So my friend thinks ukuleles aren't suited for sad songs...

Help me prove him wrong. "I want the instrument itself to speak the emotion of sadness," he says. Link me some good songs that show just how sad ukuleles can be.

I find ukes can be more bittersweet than sad....

Some that move me....for just music reasons and sometimes because they spark a memory (such as We'll Meet Again - brings back memories of my grandparents)...

Bookworm said:

Help me prove him wrong. "I want the instrument itself to speak the emotion of sadness," he says. Link me some good songs that show just how sad ukuleles can be.

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As with any instrument, it's more likely to be the performer than the instrument ... ukulele players just tend to be a little up-beat

Jake's classic rendition of George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is possibly as good an example of the genre

From a playing point-of-view I have struggled to find a way of strumming slow/sad/ballad-y songs that works well. To my ear, strumming just always seems too lively and bouyant, even when slowed right down. However, I do find that playing arpeggios works great - gives a real stark and mournful effect.

I think if you play in the minor key, it sounds a little darker...

A very sad song by three of the happiest people in the ukeiverse.





Scooter

Here's one of mine that's sort of sad ... only one minor chord though https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBUa-D-c9eU
CD available at CDbaby and iTunes

Here's a cover of a Jim Beloff original, "Blues on a Ukulele".





Scooter

Portland has a sad song contest once a year.For two years in a row I won First Place with two original songs. I was told that if I don't come to the regular monthly meetings not to come back The third song is yet to be publicly sung. The fourth one is is to the tune of Iz's Somewhere Over the Rainbow so all that needs to be learned are the words. To anyone acquainted with grief, the ukulele can be an expression of relief. It can sing of a bright tomorrow, and also tell of a heart full of sorrow. Choose or create a tune is a place to start , then fill in your own words as you listen to your heart. Don't take another's sad words as a loan, you've had enough sorrow of your own. The ukulele can play many things. The difference is the heart of the person behind the strings.

Silly.

The scales and notes played create the emotion, not the size or family of the instrument.

Every heard a chain gang sing????? they only have a pick axe and a rock to speak the emotion of sadness.

Bookworm said:

Help me prove him wrong. "I want the instrument itself to speak the emotion of sadness," he says. Link me some good songs that show just how sad ukuleles can be.

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AARRRRGGGGGHHHH. Not 'this' again!

For nearly 100 years, the media has propagandized to death that 'the ukulele is a HAPPY instrument', this is not only wrong, but also stupid and evident of lazy thinking, if any thinking at all.

The instrument has NO 'feelings' period. It is a piece of dead wood that comes alive with the PLAYER. It is the PLAYER that has feelings and if good enough of a performer can evoke FEELINGS in the LISTENER.

I hate to be that guy...but it seems like your friend is woefully misinformed about how MUSIC works and might be ignorant of basic songwriting constructs and how the song, the instrument and the musical delivery of the performer all interact to create the mood or feel of a song when it is performed. Either that or he is trolling you and trying to make you get all fussed up while looking for evidence to refute his claims.

Some people like this are broken in their mind and cannot be 'fixed' or convinced otherwise. Not all people are this way of course, but some folks are simply unable to understand because they lack the capacity to understand...

This is different from folks who are also either willfully ignorant and/or maliciously ignorant, but that's a whole other topic.

Just go on YouTube and put in the search box 'sad song ukulele' and then email him the link to that page. However, this may even be futile unless your friend has an open mind and does not hold on to confirmation bias.

Good luck!

(sorry for the rant, it was not directed at anyone in particular, I just have a low tolerance for repeating the ignorance and propaganda of fools, one such example is that 'the ukulele is ONLY a HAPPY instrument', which is COMPLETELY different from 'the ukulele makes ME happy')

Bookworm said:

Help me prove him wrong. "I want the instrument itself to speak the emotion of sadness," he says. Link me some good songs that show just how sad ukuleles can be.

Click to expand...

Absolute garbage. It's the player not the instrument. I perform sad songs on the ukulele. As they are often slower, I'll finger pick arpeggios instead of strum.

Got a Ukulele has a rant on this: http://www.gotaukulele.com/2014/02/the-ukulele-is-not-happiest-instrument.html

This is a Baritone, but still counts as an Ukulele:



Check out other videos by Danielle Ate the Sandwich, like "Women who loved you".

Possibly and easier way to "prove" that your friend is incorrect would be to ask them for a few Guitar/banjo/mandolin/trumpet sad songs, and then look up tabs for them online, or ask your fellow UU members to work up a quick "sad arraingement" of the song.

Many songs speak to one person, but would not to another, so playing the specific song on the instrument should quickly/easily disprove his belief.

Don't forget the Seasonista's have done a sad song week. I think that was Season 194? Here's an instrumental I wrote recently and I think it's very melancholy.
All done with ukulele's

ubulele said:

The major problem, as I see it, is the general lack of sustain on ukulele: tenors and baris tend to have longer sustain and thus better accommodate slower, sadder songs. Linear tunings also give more depth and dramatic contrast.

To compensate for the lack of sustain, too many uke players keep up a steady strum, which works against the mood and makes everything they play sound rather undifferentiated in feeling--not helped by the penchant to play everything monotonously in first position. But ukes are still capable of evoking the most poignant moods, even in reentrant tunings.

One place to look for excellent counter-examples to the "only suitable for happy songs" myth is the Seasons of the Ukulele sub-forum. In any season you're liable to encounter a wide gamut of moods, and I suspect (without checking) there have been several seasons devoted to themes of a sadder nature.

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As another example, check out Corey's rendition of Still Can't Say Goodbye by Chet Atkins. It's used in many of the sound samples on HMS and you can also find it in the lower left column on the Free Resources page: http://www.theukulelereview.com/sheet-music-for-instrumental-ukulele/

Good call, bonesigh. Here's a link to the "Saddest Songs in the World" ukulele playlist. (It was the 188th Season of the Ukulele.) Plenty of sad-sounding ukuleles here.