Cheap Electronic Tuners are the "Cause" of Uke Popularity

katysax

UU VIP
UU VIP
Joined
Jun 8, 2012
Messages
1,451
Reaction score
1
I have a theory that cheap electronic tuners are the sine qua non (essential root cause) of the growth in ukulele popularity.

Why? Because for beginners and people with little to no music experience tuning a uke without one is really hard. And if a uke is out of tune no amount of simple beginners instructions is going to lead to satisfying results.

When I was in high school and college I used to go just about everywhere with my guitar. And getting together with folks and playing was my favorite activity. I recollect every session starting with folks struggling to tune up and get in tune with each other. Then periodically while we were playing there would be a lot of discussion about being out of tune.

Now I go to uke groups and everyone pulls out their uke and easily tunes up. If someone gets out of tune, fixing it is easy. If someone goes in a store for the first time thinking of buying a uke, getting one off the wall, getting it in tune (if there is a tuner around) is easy. Trying a couple of chords is easy, and the uke is appealing.

I live in Southern California and the number of uke groups around is amazing. It is far more than you can find on the internet. Virtually every senior center here has a uke group. The Japanese cultural center has a uke group. The DAR has a uke group. There are a couple of groups that meet at churches. Ukes are really popular in the high schools. There are a couple of uke groups at libraries. I can count around 20 different groups in just the San Fernando Valley and I know of many more in other parts of the city. I also have a house in Tampa Florida and I can count almost as many groups there.

Seriously, there are many factors that contribute to the popularity of the uke, but I don't think any of them would have mattered BUT FOR the cheap electronic tuner.
 
Interesting theory, and I am sure that inexpensive electronic tuners do contribute to ease of use.

But...back in the day (late 60's, early 70's) when I was playing guitar, I had a pitch pipe to use to tune when a piano was not available. Thanks to Jim D'Ville's site and a camping experience with no electric or phone service, I now carry an "A" tuning fork for when the batteries are dead in my electronic tuner and I don't have cell service to use an online app.

I live in West Virginia and the closest meetups are in Columbus or Akron which are a couple of hours away. No schools, senior centers, libraries etc. have groups. I like playing solo, though.
 
I started back in the mid '70's, on guitar. Pitch pipes or 5 th fret comparative tuning. It's just something you had to learn, later on by ear.
Of course there are other theories on why the Uke has become very popular. They are relatively cheap, they are very portable, they are polyphonic, they go with or without song. Unlike the violin you can get a very decent sound without having to practice hundreds of hours first. Unlike the trumpet it isn't likely that you'll blast your neighbours out of their home.
 
Last edited:
When I was a kid, maybe fourteen, I thought that I wanted a guitar. My mom bought me this monstrosity of a guitar with an arched top and steel strings for Christmas, and it came with a book on how to play the guitar. It also had a pitch pipe. I spent the rest of my Christmas vacation trying to get that POS tuned. Pitch pipe or not, I never did get it to sound good. I don't know if it was the guitar, the pitch pipe, or me, but it was one of the most frustrating experiences of my youth. So maybe there is something to that theory. I still struggle with tuning by ear, and honestly, most of the people that I know who seemingly have to do so, sound out of tune to me when they finally get done anyway. So I'm going to agree that the electric tuners at least have something to do with it.
 
Last edited:
Electronic tuners have certainly helped with the take up of ukes - but I also think that it became fashionable of itself, & with so many different sizes readily available, there is something for everyone. :)

Now, with the internet, I don't think it will 'disappear' again, like it did when it went out of fashion before.
 
The electric tuner is at least as important to a guitar, banjo or mandolin as it is to the ukulele, so the tuner virtue could be applied to any stringed instrument. I feel that the popularity of the ukulele has more to do with playability and being less frustrating than most other instruments. It is also very pleasant and expressive.
 
Last edited:
In the late 60's I tried to learn guitar and got a 12 string somehow. Only thing was I couldn't keep it in tune and ended up pulling the bridge out of it! If I had had a tuner then, I might be a guitar player.
I found a clipon tuner when I went to buy some new guitar stings a couple of years ago, when I thought I'd play my guitar with just four strings to see if I'd like a Uke. The best $16 I ever spent. After playing and tuning for ~18 months, I can now hear when my G string goes out even a few cents or if my B sting goes flat.
Plus I can watch the tuner and see what the heck note I'm playing. Helps learn the fretboard.
 
I feel that the popularity of the ukulele has more to do with playability and being less frustrating than most other instruments.

I know that's why I picked it up. And also portability. I travel for work and wanted something I could stick behind the truck seat and easily carry into a hotel room.

Since I don't have a background in music or other instruments, the quick learning curve needed to get to where I was enjoying myself was a MAJOR factor in why I've stuck with it. It really had nothing to do with tuners.
 
I firmly believe that the internet is the most likely catalyst, also hearing Iz on a number of movies and TV shows, Jake doing songs so amazingly, but more than anything, to be able to see uke players on the internet, only then did it's size and playability motivate people that attempted it, to continue on.
 
I think I'm going to modify my theory. I agree that all the factors discussed here are contributing causes to the uke craze. The simplicity of the instrument, the size, the internet, etc. However, I think that the electronic tuner may be the overlooked factor that gives uke popularity its "stickiness". People bought ukes and started playing them, then their friends joined in. No one was stopped at the beginning by struggling with getting their instrument in tune. The electronic tuner removed a major barrier.
 
I think I'm going to modify my theory. I agree that all the factors discussed here are contributing causes to the uke craze. The simplicity of the instrument, the size, the internet, etc. However, I think that the electronic tuner may be the overlooked factor that gives uke popularity its "stickiness". People bought ukes and started playing them, then their friends joined in. No one was stopped at the beginning by struggling with getting their instrument in tune. The electronic tuner removed a major barrier.


:agree: Methinks this a good summary of the collected observations :)
 
It's a long ways now from the days of getting one string in tune (or everyone matched to one string) and then tuning all of the other strings based on the one in-tune string. One thing is for sure: the electronic tuner has cut the tuning time down to next-to-nothing compared to what it used to be - and has cut down the "who's right" disputes about who is in tune or not.
 
Top Bottom