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Ukulele

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Musical Instruments

   Ukulele
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   Ukulele

   The ukulele (ʻukulele in Hawaiian and standard Hawaiian English;
   pronounced /ʔukulele/, or the Anglicised /ˌjukəˈleɪli/), or uke, is a
   fretted string instrument which is, in its construction, essentially a
   smaller, four-stringed version of the guitar. In the early 20th
   century, the instrument's name was often rendered as ukelele, a
   spelling still used in Great Britain.

   There is also the banjolele or banjo uke, which has a banjo body.

History

Hawaii

   It is commonly associated with music from Hawaii (Hawaiʻi in Hawaiian)
   where the name roughly translates as "jumping flea" and was developed
   there in the 1880s as a combination of the Madeiran braguinha and
   rajão. A braguinha is an instrument similar to a cavaquinho, built in
   the city of Braga and named after it; the Portuguese cavaquinho is
   usually tuned in D-G-B-D, a G-major chord. The Madeiran rajão is tuned
   D-G-C-E-A, in other words. the D and G strings are both re-entrant,
   i.e., tuned an octave higher than expected in the normal low-to high
   course of strings. The GCEA strings of the rajão are the source of the
   re-entrant tuning of the modern ukulele.

   In 1879 the three men generally credited as the first ukulele makers
   arrived from Portugal in Hawaiʻi, sailing into Honolulu on the ship
   Ravenscrag. These were Manuel Nunes, José do Espírito Santo, and
   Augusto Dias. One of these, Manuel Nunes, was the neighbour of famous
   ukulele player Bill Tapia. He sold Bill his first instrument for $0.75
   many years later in 1915.

   In general, the Ukulele is a smaller version of the cuatro, a four
   stringed guitar from Latin America, which had been around for hundreds
   of years before the Ukulele.

U.S. Mainland

   The ukulele was popularized for a stateside audience during the Panama
   Pacific International Exposition held for most of 1915 in San
   Francisco, at which the Hawaiian Pavilion featured a guitar and ukulele
   ensemble, George E. K. Awai and his Royal Hawaiian Quartette, along
   with ukulele maker and player Jonah Kumalae. The popularity of the
   ensemble with visitors launched a fad for Hawaiian-themed songs among
   Tin Pan Alley songwriters. The ensemble also introduced both the lap
   steel guitar and the ukulele into U.S. mainland popular music, where it
   was taken up by vaudeville performers such as Roy Smeck and Cliff
   "Ukulele Ike" Edwards. The ukulele became an icon of the Jazz Age as
   this highly portable and relatively inexpensive instrument also proved
   popular with amateur players throughout the 1920s, as is evidenced by
   the introduction of uke chord tablature into the published sheet music
   for popular songs of the time (a role that would eventually be
   supplanted by the guitar). A number of mainland-based instrument
   manufacturers, among them Regal, Harmony, and Martin, added ukulele,
   banjolele, and tiple lines to their production to take advantage of the
   demand.
   Ukulele in the hands of a Ziegfeld Follies chorus girl, c. 1920
   Enlarge
   Ukulele in the hands of a Ziegfeld Follies chorus girl, c. 1920

Tuning a ukulele

   The ukulele comes in four sizes from smallest to largest:
     * soprano (the original size)
     * concert
     * tenor (created in the 1920s)
     * baritone (created in the late 1940s).

   On a tenor instrument, the strings may be doubled: six strings (where
   first and third strings are doubled) or eight strings (where all four
   strings are doubled with second and fourth course). In traditional
   Hawaiian tuning, first and third courses are tuned in an octave.

   Since the ukulele is a stringed instrument, it can be tuned with a
   piano, guitar tuner or a pitch pipe. The ukulele is tuned from top
   string to bottom string: G C E A. The C is middle C on the piano. Like
   all stringed instruments, the ukulele becomes detuned if not frequently
   tuned. The strings are typically nylon. When new, the strings cannot
   hold a tune for long. It can take up to two weeks for new strings to
   stretch out and hold a tune. If old strings are put on a ukulele, it
   will still take some time before the strings can hold a tune, but it
   usually only takes two days or less, depending on how much the string
   has been stretched in the past.

   In the United States, soprano and concert ukes are usually tuned in the
   chord of C6: G-C-E-A, with the G-string traditionally tuned an octave
   up (re-entrant), so it is pitched between the E- and A-strings. In the
   past, it was not uncommon for the soprano to be tuned a whole step
   higher in the chord of D6: A-D-F#-B, with the lowest note being D (the
   A is a whole step below the B). This tuning was very popular in
   vaudeville in the days before amplification. The tension and tone are a
   little brighter and louder. This tuning is still used today by some
   known personalities in ukulele circles.

   The baritone ukulele, which was not invented or developed until the
   1940s at the request of Arthur Godfrey, is usually tuned in G (like the
   top four strings of a guitar, D-G-B-E) which makes it as much a guitar
   as a ukulele.

   The tenor ukulele can be tuned either way, and in C tuning is sometimes
   tuned with the G-string an octave lower, so it's pitched below the
   C-string, where you might expect it. Some historians say such a tuning
   makes it a small guitar, since the re-entrant tuning is the
   characteristic that most identified the original ukulele.

