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FSUkulele

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So after watching this video that was found/posted by one of our members, I made the mistake of reading comments. I understand when people don't know the difference between a ukulele and a guitar, thinking perhaps that it is a baby guitar. So I commented on NAME1's comment suggesting my own view of what takes talent and what is music. What do I get in response? See for yourself.

This kinda stuff just irks me.

NAME1 (22 hours ago)
i think this kid is talented give him a real guitar and we will see

sivadb518 (22 hours ago) +3
@NAME1
That is a "real" ukulele. Don't be ignorant. If he doesn't play guitar in his whole life he'll still be an amazing and talented musician if he keeps it up.

NAME2 (17 hours ago)
@sivadb518
But not as much as if he'd play guitar.
 
I can understand your frustration.

It seems to me that the guitar has become the instrument that connects most with American culture and that has leaked out around the world to many cultures. Although the guitar has been popular for a long time, I don't believe it was this popular until it became electrified, which wasn't really that long ago as far as the history of music goes.

I think a lot of people don't see a bigger picture, but rather see what is in front of them, and assume that is the big picture for everyone. When I was a kid, I didn't consider playing anything other than guitar, because I wanted to be cool.....it never worked for me!

It is a matter of perception. I've never heard anyone belittle an incredible violin player, but that instrument is small compared to a guitar, and uses four strings. Somehow the uke is perceived by many people as a toy....something they buy for children to bang around on. We know it is so much more.
 
This is sort of akin to this thread:

http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23065

Yes, violins are all very cute and that, but they're not like a "real" double bass! When I hear fellow mainlanders treat the uke like a toy, I just have roll my eyes :rolleyes: , tune up and start strummin'... :music:
 
I've only been playing a couple of months but have already heard the Tiny Tim and Tip Toe comments several times.
 
Some people just choose to happily wallow in their own ignorance like swine in their own slop. :rolleyes:
 
Just replace the word ukulele in your comment with any other instrument (piano for example) and it's obvious how much this clown doesn't understand logic let alone musicianship. Is harmonica "less" than guitar? Is cello? Idiot.

The fact is ukulele is not taken seriously by the mainstream here on the mainland. This is of course not universal, but as a general statement it's true.

It's not helped by the current "quirky" fad status of the uke either - in fact, for every Julia Nunes video (just as an example, I'm not bashing her) the odds of the instrument ever being taken seriously go down quite a bit. "It's just a "quirky" amateur thing for weepy college girls..." was an actual quote I heard from a music reporter here in Seattle.

Last week I played guitar live instead of uke - I got this from a guy I've played in front of probably a dozen times: "Hey that was pretty cool, I didn't know you could really play... I though you just used a uke?" I ignored him.

It will take more than Jake S and Lyle Ritz to drive the uke into mainstream culture. I'm ok with that, and just ignore the idiots like the one above.
 
personally I like to be a little different, just like all of you ;)

You can't throw a guitar without hitting someone who plays it, but the uke, when played well, commands attention.
 
It's not helped by the current "quirky" fad status of the uke either - in fact, for every Julia Nunes video (just as an example, I'm not bashing her) the odds of the instrument ever being taken seriously go down quite a bit. "It's just a "quirky" amateur thing for weepy college girls..." was an actual quote I heard from a music reporter here in Seattle.

It will take more than Jake S and Lyle Ritz to drive the uke into mainstream culture.

I don't understand how it's the goal for male, older ukulele players to drive the uke into mainstream culture but every college girl who plays it is somehow responsible for bringing everything downhill and having it taken less and less seriously. What's the difference between the extremely talented Jake who, by becoming popular, is succeeding in making people take the ukulele more seriously, and the extremely talented Julia who, by becoming popular, is responsible for turning ukulele into a quirky fad and keeping it from ever being taken seriously? Aren't they both talented musicians who love this instrument and have inspired many people to pick it up themselves?

