Why do you play the ukulele? research for a college paper

luckyends

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Dear Ukulele Underground forum goers,

This is luckyends here again, and I'm in the process of doing research for a paper I have to write for my english class at Cal State Chico.

The thesis of the paper is why has the ukulele become so popular in our time period and where can we see it in pop culture.

So I need to know why you picked up the ukulele and why you play it to help answer my question.
No names are required you just need to be OK to be cited in my paper as an anonymous source.

Thank you for your time

Luckyends

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Update:
The project is going well thanks for all your input.

Please keep responding if you hav'nt already I can always use more.

When the essay is done I will post a copy online or a link to it for all of your viewing pleasure

thank you so much
 
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I wanted to try ukulele because I wanted to learn a stringed instrument, and tried guitar, but I have very small hands (almost kid-sized!). So, it was mostly frustration trying to play guitar. I talked about getting a uke for a long time, and finally my best friend said it was silly for me to keep talking about it, but not shell out for one, so she bought me one. I was delighted at how quickly I learned to play a couple of chords. After a bit of practice, I became pretty obsessed. And, that hasn't really stopped, for about a year now! I play it because it's happy-making. It's therapeutic to make music, and it's fun. I bring my uke to work and play on my break. If it's a bad day at work, my 15 minutes of music time can help bring me out of a funk. I play at home with my friends and family, and I bring it along when I go places, and people usually ask me to play there too. Everyone seems happy when there's uke music happening. My uke love is spreading quickly here; both of my best friends now play too, and my boss is shopping for one now after watching us play every day. I have also lent out ukes to a couple of people who got interested when seeing me play... looking for them to join our ranks soon. ;)

I personally hadn't consciously noticed uke much in pop-culture myself, before I had one. I just loved them. Now that I have one, I notice them everywhere! Pre-uke, I recall noticing them popping up in random places (the author of one of my favorite online comics, Unshelved, started blogging about his new uke obsession, and linked to the 1st vid of Jake I ever saw). I'd mention them to my friend every time I saw them, which I think may have helped her decide to get me one. I still mention them now, but now we can discuss them as fellow-uke-obsessed-people. :D
 
Interesting idea for a paper. My wife and I often wonder how ukes now fill a whole corner at our local music store, and a year ago they didn't even stock strings. I got into ukulele about 5 years ago when I was traveling for work. I wanted an instrument I could fly with easily, and a soprano fit the bill (I played guitar and piano up to that point). I just really fell in love with the sound. Simple, pure. It really distills music down to the bare elements. I subscribe to the adage that a song wasn't a song unless you could play it with an acoustic guitar at the kitchen table. I now add my ukulele into that equation.

In addition, there's just something about the instrument that makes other people smile. It doesn't matter if they are amused or curious, a smile is a smile. And that's a nice thing to spread.

Good luck with the paper.

-John
 
I like the sound of it. . . it's real comfy to hold and when I touch it just so. . . WAIT. . .
 
Two words: George Harrison.
 
I've given my background before, but for your paper, I'll repeat myself here. :)

I have played classical guitar for a number of years. Last June I won a tenor uke in a drawing. I had seen Jake's Weeps vid and even thought about getting a guitalele, then this little 4-stringer just fell in my lap.

I thought it would be a novelty that would quickly wear off. Instead, I fell in love with it and play it more than guitar these days.

Why? It's fun, the sound is charming and happy. I was completely unaware of any uke revival going on, so I totally wasn't jumping on any bandwagon.

BTW, I am a 56-year-old female. I like how the uke has an incredibly diverse appeal, like the community here at UU. You got teens, you got senior citizens, you got classically trained musicians and you got people who've never touched an instrument before.
 
i picked up ukulele cause i love my guitar, but i couldn't always bring where i wanted to. so picked up the ukulele i had and never used and fell in love. ukuleles are unique in sound, and the happy feeling you get when you see someone dancing around with their uke.:D
 
I picked up my ukulele for a couple of reasons, but many of them are same as those of other people.

1. I had played a piano 3-15 yrs old. I wanted to play it again, but buying a piano again came to a hault moneywise.
Ukulele is cheap!

2. I tried a guitar before, and I gave up for I cannot fret some (or many?) chords.
Ukulele is far much easier!

3. Somehow I ended up in ukulele, I fell in love with the sound!
Ukulele sound make me happy!
 
There were a number of things that brought me to the ukulele, not the least of which is that I used to play violin and wanted to learn guitar. And I figured the ukulele was the natural transition between the two, being four-stringed like a violin, similar sized and similar tuning (not identical, but close enough), but more in the spirit of a guitar, with the strumming, the fretting, and so on. The fact that I could get one for about 20 bucks made it really easy to pick one up after I had already laid down a bunch of money for the guitar I was getting frustrated with. And I knew I liked the sound- I'd seen the "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" video with Jake S. in Central Park, but I thought that was sort of an isolated meme, I didn't know ukuleles were becoming a "thing" until I was already in love with mine.

It is helping me with some of the issues I was having with the guitar, by the way!
 
I play the ukulele because it makes happy and I wanted to expand my musical horizons and I thought I would play the ukulele. Took lessons at the local YMCA and wanted to continue it. I played the piano from 6 years old until high school. The piano is not portable but the UKULELE IS!
 
I think the real question here is, why wouldn't you play the ukulele?

JJ
 
To get chicks.
 
I wanted to learn an instrument before I turned thirty. I decided this at 29.

I have no breath control and limited rhythm. I couldn't afford a piano or decent keyboard. And I only had a year.

This left fretted stringed instruments. I have four fingers, so I figured the ukulele was, you know, ergonomic and stuff.

Plus I liked the Magnetic Fields, and Stephin Merritt from that band plays a uke.
 
i am a musical obsessive i started on acoustic guitar but moved on to classical and electric, i liked the versatility of being able to play different things and for me the uke was another challenge instrument to master, like bass or mandolin. I didn't anticipate how much i would like the uke though. i quickly went from 1 to 3, and hanker after more. why do i like it. well, for one thing it brought songs which i couldn't get my head around on guitar into easy reach cos the chord fingering is simpler. it also suits my vocal range better, my voice is on the same octave range as a guitar so i could never completely relax vocally, i think cos i needed the pitch contrast. it also provides me with a way to relate to my kids who like the fun we have playing together. it has also given me new perspectives into harmony, how chords and tones relate to each other. i find it also has that easy to pick up and play portability mentioned before.
 
It makes me happy! It's really fun, you can do it for hours, and helps me appreciate music more.
 
My wife and I were in Hawaii and ventured into an ukulele shop. I have a very limited musical background and the ease of playing the ukulele (at least initially) was appealing. I wanted an instrument that was portable and that could play something recognizable. The piccolo is portable but I think I would have difficulty convincing friends to sing "home on the range" if I played the piccolo.
 
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