Ordered 2 Makala Dolphins

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EddiePlaysBass

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Yup, a black soprano and a metallic blue soprano. Neither one are for me (I have a Mahalo soprano with pineapples on it) but my girlfriend's cousins were over last weekend and loved my ukelele so I told them I would get them both one.

They are 5 and 6 years old so I doubt they'll actually make music on it, but they loved holding and strumming my soprano so I figured "why not" ! Who knows one of them will run with it and actually get a taste for playing an instrument :)

Now, before I deliver them, I will of course be playing with these Makala's myself ;) Should be fun!
 
EddiePlaysBass said:
Yup, a black soprano and a metallic blue soprano. Neither one are for me (I have a Mahalo soprano with pineapples on it) but my girlfriend's cousins were over last weekend and loved my ukelele so I told them I would get them both one.

They are 5 and 6 years old so I doubt they'll actually make music on it, but they loved holding and strumming my soprano so I figured "why not" ! Who knows one of them will run with it and actually get a taste for playing an instrument :)

Now, before I deliver them, I will of course be playing with these Makala's myself ;) Should be fun!
Click to expand...

Awesome ... those youngsters may surprise you. Teach them a few chords and a couple popular kids songs and they may get so excited that they get serious about learning how to play. 5 and 6 year olds are WAY smarter and more capable than we often give them credit. Fun!
 
I got my daughter (6) a shark for Christmas and she loves it! Her attention span is still a little short, but we will work on strumming for about 5-10 min at a time. She has gotten much better. We just started adding easy chords (C, Am, F). It has been a lot of fun! And the shark is perfect for the drops, bangs, etc that little kids are known for!

Enjoy!!
 
I have an old no-name uke that was my first impulse buy at a music store years ago. I stuck aquilas on it and it's now my loaner uke for beginners.

I keep half hoping it won't come home some day so I can have an excuse to buy a shark/dolphin for the same use. No particular reason, just think they are fun looking.
 
My first uke was a Dolphin. Absolutely love it. I stuck some Aquilas and 20 quid pickup on it and taken it to open mics and it's been great.
 
I've had my eye on a red sunburst shark beauty in the local store for a while now. I am sure I will end up buying it in a moment of weakness one day!
 
I play a Makala Shark, which is basically the same thing. It was originally my daughter's, before she got her Ukadelic. These little ukes have a big sound!
 
Got one for my five year old a couple months ago. She loves it. Hot cross buns on the A string is a favorite. I actually find myself picking it up every once in a while...
 
Yeah they both go to music classes (after school activity) but only one of them seems to have the music in him. He sings a lot and apparently his teacher has told the father that he's got a good singing voice. My hope's on him :-D

I do plan on getting 1 tuner and telling the mother how to tune the ukes. And when I get them next week I'll try and "break them in" before I pass them on (will be another couple of weeks before I see them anyway) so they'll at least stay in tune a bit. Worked for my Mahalo.
 
You could ask their mother if she has an android or iPhone. There are free tuner apps that are easy to use.
 
D3B7 said:
You could ask their mother if she has an android or iPhone. There are free tuner apps that are easy to use.
Click to expand...

Good call! She definitely has some sort of smartphone, I know that much. At 34, I feel very out of touch with the world I live in: I don't have a smartphone or tablet or phablet and when people hand me one, I have to ask how it works ... :)

Back on topic: my girlfriend suggested we let the ole Easter Bunny deliver the uke's. This means the cost goes out of our mutual budget (and does not reduce my uke-savings account ;) ) Double win!
 
Picked up the Makala's today during my lunch break. I didn't get to see or play them until I got home. First impression: they feel sturdier than my Mahalo. I immediately thought of getting one for myself.

Took one out to break in the strings. Took the best part of 45 minutes and I'm sure it'll be completely out of tune again tomorrow. The neck felt nice, bit wider than my own soprano. Some chords (Dm7) are easier on the Dolphin.

All in all, I prefer my Mahalo. The Dolphin I tried today (metallic blue) sounds brighter and sharper than my Mahalo, and while the neck appears to be a wee bit wider, I find no real advantage there.

Having said that, I will hold on to these uke's until Easter so I may change my mind later on ;) Also, I am very much a novice on the uke so take anything I say with the appropriate grains of salt.
 
Wonderful choices as gifts to your young friends! My blue Mahalo soprano is so very out of tune. It almost hurts the ears to play. Your Mahalo must be better in tune than mine.
 
I'm pretty sure the strings will have some sort of impact here - maybe the Dolphins have those Aquila's that no one seems to like? My Mahalo does stay in tune very well, and like I said I'll be breaking in the Dolphins a bit before giving them away so I will report back in a couple of weeks to see if / how I changed my mind ;)
 
Gave the uke's yesterday. The older kid especially seemed to love it - he'd asked about them during lunch a few hours before I gave them :D Not sure he and his brother will actually do something with them but I guess having an instrument around the house never hurt anyone (unless you get hit by said instrument). Having my dad's guitar lying around led me to pick up bass so who knows, I may have unleashed two drummers on the world :)

Can someone point me to (the name of) an app with which you can tune the uke using your smartphone? I do not have such a phone so I know nothing of apps ...

Side note: both kids are going to music school and seem to like it. They had a recital a while back and it made them love the whole music school thing :) One played percussion and glockenspiel and the younger brother played xylophone. The younger brother apparently sings well, too, so I wonder if he'll end up becoming a musician :)
 
EddiePlaysBass said:
Gave the uke's yesterday. The older kid especially seemed to love it - he'd asked about them during lunch a few hours before I gave them :D Not sure he and his brother will actually do something with them but I guess having an instrument around the house never hurt anyone (unless you get hit by said instrument). Having my dad's guitar lying around led me to pick up bass so who knows, I may have unleashed two drummers on the world :)

Can someone point me to (the name of) an app with which you can tune the uke using your smartphone? I do not have such a phone so I know nothing of apps ...

Side note: both kids are going to music school and seem to like it. They had a recital a while back and it made them love the whole music school thing :) One played percussion and glockenspiel and the younger brother played xylophone. The younger brother apparently sings well, too, so I wonder if he'll end up becoming a musician :)
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what type of smartphone you use, but you can go to the App Store and search for ukulele tuners. There are a lot of them. Some are free. I use the free aNueNue app. I have tried a few and prefer this one.
 
EddiePlaysBass said:
I'm pretty sure the strings will have some sort of impact here - maybe the Dolphins have those Aquila's that no one seems to like? My Mahalo does stay in tune very well, and like I said I'll be breaking in the Dolphins a bit before giving them away so I will report back in a couple of weeks to see if / how I changed my mind ;)
Click to expand...

I've given away a few Makala Dolphins as gifts, and the ones I've purchased come with a black set of strings. It makes a huge difference when you replace them with Aquilas, as a few earlier posters have mentioned--the sound is brighter and fuller to my ears. Might be worth a try if you haven't switched them out yet.
 
I gave my grandson a Makala Dolphin about 3 years ago. He is now 10. He came to my Ukulele meet up the other night for the first time and the way he played it blew us all away. He also went home and described the whole experience as "awesome". I was most impressed.
 
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