I originally learned music and theory through formal piano lessons, taken at a young age. Then came clarinet, and finally trumpet, my original "axe", which I studied for ~12 years and went to school for (currently work in the wine biz, so you see how well that paid off
)
I had tried to teach myself guitar years ago, but was overwhelmed by the necessary dexterity. Despite having 10+ years of piano under my belt, where both hands were using all fingers to do different things simultaneously, I could not manage more than a few simple chords and strums on the guitar, so I told myself strings just weren't for me and wrote it off as a distraction from the trumpet.
Then my wife, who claimed to be 'musically challenged', discovered she had a knack for the ukulele. I bought her a nice solid-wood travel Kala concert, and watched her musical learning take off. Her learning was put on hold, however, when she became pregnant and I picked up her uke to noodle around with. Now I'm the one obsessed with these darn things, and I don't think she has touched that Kala since.
Whether the uke is truly easier for me than guitar or piano, or just more fun to play and therefore something I want to practice more, I don't know. What I do know is that I still can't read tab to save my damn life...for someone who spent their entire musical career reading notation like a normal person, it might as well be Egyptian hieroglyphics being translated and read in ancient Olmec to me.
Getting back to "why the uke", I'm sure it is a similar answer as to why I chose the trumpet all those years ago: because it is a rightfully unapologetically fun freaking instrument to wail on! :nana: