New Fad? Ukuleles for hipsters?

[JackLuis]

Like a blast from the past, England leads the world, or do they?

Maybe I'll break out the old coconut Uke I have stashed? Suddenly I'm hip?

Someone inform Zooey Deschanel on an olde tyme phone: the ukulele has gone mainstream. Yes, the instrument that was once a hipster essential alongside thick-rimmed glasses and craft beer is currently enjoying a massive sales boost. Amazon reports that, between 2013 and 2014, sales of the ukulele have increased by 1,200%.

But is the rise down to the so-called “Mumford effect” – or should we blame recent four-string abuser Meghan Trainor instead? “It’s replacing the recorder in schools now,” says Will Grove-White, member of the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain and author of Get Plucky with the Ukulele. “It’s an easy way for kids to get into music. Unlike the recorder, you don’t need a lot of technique to get a tune out of it quickly. And ukuleles are also cheap: a good one costs less than £30.”

Well I guess my old one is worth at least $30 US. But I paid about ten bucks for it inn 1960, it's still in good shape and sounds like a Uke, so with inflation figured in (pause while I look up the % inflation,) about $79.98 in 2015.

Hell, I might even pay shipping for $75, any takers?

Besides, a Uke is a lot lighter than an accordion, for hipstering.

So can you imagine the dulcet tones of the Ukulele, as she strums out her heart's longing for one true and faithful lover who could make her quim quiver like a high Cm strummed vigorously, wile resting the back of the smooth coconut shell on her vulva?

What will the neighbors think?

 

[Hypoxia]

My partner has tired of my virtuoso uke playing. Especially the banjo-uke. That must be the infra-hip version, right? And I guess my concertina, being like a mini-accordion, is mini-hip. Hey, are pennywhistles coming back too? How about slide whistles? Nose flutes? Double ocarinas? Finger cymbals? Chromatic harmonicas? I'm right there with all of them.

 

[oggbashan]

My partner has tired of my virtuoso uke playing. Especially the banjo-uke. That must be the infra-hip version, right? And I guess my concertina, being like a mini-accordion, is mini-hip. Hey, are pennywhistles coming back too? How about slide whistles? Nose flutes? Double ocarinas? Finger cymbals? Chromatic harmonicas? I'm right there with all of them.

You will find all of those in rural English public houses on 'folk' nights.

Although I was dragged along to a few folk evenings by one of my cousins, who was seen as a serious performer with his twelve-string Gibson guitar, singing and playing any instrument badly didn't appeal.

The 'best' folk was the worst played. If some ancient grandfather could be persuaded to croak what he remembered of a song his mother sang, he was the hero of the evening. (Even if what he couldn't really remember the tune or words of an 1890s Music Hall hit - but he was 'authentic' = drunk!)

 

[JackLuis]

Hipster or???

 

[jomar]

Yeah, it's a thing.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V1bFr2SWP1I

 

[oggbashan]

We have two musical instrument shops in my town.

I looked yesterday. Both have ukeleles prominently displayed in their windows at low prices, next to the very basic electric guitars.

I'm told that if you can play a six-string guitar, you can play a ukelele easily after a few hours practice, because the ukelele's four strings are tuned like four of the guitar's six.

I wouldn't know. I can't play a guitar, or any musical instrument.

 

[Hypoxia]

I'm told that if you can play a six-string guitar, you can play a ukelele easily after a few hours practice, because the ukelele's four strings are tuned like four of the guitar's six.

I wouldn't know. I can't play a guitar, or any musical instrument.

Pity. My first stringed instrument was a mountain dulcimer, extremely simple yet sweet, and great for learning scales, modes, tunings, and melodies. I could tell you dulcimer stories...

Yes, the standard guitar tuning (low to high) of EADGBE is like a standard ukulele DGBE tuning -- and is reversed in a standard mandolin GDAE tuning. Reversed fingerings, anyone? I had to learn the chords backwards. The major factor is fretboard size. My long fingers, accustomed to a few decades of guitar, must squeeze uncomfortably into the tiny gaps of smaller instruments.

