Ukulele Freaks

Am I the only one who feels that the ukulele suffers from some sort of image problem on the mainland?
 
oh man....*puts head down in shame* i concur with you Chiyo.

i dont think imma ever go to the boardwalk again lol. if i do, i hope i dont see that guy playing
 
Ain't any better in the San Francisco Bay Area. :(

We got da Ukulady. (Turn off your sound before clicking ... I've warned you.)

And then we Ukulele Ray (but at least he can sing).
 
i commend their enthusiasm for these great instruments. but unfortunately, their excentric behaviour can easily cause the general public to associate the ukulele with being a weirdo.

its bad enough that i had a bad experience with a girl that actually tried to put me down for being a uke player (she had no idea that i play two other instruments). the only thing worse i could experience is having someone expect me to play some sort of comical tune to the vibe of heckle and jeckle (if youre old enough, you know what im talking about) BEFORE i even start strumming.

i didnt even watch that movie half way. i got to about 25% of it and started ff'ing hoping to find a part that was halfway normal and didnt shame the instrument.

this is just an opinion of mine though.
 
very true, ukulady us the michael jackson of ukuleles....they dont go together.
 

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Here's one take on the matter. Two blessings of the uke are that (1) it's easy to learn the basics and (2) it's very portable. But those are also its curses. Anybody that wants some music or mele with their act can easily take-up an uke and add a new dimension to their performance (however well or poorly executed).
:(

But before anyone grows unhappy with how the eccentrics seem to be shaping the image of the uke these days, please enjoy these performances by Jake (Let's Dance) and by Tyler (his own composition).

Yes, there's a lot of light at the end of the tunnel; and it ain't no train! Keep practicin' and pushin' the limits of those four strings!
:) :) :)
 

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oh man, that second vid is an all-time fav of mine haha. but ya, some ppl believe that the uke is just an instrument for folk music and like u said chiyo, there are ppl who are breaking the limits of what can be performed on the uke. we got people like herb ohta jr., jake shimabukuro, and even UU's very own aldrine guerrero performing covers of songs that you wouldnt expect to be played on the uke and even performing original compositions that blow ur mind away.

btw chiyodad..... is ur avatar based on azumanga daioh's chiyo-chan's dad? cuz judging by ur name and the avatar, it sure looks like it :D
 
I think you guys got it wrong. All of these examples show a strong love for the Ukulele. The soundtrack to that Freaks movie is incredible. These people may be a bit avant-guarde, but their admiration and respect for the Uke is obvious.
 
These people may be a bit avant-guarde, but their admiration and respect for the Uke is obvious.
There's no doubt that they love the instrument. But IMHO, they just further reinforce the negative mainland stereotype that the ukulele is an instrument for "weirdos and folks who can't play the guitar".

I actually got that quote from a 9-year-old. Honesty from the mouths of children ...
:(

If they're to your taste, by all means enjoy them. They're certainly not my cup of tea.
 
For whatever it's worth Jason Tagg, the director of this video and member of Sonic Youth, is the creator of Midnight Ukulele Disco. Jason is the one who recorded Jake's Weeps video in Central Park and first posted it on the MUD site. At that time there was no Youtube or FLV downloaders etc. so Jason was kind enough to send me a copy of the video so I could have it on my hard drive to transcribe the video to create my tab.

Unfortunately, many of us wouldn't be playing the ukulele today had this not have happened (the video taping that is, not the fact there was a tab available - or we would have come to play the ukulele a different way).

The MUD site has its share of bad videos but it has a whole bunch of really good ones as well.
 
Ah, Dominator - the voice of reason in such a mad, mad world. sonicUKE is indeed very awesome and has helped spread the gospel of ukulele far and wide (though I still don't see why they would have lent their stuff to be used in such a cinematic mess). I agree with everybody, the ukulele does suffer from some pretty crazy stereotypes, but nothing that we couldn't shatter by being ten times more awesome than ukefreaks. Maybe someone should make a good movie about ukulele to counter the effects of this horrible one. Something with an actual plot and some sense of sanity.
 
I really cringe when I see stuff like that. The ukulady in particular, makes me want to punch little bunnies.
 
I think you guys got it wrong. All of these examples show a strong love for the Ukulele. The soundtrack to that Freaks movie is incredible. These people may be a bit avant-guarde, but their admiration and respect for the Uke is obvious.

I think I'm with SnakeOiler on this one. As I watched Freaks, I didn't see a connection between playing the Uke to being a freak. I think the Uke was just part of the story. different, artistic cinematics and story? Yes. Overtly make a connection to being freaky with te Uke, I didn't see that, and I'm a new player. just imho.
 
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