Big Boy Factor

I'm sort of the opposite - one of the reasons I like sopranos is they are cute :D

I do get how the extra resonance of the tenor appeals - I do wonder if I'm missing something when I listen to good players.

They can sound like a small guitar though rather than a uke. Which is ok, guitar is nice :)
 
I've had people literally laugh in my face if/when I told them I play ukulele.

Then I start playing. Sometimes I see jaws dropping, other times I see folks giggling/pointing at me in a ridiculing manner.

When it's friends and family that have this reaction, it's demoralizing. I think of these specific people as first-class a-holes now. They are not worth my time. Toxic people are removed from my life ASAP.

They all will be deprived of my music unless they opt to buy it on iTunes or Amazon when I eventually publish and distribute the fruits of my songwriting efforts.

Until then, I will reserve public ukulele playing for when I know for sure that I am in the welcome presence other uke players.

The jaw dropping reaction was what I got at church last Sunday. It was a rare occasion to have just me & my uke, our female singers, and the piano for a verse of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. People's reaction was interesting. Some had heard ukuleles before & had some had not, but they all were surprised by how nice it sounded & they all were very complimentary. I really have no qualms about blending in with the rest of the band. Being a novice at public performance, that's my comfort zone. I'm there to use something I have a passion for in worship. But it was nice to have the ukulele sound stand out & get noticed in a positive way.

To the point of this thread ......play whatever size ukulele is comfortable for you & whatever makes you happy. Play alone to soothe your soul, or play with others for fun and a sense of community. Play for others to uplift them & make them smile. If someone belittles your ukulele as "just a toy" then the loss is theirs.
 
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The jaw dropping reaction was what I got at church last Sunday. It was a rare occasion to have just me & my uke, our female singers, and the piano for a verse of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. People's reaction was interesting. Some had heard ukuleles before & had some had not, but they all were surprised by how nice it sounded & they all were very complimentary. I really have no qualms about blending in with the rest of the band. Being a novice at public performance, that's my comfort zone. I'm there to use something I have a passion for in worship. But it was nice to have the ukulele sound stand out & get noticed in a positive way.

To the point of this thread ......play whatever size ukulele is comfortable for you & whatever makes you happy. Play alone to soothe your soul, or play with others for fun and a sense of community. Play for others to uplift them & make them smile. If someone belittles your ukulele as "just a toy" then the loss is theirs.

Thank you very much.

I am both inspired and filled with joy that YOUR playing uke in the Church band is both personally fulfilling for you, and has also been admired by those listening.

This is the true gift of sharing the music. :)
 
I love playing my old Martin, it's probably the most fun to play for me. If I had to go through life with one ukulele, I think I'd have to pick the old Martin. I typically prefer concert size, it's a little easier to play for me. I tried tenor, but just don't like the longer space between frets.
 
I've had people literally laugh in my face if/when I told them I play ukulele.
That's crazy. I've never had anyone laugh at me when I told them I played the ukulele. I've had people who didn't take it seriously. I mean, no one has ever just immediately thought that I am some serious musician because I play the ukulele, but never a laugh or even a snicker. But then I don't take myself as a serious musician either, so that doesn't really bother me. Now tap dancing, that's another thing. When I tell my friends that next week I'm going to start tap dancing lessons, I've gotten some laughs. Just thinking about me tap dancing make me laugh.
 
My goodness! This thread is quite popular. I suppose the Big Boy factor influenced me. When I decided to play ukulele, it was a solely intellectual conception. I didn't go play any or anything like that. I just decided to play and I decided to play tenor because the soprano seemed like a toy to me--like a plastic harmonica in the toy aisle of the grocery store. The soprano sounded tinny, I said to myself. It sounded like playing a guitar between the bridge and the tail-piece. So, based solely on a prejudice that I conjured out of thin air, I committed to the tenor scale and to this day that is what I have in my stable. However I have learnt that the lion's share of that initial prejudice was false, but the damage is done. I am a tenor fanatic and I can't play the soprano without squenching up my hand. Despite how I arrived at this point, I just enjoy the result and play my tenors, even though I now hold no bad thoughts about the soprano.

As for people ridiculing me. If they say they saw me playing my guitar on the porch, I let them simmer in their own ignorance. I don't tell them it is actually a ukulele. I guess the spectres of Tiny Tim or George Formby loom as menaces on the edge of my consciousness and fearing to be associated with them, I am taciturn about this lifestyle.
 
No Big Boy factor for me. I just went into a uke shop and tried out a bunch of them. The concert seemed the best fit for my size for my first uke. I have since bought many different sized ukes. Ironically, I play a tenor scaled uke and a soprano the most though!

And I too have encountered other people laughing at me for playing the ukulele at open mikes, mostly guitarists who take themselves too seriously. But they usually stfu after the performance. (And really if they are *that* good why are they even at an open mike?) I'm starting to see more and more ukuleles at open mikes in my area. It's sort of like being in a gang where all the uke peoples sit together even if they don't know each other and give each other support.
 
I haven't been laughed at, except by one idiot who started singing Tiptoe Through the Tulips. But I do often get ignored in music jams. I have big pipes and a good repertoire of songs so I Stand My Ground. But countless times I get skipped over if I don't speak up. I play my ukulele proudly. I work at it a lot and spend a fair amount of time around musicians. The good ones pay attention and respect that I keep improving. As for the big boy Factor, yes the boys seem to be the worst offenders. I was at a party recently and two women who are great musicians and singers asked me to join them. One on fiddle and one on resonator guitar. A few men tried to get in on the jam, a clarinet, and a washtub bass succeeded because they let the three of us call the tunes, and they supplied background fill. Some other big boys with big guitars meandered over and realized they were out of our league. We don't try to outdo one another. We support one another, listen to each other, and see where we could enhance. It makes all three of us sound great. But most important we were making good music.

Where I do get raised eyebrows, or patronizing platitudes about ukulele is when someone asks me " what do you play?" They might hem and haw, mumble about someone they know has one or maybe they have one, offer an apologetic "that's nice," or follow up with "so what else do you play?," or tell me that there are ukulele groups you can go to. It's like I can't be a serious musician if I play the ukulele. So now I say " I will tell you what I play if you promise not to be patronizing, but act genuinely impressed." That stops them in their tracks and I have been pleasantly surprised to get favorable responses that way. I volunteer at a very respected music venue, so have lots of contact with musicians. One awesome Rockin piano player Diva songstess was wildly supportive. She said she wanted to dedicate one of her songs to me but there wasn't time in the short set for her to bust out her ukulele which she admitted she's not very good on. That was different :) Then again it was a talented woman.
 
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I like playing chord songs on a solid mahogany soprano the best. To my ear that is the true ukulele sound.
But when I play finger style I lean toward a concert or tenor, mostly for comfort and some extra frets.
 
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