Another very common tuning is open-D, which on guitar is DGDGBD and ukulele is DGBD, much-used in Hawai'ian-style slack-key playing, also in bottleneck blues guitar. I keep various guitars, lutes, and banjos tuned in open-D, and other guitars, ukes and mandolins in standard tuning. Thus I can use the same fingerings on different instruments.

And I mess around with other tunings. Each turning is like a new instrument, with distinctive tones, timbres, colors, and with new fingerings demanded, new challenges. For me, it all started with that mountain dulcimer tuned CEG.

 

[DreamCloud]

What was old is new again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_PLWqnfFgU

 

[Ardent1]

Uke is pretty huge. I noticed the trend at music festivals beginning about 10 years ago.

 

[Hypoxia]

Uke is pretty huge. I noticed the trend at music festivals beginning about 10 years ago.

I note uke clubs (performance circles, not nightclubs) in various rural locales here in California. I do NOT note banjo clubs, sax clubs, concertina clubs, guitar clubs, etc. I occasionally note kazoo and accordion clubs, but those are rare. I need only drive 25 miles and back twice a month to join with local uke'rs. Maybe I'll do that someday. But I've also noted some down-home venues (bar-type clubs) that, in between blues and boogie, have weekly uke nights. It's a disease.

 

[jehoram]

I'm told that if you can play a six-string guitar, you can play a ukelele easily after a few hours practice, because the ukelele's four strings are tuned like four of the guitar's six..

That's pretty much true, except that the same chord-fingering patterns result in different chords: Finger what would be a C on a guitar and you get G on a ukulele (or is it the other way around?). So the uke can be seen as a transposing instrument. But if you're used to playing songs in different keys and transposing as you, the ukulele usually doesn't present any difficulties.

I had a ukulele years ago. It never replaced the guitar in my repertoire, but it was fun. I ended up giving it to the child of a friend of mine.

I think the resurgence of the ukulele can be directly traced to Jake Shimabukuru, the Hawai'ian whose "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" went viral on YouTube some years back.

 

[Hypoxia]

My financial director has just authorized me to buy a special 6-string tenor uke (1st and 4th strings are doubled) that will be much better for my long fingers than my little soprano uke. I'll keep the soprano for 1) the grandkids, and 2) some slack-key abuse. Before long the grandkids should be playing duets, one on the soprano uke, the other on the soprano banjo-ukulele. Will I be accused of corrupting the wee hipsters?

 

[JaxRhapsody]

Pity. My first stringed instrument was a mountain dulcimer, extremely simple yet sweet, and great for learning scales, modes, tunings, and melodies. I could tell you dulcimer stories...

Yes, the standard guitar tuning (low to high) of EADGBE is like a standard ukulele DGBE tuning -- and is reversed in a standard mandolin GDAE tuning. Reversed fingerings, anyone? I had to learn the chords backwards. The major factor is fretboard size. My long fingers, accustomed to a few decades of guitar, must squeeze uncomfortably into the tiny gaps of smaller instruments.

Another very common tuning is open-D, which on guitar is DGDGBD and ukulele is DGBD, much-used in Hawai'ian-style slack-key playing, also in bottleneck blues guitar. I keep various guitars, lutes, and banjos tuned in open-D, and other guitars, ukes and mandolins in standard tuning. Thus I can use the same fingerings on different instruments.

And I mess around with other tunings. Each turning is like a new instrument, with distinctive tones, timbres, colors, and with new fingerings demanded, new challenges. For me, it all started with that mountain dulcimer tuned CEG.

You know all of those are lutes, right? Plucked, plummed, fingered string intrument with a body. Even harpsichordes.

 

[Hypoxia]

You know all of those are lutes, right? Plucked, plummed, fingered string intrument with a body. Even harpsichordes.

Harpsichords fit one definition of lute, but usually what we call lutes have necks of a sort. Adding keys (claves) to lutes tends to transform them into claviers. Are autoharps, zithers and other citterns lutes? I'll draw a botanical parallel: the order Rosales includes many families besides the Rosaceae, which includes many genera besides Rosa. Just so, the lute order (strings lying parallel to a soundboard) includes a lute family (necked string instruments) and a lute genus (Arabic ouds and European lutes).

