Ukulele Perspective has a new article about her buying a Kala U-Bass, here. She says she doesn't know how to play bass. This triggers my thoughts about how the ukulele has opened many new doors for people that never knew they were musical. The ukulele is fun and you can play simple to intensely complicated music on it. It is taking it's place as a serious instrument. And WE are all becoming musical.
UP is building cigar box ukuleles and exploring the Kala U-Bass. Adelle of Ukuleles & Languages is exploring the Baritone Ukulele. Pierre of Ukulele Attitude is playing ukuleles and dulcimer strum sticks, Todd Baio is playing ukulele, baritone ukulele, strum stick, harmonica, banjo, guitar, etc.
I recently went to a Friday morning estate sale a few miles from my home that had a ukulele listing. The uke was crap but there was an old Levin guitar and when I saw the label inside said made in Goteborg, Sweden I was compelled to purchase it for $75. I don't play guitar but it was a beautiful parlour guitar. Turns out it was made between 1933-1935. Even tried out a concertina mini accordian. At Burning Uke this year I had a chance to play percussion.
Been doing the Humble Baritonics blog and exploring the deeper sound of the Bari. Been exploring flatpicking (with my fingers) and enjoying the Flatpicking Guitar Magazine which is an amazing resource for learning theory with numerous arrangements.
But the bottom line is that the ukulele community is becoming a wave of musical exploration. Are you feeling a keen interest to try something new? Has another instrument caught your interest too? HU
Same for me...I only played classical guitar for years...The I found the uke...Now, 10 ukes later (yes UAS) I play proficienlty harmonica, recorder, some percussion (egg shakers, tambourine, clave, guiro, cowbell and wood block) and charango (the south american uke). I have built 2 ukes (from kits) and 1 cigar box uke (from scratch). I also know how to set up my ukes and harmonicas. So yes, I don't know what it but the uke open all these doors!
ReplyDeleteOr...Perhaps people are simply just getting tired of the standard C6-tuned ukulele. They've played it for a while, it's no longer new and cute (like a puppy/kitten), playing that cover of the Monkees just isn't doing it for them anymore, and it's not the be-all and end-all of
ReplyDeletemusical existence any longer. Maybe it's limitations are becoming evident, after all it
is only a small (usually) four-string instrument.
This might be what is causing the
movement to other instruments - i.e., it isn't because the ukulele is so musically wonderful that it leads to other avenues of expression, but perhaps people find it to be not as wonderful as they expected it to be or as it was
sold to them, and their musical journeys now require more nutrition than the little uke can provide them.
This would not be surprising. Waves come to ends for reasons not forseen during their rising phases.
Great post, Jeff. Got me thinking and responding at ukulele-perspective.com
ReplyDelete