   An alternative tuning is B♭-E♭-G-C, raised a semitone to the key of E
   flat. Either of these tunings, and the C tuning above, are known when
   strummed by the mnemonic, "My dog has fleas", possibly referring to the
   "jumping flea" translated into Hawai'ian as "ukulele." Any song by this
   name postdates to the use of the phrase in published teaching materials
   by decades, at least.

   Other tunings are in use today. Some more creative-minded ukulele
   players tune their ukuleles to the key of B♭, F, or any tuning they see
   the need to utilize. Some even tune their ukuleles to E-A-D-G—the
   bottom four strings of a guitar. These never became popular, but
   because the ukulele is a stringed instrument, it can be tuned to the
   player's specifications.

Ukulele musicians

   Musicians and entertainers, both past and present, particularly known
   for playing the ukulele include:
     * Tsuji Ayano
     * Janet Klein
     * Stefan Raab
     * L S Coker
     * Jeff Pope
     * Imua Garza
     * Tiki King
     * Roy Smeck
     * Te Ava Piti
     * Sean Egan
     * Eddie Kamae
     * Neil Finn
     * James Hill
     * Gabby La La
     * Tiny Tim
     * Jon Ringel

     * Mike Bellusci
     * Chalmers Doane
     * Arthur Godfrey
     * George Harrison
     * Darren Hayman
     * Bob Brozman
     * Stephen Merritt
     * Ernest Kaʻai
     * Jesse Kalima
     * Wayne Federman
     * "King" Benny Nawahi
     * Buster Keaton
     * Mike Leboff and Hope
     * Jake Shimabukuro
     * Derick Sebastian
     * Granite Seade

     * Jack Johnson
     * Israel Kamakawiwoʻole
     * Herb Ohta ("Ohta-San")
     * The Secondhandpants
     * Langley Ukulele Ensemble
     * Ed's Redeeming Qualities
     * Luke Bailey and his Ukulele
     * Cliff Edwards ("Ukulele Ike")
     * Dan Scanlan ("Cool Hand Uke")
     * Tracey Terada ("Dr. Trey")
     * The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain
     * Boulder Acoustic Society
     * Peggy Reza ("Aunty Uke") of the Blue Shoes Band
     * George Formby (played banjolele & Hawaiian ukulele)
     * The Mad Things

     * Bill Tapia
     * Brittni Paiva
     * Bruce Forsyth
     * Frank Crumit
     * uke til u puke
     * Ukes of Hazzard
     * Eddie Vedder
     * Cezar Wickaninnish
     * Zac Walker
     * Waste of Aces
     * Brian Skidmore
     * Patrick Wolf
     * The Minoans
     * Jens Lekman
     * Gerald Ross
     * Frank Williams

   Former Beatle George Harrison became very excited about the ukulele in
   the last few years of his life in particular. He was reported to have
   always travelled with two ukuleles so that he could play with someone,
   including producer and musician Jeff Lynne and fellow former Beatle
   Paul McCartney. Eric Clapton plays the ukulele on the Bonzo Dog Band's
   "The Intro and the Outro".

   Other famous people known to have dabbled with the ukulele are Brian
   May, Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, David Byrne, Chrissie Hynde, Neil
   Armstrong, Joe Strummer, Warren Buffet, Loudon Wainwright III, Nellie
   McKay, Tony Blair and Elvis Presley.

   Another somewhat famous person, though not widely-known to have played
   the ukulele because he began at age 3, was Keith Green.

Tahitian ukulele

   The Tahitian ukulele is significantly different from other ukuleles
   because it does not have a sound box. The body – including the head and
   neck – is carved from a single piece of wood, with a wide conical hole
   bored through the middle. At the back, the bore is about 4 cm in
   diameter; at the front it is about 10 cm in diameter. The hole at the
   front is covered with a thin piece of wood, on which the bridge sits,
   so the instrument works rather like a wooden-skinned banjo. Indeed some
   of these instruments are referred to as Tahitian banjos. The strings
   are usually made from light-gauge fishing line – usually green in
   colour (usually around 40-50 lb test).

   The instrument seems to be a relatively recent invention, popular in
   eastern Polynesia, particularly French Polynesia. It is reported to
   have been introduced to the Cook Islands in 1990 by the band Te Ava
   Piti as a newly invented instrument.

Tuning a Tahitian ukulele

   These instruments may have just four strings – or some strings may be
   paired, so that the instrument has six or eight strings.

   The strings or pairs ("courses") are tuned to A[6] D[6] F#[6] B[5] or
   G[6] C[6] E[6] A[5] (See for International Pitch Notation codes).

   After the Hawaiian ukulele was invented, the Hawaiians referred to a
   similar, eight-string instrument tuned GCEA as a taro-patch fiddle.
   Before the invention of the ukulele, taro-patch fiddle referred to the
   rajão.

   Those who are familiar with ukulele chords will find that the same
   chord shapes will fit these tunings, but that the chords will be
   transposed and inverted.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukulele"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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