Who do we represent?

Rllink

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I'm on a posting rampage yesterday and today. I'm supposed to rest for a couple of days, so I'm resting here. It has become apparent to me that a lot of ukulele players do not come here and that a lot of them do not seem to subscribe to the same opinions that arise from our own groupthink here. Do we actually represent the ukulele community as a whole, or do we just represent our own little corner of it?
 
I'm having trouble seeing how asking that question here is going to get you anything approaching an objective answer :confused:
 
Thinking of the groups I play with, ukulele players are a diverse bunch. They come at the ukulele from many different directions and are looking towards different goals. Many are happy with basic skills and are happy if they can play and sing along with the group with no great desire to take on more difficult skills. Some like me, are limited in their Atlanta but strive to improve anyway, and some can really play that thing. Some care about promoting the ukulele and bringing others into the fold, others are happy keeping it a close held secret.

That's not unlike the crowd here, it takes all kinds and all are welcome as long as they are civil.
 
As one of the teachers in the forum, I can very easily say that the members on this forum do not represent the majority of players out there...for adults or minors. There are tons of school-age students out there who are passionate about playing...but they are not going to be buying a $500 (or more) ukulele, and they are going to be wanting to play songs of their own choosing rather than conversing on a forum. Incidentally, they don't want to be playing "You Are My Sunshine" as part of a jam, either. So there is a divide in age and musical interest.

At the same time, there are a bunch of adult players who enjoy playing and may even own an expensive ukulele--and may attend local jams or ukulele festivals--but not participate here.

This forum represents players who are passionate about the instrument who also want to talk more about it...I would consider it more of a vocational group. It is generally open to all, welcoming almost all the time, and generally positive in nature and interaction. It is a good place to spend some time and share/learn about ukuleles.

And some of the major players here have influence in the world of ukulele...through the purchase of instruments to even those that have relationships with the companies and luthiers that build these instruments (some are actual owners of companies or are well known luthiers). As a result, you get a perspective here that represents years of experience building and playing.

The danger, in all walks of life, can be forgetting about those outside of the forum, believing that our way is the only way. Even then, I think this forum does a good job of holding a grasp of reality.

I'm so very thankful for this place.
 
I think some of the people you might see at a uke group originally came along with someone who played in it. They enjoy the company, & likely have no interest in doing anything more than strum & sing in their little group. That's perfectly fine.

Others see the uke as a musical instrument & want to learn to go further with it, recording & posting online & on here. Some play instrumentals, some play classical music, some play rock, it's all good.

Myself, I started learning uke because I couldn't play piano, or my harmonicas. :)

With the encouragement I found here, my musical experience has gone a lot further than it would have on my own. I enjoy being a part of this community, but not everyone wants to join in. Also, this site is mainly sing & strum based, which doesn't suit everyone, I should know, as I would never have dreamed of doing such a thing before joining in here. :cool:
 
Choirguy has made some good points.

Here in the forums are people not only interested in ukulele but also willing and able to use a forum (yes, that old fashioned stuff from the nineties when they did not have Facebook and the like).
Looking at the stuff posted on Facebook I tend to say here is the meeting place of the more "mature" people - but opinions on that might widely differ....

In any case this forum community does for sure not represent all ukulele players worldwide, and most probably not even the US ukulele players. It is a bit like a permanent ukulele jam: people from all over the place meet in the same spot to "live ukulele", some stay more in the background, some are more prominent in the foreground - and some join only on rare occasions. The common denominators are (a) interest in ukulele and (b) knowledge of English. What is beyond that is upon each and every member to disclose or keep hidden.

Short answer: we (re)present ourselves.
 
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I've lurked around a few forums on other topics, and in comparison I find UU to be much more diverse in opinion and generally more civil. That said, we represent only ourselves and probably spend a lot more time thinking about ukulele than the community as a whole.
 
What am I missing? I never noticed any particular "groupthink" here...:confused:

bratsche
 
Good discussion above!
I think this is one of the best most inclusive places on Internet forums (message boards) and I am thankful for that. Also I did not know others who played so this was a nice welcoming place for someone just starting out.
But I'm sure we are probably only a small percentage of the actual ukulele players out there, right? It can feel like we are much more but we are realistically probably less than 5%.
I've met people with a uke at the airport before and asked if they were on the UU forum here. But they'd never been which I thought "hey if you play uke you would naturally join this group, right?"
Most of the local seniors uke group that I play with are not active members here.
 
It can feel like we are much more but we are realistically probably less than 5%.

My estimate would be way, way, way, way . . . less than 1%. I think that people here represent those who believe that spending time on a ukulele forum is a good use of time. And how much time people spend varies greatly -- among different people, and -- for some of us -- over time. That is, I spend way, way, way, way . . . less time here than I did when I first showed up.

