’s not the only kid on the block.

Here are two inexpensive models that make good alternatives to Cordoba:

Kala MK-S/PACK Makala Soprano Ukulele

Kala is a world-famous brand for tenor and soprano ukuleles. They make some of the best inexpensive ukuleles today.

The Makala Soprano Ukulele is an excellent choice for novice or intermediate players.

It features a satin finish, all-mahogany materials, and Aquila Nylgut strings.

This traditional model comes with a quality gig bag, a clip-on tuner, and an instruction pamphlet.

Hola! Music Ukulele

This quality ukulele is perfect for kids, adults, beginners, and ukulele students of all levels.

It features an elegant maple body, stylish walnut bridge, natural matte finish, and fingerboard, creating a clear and beautiful tone and dynamic sound.

If you purchase this set, you will get a two-month free online lesson to help you get started.

Cordoba 15CM Concert Ukulele Review: The Verdict

Considering the modest price, you’ll be impressed with this musical instrument’s durable build and fantastic sound quality.

Its beautiful looks, great tone, and ease of playability make this affordable and well-structured ukulele one of the best in its class.