I was being rather specific when I mentioned lutes in my instrument list. I own two cümbüş lutes, modern Turkish ouds resembling banjos. Not that many readers are familiar with the terms oud or 'ud, let alone cümbüş, so I just call those lutes. Yes, my banjos, guitars (of many sorts), mandolins, ukuleles, dulcimers, and variants are all lutes.

Shit evolves. Electronic guitar-shaped instruments exist that lack strings but are called guitars. Thus, 'guitar' has come unhooked from 'lute'. Let's not even talk of air lutes.

 

[JackLuis]

Question for Uke hipsters?

I was thinking of buying a new Uke, and thought the Tenor/Concert or Baritone size would be better for my fat fingers and long arms. What do you think?

After watching Uke lessons on blues Uke, it seems like they are less 'plinky' than a soprano sized one. and would be better for finger picking.

 

[Hypoxia]

Question for Uke hipsters?

I was thinking of buying a new Uke, and thought the Tenor/Concert or Baritone size would be better for my fat fingers and long arms. What do you think?

After watching Uke lessons on blues Uke, it seems like they are less 'plinky' than a soprano sized one. and would be better for finger picking.

Yes, all else being equal, bigger ukes are usually less plinky than sopranos, and certainly MUCH less plinky than my soprano banjo-uke. But some sopranos have a rich, ringing tone, and some tenors and baritones are not really bright. As for your fat fingers, I'd only suggest trying different ukes to see what fits. Yes, my left-hand fingers get a bit squished at the 1st and 12th frets on my Kohala soprano, which is why I'll buy a tenor in a couple weeks. But I'll still travel with the soprano because it fits inside my suitcase.

Ah, fingerpicking. I've been 3-fingering for some decades now, and adapting my right-hand patterns to fit everything from soprano uke to bass guitar is a bit of an exercise. So I just do it.

 

[JackLuis]

Yes, all else being equal, bigger ukes are usually less plinky than sopranos, and certainly MUCH less plinky than my soprano banjo-uke. -

Ah, fingerpicking. I've been 3-fingering for some decades now, and adapting my right-hand patterns to fit everything from soprano uke to bass guitar is a bit of an exercise. So I just do it.

I was just checking U-Tube and found a heck of a lot on Ukuleles. I hesitate to buy an Uke on the net, I think a local shop might be better to make sure the inexpensive one I take home is properly setup. I heard lot about loose nuts and intonation problems in the comments.
I thought it would allow me to handle the candidates to see how they play and feel for size, before I buy. Plus I can look at the cool stuff (High$) in the shops.
I love the look of fine Koa in the morning.

 

[Hypoxia]

I was just checking U-Tube and found a heck of a lot on Ukuleles. I hesitate to buy an Uke on the net, I think a local shop might be better to make sure the inexpensive one I take home is properly setup. I heard lot about loose nuts and intonation problems in the comments.
I thought it would allow me to handle the candidates to see how they play and feel for size, before I buy. Plus I can look at the cool stuff (High$) in the shops.
I love the look of fine Koa in the morning.

Certain stringed instruments can safely be obtained online. Take my fretless 3-string cigar-box electric guitar. Please. But most are best bought in a brick-n-mortar shop after bending the strings with one's fingers. Take along a friend; note their reactions to the sounds you evoke and the instrument's aesthetics. My partner has advised me well when selecting new axes. Yeah, koa sure is tempting...

Anecdote: My first stringed instrument was a simplified mountain dulcimer from a local builder. I later learned to build my own, and sold quite a few. I now mostly play (with a birch noter and duck quill) one rather nice stretched-fiddle model from an East Coast crafter. But my favorite travel dulcimer... came from WalMart, bearing the First Act brand. Made in China. And sold on the Mexican border. The WalMart in Douglas, Arizona had it on sale at US$20, yes, twenty bucks brand new. I guess someone figured out there wasn't much demand for Appalachian / hillbilly / folky instruments in a 95% Latino community. Right.