I also think that this place represents people who respect the instrument, which can be difficult to find elsewhere.
 
I attend a regular uke jam every two weeks of 40 or more people. Most are regulars that have been attending for over two years and I would say less then 25 % of those people have heard of UU. We here are the fanatics. :p
 
I don't hang out much with other ukulele players outside this forum. I go to two or three uke events a year. The rest of the time I go to folk clubs, play in a recorder group, sing in a choir. In fact quite a diverse range of musical activities. I use the uke to accompany myself singing folk songs mostly though I am also a regular participant in the seasons.
 
I guess this forum represents people who play the Ukulele and enjoys being on an online forum.

How we go about our ukulele playing besides being on a forum compared to the average person with a Ukulele shouldn't be that important. The important thing is that we can benefit from each other's experiences. It doesn't seem to me that UU forum discussions finds answers for the right way to do things, you just share experiences.

From the threads you find here, perhaps people here are a bit more gear freaks than the average ukulele player. That is one point where I think we differ from the average ukulele player. Reading this forum you get the idea that UAS is totally more normal than it probably is.

I joined to get advice on which inversion of a chord to use in a song, and found the SOTU to help my motivation for learning new songs. Quite frankly, many of the other sub fora I mostly read because I like being on an online forum- not because I think it is better for my playing than using the same time practicing.
 
I'm on a posting rampage yesterday and today. I'm supposed to rest for a couple of days, so I'm resting here. It has become apparent to me that a lot of ukulele players do not come here and that a lot of them do not seem to subscribe to the same opinions that arise from our own groupthink here. Do we actually represent the ukulele community as a whole, or do we just represent our own little corner of it?

As mentioned earlier, there is a diverse world of uke players, coming from different mindsets and perspectives.
But I like to think all have Aloha or eventually find Aloha as way of life.
 
Most people I speak to really are completely uninformed about the ukulele. I might as well be speaking about quantum theory or particle physics from the blanks stares I often receive.

I am not equipped to speculate what the cause of their ignorance might be.

However, I know of a few other forums, that are either severely lacking in any accurate info, or hostile to new players, or are just stuffed with the same exact questions week after week (or some combination of all 3)...

UU is a special place - a "Sanctuary" as well as a "Library" of good information, continuously fed by passionate ukulele enthusiasts.

I wish I had more time to interact here, but when I do, I am always pleased with the experience. :)
 
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Most people I speak to really are completely uninformed about the ukulele. I might as well be speaking about quantum theory or particle physics from the blanks stares I often receive.

I am not equipped to speculate what the cause of their ignorance might be.

However, I know of a few other forums, that are either severely lacking in any accurate info, or hostile to new players, or are just stuffed with the same exact questions week after week (or some combination of all 3)...

UU is a special place - a "Sanctuary" as well as a "Library" of good information, continuously fed by passionate ukulele enthusiasts.

I wish I had more time to interact here, but when I do, I am always pleased with the experience. :)

Yes, Joe, this is a very unique time and place in our Universe. I also belong to some Uke Facebook pages but perceive UU as something entirely different, something that has proved it value to me repeatedly over the years. That value ranges from acquiring knowledge, listening to other's options in order to reach my own and most importantly the friendships that have developed.
 
Whatever our group philosophy, if there is one, we are definitely the "IN GROUP"......:music:
 
I just bumped into a gentleman at San Francisco Airport (SFO) on Thursday night, who saw me carrying my case, and asked if it was "a yookalaylee", to which I responded "Why yes!" I brought it over and showed it to him - he was playing a nice little Kala Concert size, and said he'd been playing only a couple of years. When I opened my case and took out the KoAloha Sceptre, he was amazed! Never had he seen anything like it, didn't know what size it was - he had heard of soprano and baritone, but didn't know what a tenor uke was, and didn't know his was a concert size. He also said he'd never seen a koa ukulele, that he knew of.

Oh, yeah... Did I mention that he had lived in Hilo his entire life, (mid-30s), got the Kala at Hilo Ukuleles, and had never heard reference to "K-brands"?

So there went another preconception out the window.

I know plenty of ukulele players who have never heard of UU; more than I know in person who know about it. I have to agree that each of us represents ourselves, and maybe - just maybe - one other person. But some of the people I call my Best Friends out in the Real World, I met here on UU first.


-Kurt​
 
I'm on a posting rampage yesterday and today. I'm supposed to rest for a couple of days, so I'm resting here. It has become apparent to me that a lot of ukulele players do not come here and that a lot of them do not seem to subscribe to the same opinions that arise from our own groupthink here. Do we actually represent the ukulele community as a whole, or do we just represent our own little corner of it?

I think we represent ukulele players of all levels that want to either learn and/or share information about the ukulele.

-- Gary
 
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