7 Fun Facts About The Ukulele
The Ukulele is probably the most popular instrument at the moment and is riding on an unprecedented wave of success. The charm of this fun instrument from the sunny South Seas is undisputed and now pretty much everyone knows it. Numerous stories and myths surround this extraordinary instrument and our shooting star from Hawaii has already experienced surprising adventures. In this article we have summarised some interesting facts.
1. Origins of the Ukulele: Not a Hawaiian invention
The birth of the ukulele dates back to 1879 with the landing of Portuguese sailors on Hawaii, where it got its name. Its predecessor, the “machete de braga” also called the “cavaquinho“, existed long before and was brought from Madeira to Hawaii. Well then, Aloha! ?
2. The ukulele overtook the guitar several times (almost)
In the 1920s, the traditional manufacturer C. F. Martin Guitars, among others, sold as many ukuleles as guitars. The global economic crisis cast its shadow ahead and the affordable ukulele enabled many manufacturers (including Gretsch and Gibson) to survive the difficult years. After the Second World War, Maccaferri was able to keep a constant daily production of 2500 instruments with a plastic ukulele series (!) at the beginning of the 1950s.
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- Mahalo Heart Soprano Ukulele
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- Kala Makala MK-SD Sopran Ukulele
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- Harley Benton UK-12 Magenta Pink
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- Baton Rouge V2-S sun
👉 Soprano Ukuleles can be found at this link
3. No Beatles, No Uke
We are currently experiencing the third wave of success of the ukulele, which is significantly reinforced by the Internet. This euphoria began in the mid-1990s, with an ABC documentary about The Beatles in which George Harrison and Paul McCartney come out as ukulele fans. The ukulele rapidly regained popularity. George Harrison is undoubtedly one of the most important characters in the story of the ukulele. He always advocated this instrument, as can be seen here:
4. The ukulele has a high “low” string
In contrast to the guitar, the ukulele has the so-called “reentrant” tuning. This means that the strings are not tuned upwards continuously like on a guitar or many other stringed instruments. This also gives the ukulele its lovely sound. It is also possible to put on a low string. This “Low-G” tuning, provides a fuller sound and is particularly suitable for guitarists and soloists, but you compromise a bit of the typical uke sound.
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5. There is a bass and banjo ukulele
Yup, you read correctly, besides the typical ukulele as we know it, there are a whole bunch of different sizes and variations. The bass ukulele has thick rubber strings and is tuned like an electric bass. When connected to the amplifier, it sounds very much like a double bass. By the way, there is also a so-called “banjo-lele” (or “banjo-uke“), a hybrid of a banjo and a ukulele (as the name suggests) and it even turned 100 years old last year.
👉 Click here for the Bass Ukuleles on thomann.de
👉 Click here for the Banjo Ukuleles on thomann.de
6. The origin of the name is not clear
The most common assumption is that “uku” and “lele” mean “jumping flea” because when the Portugese sailors arrived in Hawaii, the Hawaiians saw the players’ fingers jumping over the fretboard so quickly. According to uke historian Jim Beloff, Queen Lili’uokalani (who wrote Aloha`Oe) gave the word a poetic twist by using the other meanings of “uku” and “lele”: “gift” and “come”. This made it to signify “a gift that came to us from far away”. Whichever one it really means, to us it means remains “a 4-stringed bundle of joy” 🙂
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7. Somewhere Over the Rainbow is an old hat
The ukulele anthem par excellence is “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole. Did you know that the “gentle giant”, as he was called, died unfortunately in 1997 and only wrote his hit in 1990? In 2010 the song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow / What a Wonderful World” was number 1 in the German single charts. It was first released in 1993 on his album “Facing Future“, 17 years prior!
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👉 Click here for ALL Ukuleles on thomann.de
👉 The DIY ukulele kit from Harley Benton would be something for those who want to try constructing a ukulele themselves…
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my mang is to blow up, the act like i don’t know nobody says:
i wanna be a cowwwboyyy babbbyyyy
mcdoodle says:
i ukulele often i master 1v1 me bruv
E says:
Jak
jsgdrd says:
HeE hEe
Penelope says:
U suck
My love my life says:
What a wonderful instrument!
serah says:
meow
Connie Saunders says:
I’m just learning this, thanks Joe great article and gift aloha!
uuuu says:
Ya nan
hi says:
uzi
Rui says:
great!!! I didn’t know that!!!
purplegirl24 says:
The ukulele anthem par excellence is “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole. Did you know that the “gentle giant”, as he was called, died unfortunately in 1997 and only wrote his hit in 1990? In 2010 the song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow / What a Wonderful World” was number 1 in the German single charts. It was first released in 1993 on his album “Facing Future“, 17 years prior!
mahballs says:
Goofy ahh article. you must from detroit. you moved to ohio when you were 13
Deez nutz says:
Wtf
BALLIE says:
sick
ligmaballs says:
haha, the comments are funny yall tripping
your mom says:
bro some drama going on
fdsqdd says:
i stuck wiht midget ukelele
bob says:
yeehaw Im the real cowBOOOOOOOY
ICP’s biggest fan says:
…………………….no words…………………….
jason derulo says:
The ukulele music echoes though my brain MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT STOP AHHHHHHHHHH
cat says:
meow
Jood says:
these facts are so cool 😎 show us more
please🥺
Johnny gigglebooty says:
Yall I just pooped my pants