This makes absolutely no sense to me. Maybe I'm just tired of all of the people commenting on my videos who have been telling me that I'm ruining the integrity of the ukulele by being a college girl with a lot of YouTube subscribers who has fun playing this instrument, but I just don't understand why I can't love this instrument and make music with it in the same way that older men can.

The problem is not with the age or gender of more popular musicians who play the instrument, it's with the people who put others into categories and judge them for it. Primarily, it's with the people who look at a ukulele and just assume that it's just a crappy toy guitar. It's also just a little bit with the people who look at a young girl playing a ukulele and refuse to take her seriously.

Just my two cents. :)
 
Why is it so important that anyone take the ukulele seriously anyway? Why all the effort to establish some sort of mainstream legitimacy? It's still the same instrument either way.

If every person on earth but me suddenly decided that the ukulele wasn't a "real" instrument, I'd still play it and enjoy myself doing so.

JJ
 
I couldn't care less if people want to remain ignorant. I listen to people playing the ukulele as well as oud and the bouzouki and the shamisen and the dulcimer and myriad other string instruments with awe. There is such much incredible music out there played on instruments other than the guitar...if they choose to limit their appreciation to the guitar it's their loss and nothing they say can bother me...
 
I don't want the ukulele to become mainstream

Then it would be "cool" to play it, and we'd have all sorts of people who are fans only because it is cool (not that I'm a hardcore uker myself).

I like fringe instruments
 
I don't want the ukulele to become mainstream

Then it would be "cool" to play it, and we'd have all sorts of people who are fans only because it is cool (not that I'm a hardcore uker myself).

I like fringe instruments
Anyone who lives in, or has visited, Hawaii knows that the uke is about as mainstream as it gets. Maybe out of that context, you could call it fringe, and by and large people here on the mainland and elsewhere do consider it as such. So be it! This discussion shall continue as long as it that way, but the way it's looking on YouTube, it won't be for long...

I'm more amused than bothered by the topic. It's like wondering if a rain stick is a "real" percussion instrument. It is what it is. BTW, you should see them carry on about it on rainstickunderground.com. Hi-larious!!!:D
 
99.97% of the comments on YouTube are complete crap anyway. YouTube has become what USENET was when I gave up on it a decade or so ago, right down to the style of the trolling. There's one thing that redeems it, and that's being able to watch the original video.

--Mark
 
can i say two things please.

1. dont worry that its not good enough for anyone else but you.

to play uke, or anything else for that matter, because it is cool is silly, to play because it is uncool is equally silly. to even worry about popularity or fame or your audience or what anyone thinks, or what instruments are better or worse like there is some kind of pecking order is just plain stupid. to be impressed or offended by the opinion of anyone is vanity, and vanity is for shallow people. You simply need to express yourself. Play what you want to, how you want to and from your heart everything else is just so much fluff in the belly button of life.... in the end, inside you is where art comes from, so...

2. make art for arts sake. for the joy of your soul. nothing, but nothing, else matters

ask jake, or julia or brudder iz or eric clapton or jimmy paige or paul mccartney or anyone who really is a musical artist, they will tell you the same thing.

happy strumming!
 
Ukulele players, with a few exceptions seem to be a particular sort of person. Positive, tolerant and fun loving among other attributes.

It seems guitar players are all sorts of people. A wider range of people. I've run into a few guitar players that act like they are out to proove something. They've got to act like a rockstar or some Cooler than Thou musician. Egos come more into play sometimes.

I think that's part of the reason I love uke. Most ukulele players are very genuine, and it's hard to be pretentious with a ukulele. We've got a ukulele cool that can't be faked.
 
Why is it so important that anyone take the ukulele seriously anyway? Why all the effort to establish some sort of mainstream legitimacy? It's still the same instrument either way.

If every person on earth but me suddenly decided that the ukulele wasn't a "real" instrument, I'd still play it and enjoy myself doing so.

JJ

Ditto.

.
 
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