Ted Parrish - How to Play the Ukulele for the Complete Ignoramus

5, 6

Throughout the book youll find illustrations of an old gramophone with numbers below it. These numbers correspond to the MP3 tracks. You will find examples of all of the songs, including the chords and melody. We have also posted ukulele instructional videos on our website www.nativeground.com.

Throughout the book youll find audio track numbers in
ackets. They look like this: [AUDIO TRACKS 5, 6]. These numbers correspond to the MP3 tracks. You will find examples of all of the songs, including the chords and melody. We have also posted ukulele instructional videos on our website www.nativeground.com.

Photo by J.J. Williams

King Kalakaua was an ardent supporter who helped popularize the ukulele in Hawaii. But it was the Panama Pacific International Exposition of 1915 in San Francisco that brought Hawaiian music, culture, and the ukulele to the mainland and the world. The 1920s brought a craze for all things Hawaiian. The ukulele was everywhere!

The ukulele mania that swept America lost its fizzle with the Great Depression and then World War II. But a new wave of popularity arose with its introduction to TV by Arthur Godfrey in the 1950s and again with Tiny Tim in the 1960s.

The current ukulele craze started in the mid-1990s. The internet played a role in bringing artists such as Israel Kamakawiwoole and Jake Shimabukuro into the limelight. Ukulele clubs have sprouted up everywhere. Played in countries all around the globe, the ukulele is prized for its versatility, portability, ease of playing, and cheerfulness.

How to Pronounce Ukulele

The word ukulele is Hawaiian, which is where the ukulele was invented. It means dancing flea, which may refer to how the players hands looked when dancing around on the strings. Anyway, in Hawaii you say OOK-Koo-Lay-Lay, with emphasis on the first syllable. Everywhere else you say You-Koo-LAY-Lee, emphasis on the third syllable. To further confuse things, the word is often shortened to uke, and sometimes written as uke or uku, and pronounced ook or yuke. Both are common, so either pronunciation can be used. There is only one spelling, however, and that is ukulele.

Choosing a Ukulele

W hen you go into your local music shop to look for a ukulele, you will notice an incredible variety of instruments. How do you choose the right one?

Lets break it down a little. There are different sizes to consider, different woods and finishes, and different features. Lets look at the most important thing first, the size of the instrument. There are four sizes of ukulele. Which one you will play depends on your size to some extent, but more on what feels best when you are holding it. One famous Hawaiian musician, Israel Kamakawiwoole, was a pretty big guy who played the smallest size ukulele.

Size doesnt just refer solely to the body of the instrument, but also to the scale length, which means how long the strings are from the nut to the saddle. The longer the strings, the tighter they feel. A soprano feels the easiest to play.

Left to right: soprano, concert, tenor and baritone

Soprano: The smallest of the family and historically the most popular. This is the one most people picture in their mind when they think ukulele. Easy to cradle in your arm, it has a bright, light tone. But some folks find it a little cramped to hold and play. Best for a smaller person.

Concert: The next size up. Just a little bigger than a soprano and perhaps the most popular size in the modern era. Retains the bright tone, but a little easier to hold and play. Best for most people.

Tenor: The tenor is most popular with folks who have played guitar before because it looks and feels like a little guitar. It is louder with more bass tone. It is also the easiest to play while holding in your lap like a guitar. Best for a bigger person or if you have big hands.

Baritone: The baritone is a ukulele, but not like the others. It is tuned differently (more like a guitar) and not usually played with the others unless you are good at transposing music. The baritone has its own set of chords and a different instruction book.

These are your basic choices. Except for the baritone, they are all tuned the same (even though they take different sets of strings to accommodate the different scale lengths) and they can all play together happily.