Ukulele; third most sought-after instrument

I found this article off Tracy Terada's website. Pretty interesting.

http://www.theopenpress.com/index.php?a=press&id=31560

Are we on the cusp of a huge ukulele craze?

rayan said:

Are we on the cusp of a huge ukulele craze?

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the answer is yes... hell yes

How can the ukulele not become a huge craze? However, if the uke becomes as popular as the guitar I don't think I'll feel as special to be a uke player anymore.

OrangeUke said:

How can the ukulele not become a huge craze? However, if the uke becomes as popular as the guitar I don't think I'll feel as special to be a uke player anymore.

Click to expand...

Yeah, its kind really cool that more people are getting into it, but also a little sad because it wont be as special

For some reason, this has been the year most peeps got into it. I can look at my school and say 10% own ukes and bring them to school. That's something I couldn't say last year.

Yes there was recently a very serious article in the local newspaper about a shortage of ukes worldwide. They approached the subject as if they were talking about the food shortage. It was very serious.

Heh... add I'm at a school with 1200 people in my grade alone... and there are only two, including me, that I know play the ukulele.

However, that's about to change... I've inspired one of my friends to take it up, and as soon as she can go out and buy one, she's going to do so.

I've done my part.


But yeah... it would seem that the instrument is gaining popularity rapidly... here's some stats from a local family owned music store that carries a rather nice entry level ukulele...

Sales in '04 ~10
Sales in '05 ~ 10
Sales in '06 ~ 16
Sales in '07 ~ 30, after which they ran out of them, and then discovered that their supplier was on backorder because so many of the ukes had been selling.

The things are in demand....

And no, those numbers weren't exact... they were as best as I can remember from a conversation with a store owner.