Why Ukulele?

I'm interested in knowing from people- what was your first ukulele, and why did you pick it up as an instrument in the first place?

Me- a cheap "Classic Low-A" (thought not strung as such), and a copy of Roy Smeck's "Ukulele Method" from the local music store. The year was 1994... I wanted to learn an instrument that was portable, affordable, open to anyone, and the ukulele looked like it would be fun. Also, and probably most importantly, I wanted something none of my friends had. And bagpipes weren't really working out for me that well (I could never get the hang of marching and playing at the same time. Maybe I should give them a second chance...).

I'm glad I switched. People always smile when you whip out the ukulele; bagpipes are not as universally loved.

mctrmt said:

People always smile when you whip out the ukulele;

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This is exactly what did it for me! I went to a picnic, and a girl had her ukulele along. Yes, I certainly smiled when I saw her sit by me! I ordered a ukulele the very next day.

Honestly, I can't remember.

Although I stuck with the uke because I could join bands because I played something other than the guitar, which everybody seems to play these days.

remy said:

This is exactly what did it for me! I went to a picnic, and a girl had her ukulele along. Yes, I certainly smiled when I saw her sit by me! I ordered a ukulele the very next day.

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If a girl sat next to me, I'd smile, even if she had a chainsaw dripping with blood.

I played Tin Whistle for a few months and taught myself how to read music, play it etc., I finally got bored of people breaking them (Like bagpipes, Tin Whistle aren't always welcomed to parties ). I was looking at a video one night for AC/DC on Tin Whistle and in the sidebar for some reason, there were like 10 Uke vids. Fate? haha. I bought an Ohana Sk-15 the next day got it in a week and picked it up fairly easily. I then bought an Oscar Schmidt Concert and am currently working on getting a Flea.

I'd heard that the uke was easy.

I tried to learn to play guitar back in high school, but it never really took. I'd been thinking about getting a ukulele for a while, especially after getting into the Magnetic Fields a few years ago.

Last year I turned 29 in November. And in early December I got an unexpected hundred bucks as a present from a former employer. I decided I wanted to learn an instrument before I turned 30, if it killed me. I'd loved the sound of ukes for a while, and I heard it was the easiest stringed instrument to learn the basics on. And they're cheap. (I'm on a budget, here, I'm still a student and pushing thirty!)

So I ordered one over ebay from MGM. I love playing, really getting into it, and I'll definitely be able to claim to be able to play an instrument before I hit the big 3-0.

I was struck by fortunate ukulele lightning. My father gave me his grandfather's Martin 3K soprano for my birthday last month and I have been hummin and strummin ever since. Drives the wife nuts, but what else can a husband do?

http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1172I started a few years back when I hit an especially rough road in my life. I picked it up because I needed something to distract me from some nasty troubles, and of any instrument I could think of, I felt that the ukulele had the highest 'smile' rating -- the kazoo took a close second

This also reminds me of a couple older threads, so I thought 'why not revive them now'?

What do you like about the ukulele?

What made you start playing Ukulele?


Have fun!

deach said:

If a girl sat next to me, I'd smile, even if she had a chainsaw dripping with blood.

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wat!?
:biglaugh:

i started the uke in 4th grade (it was required at my school, Kahuku Elementary)
and i fell i luv wid it ever since
thx Mrs.Wong! :0

I first played it in 7th grade (...damn, that's like 15 or 16 years ago), I took art as an elective and the school I went to (Aliamanu Intermediate) made you take a semester of General Music when you took art. The general music program (at the time, I dunno if they still do it) taught ukulele, I picked it up pretty quick and at the end of the semester (when we did a "concert" for the parents) I was one of 3 kids that got to play with a pickup.

I really enjoyed the uke, but my parents refused to buy me one (due to an incident in 4th grade where I failed HORRIBLY at the trumpet--after that they swore to never buy me another instrument again). I wasn't until 5 or 6 years later (when I enlisted in the airforce) that I played it again. I would borrow my friend's old beat up soprano for weeks at a time, eventually I managed to get my own and it's been full-speed ahead ever since.

Back in high school I did the marching, concert, and symphonic bands, and a year of big boy marching in drum corps, so marching and playing? Welcome to my house.

Then in college I did the opera thing with vocal performance, and since that time, I've been looking for something to kick back and be happy with musically. There aren't any amateur opera groups here, precious little in the way of mixed voice or even just female choir (it's all for men only here!), and nothing in the way of senior corps or amateur wind ensembles.

I needed something I could get enjoyment from by myself. And for a number of years here, I felt pretty dark without having that constant outlet. I discovered some uke reggae on a friend's site and that was it. I loved the sound.

My first was a Koaloha pikkake soprano - which I've since sold in favor of concert size ukes, but I'm remedying that by getting a Koaloha standard soprano. It's gonna be my last uke for a while, so I had to make it count!

I get more stress relief from uke playing then I ever did from ever playing or singing anything else in my life. That's the honest truth. I'm not saying I didn't and don't get a high that can last days from nailing a performance, or having a great lesson, but that's not stress relief. The uke gives that high while at the same time just being very relaxing. I just never got that from playing before.

Still not much in the way of other amateur music avenues here, but I've found a kickin' amateur theater group, the local uke club is second to none even if they do go back to the uke roots, and so I can enjoy my uke as one or with many.

Edit-

Wow! They swore to never buy you an instrument just because you got the wrong one the first time out?? Harsh, and unfair! You don't always get the right fit the first time out. I mean, I started on clarinet, and played various other stuff, but ya know the one I was probably destined for was oboe. My first middle school director thought it, and he was probably right. But be that as it may, my main instrument is my voice and I didn't frakking find that until my senior year of high school! I guess it's tough for non-music parents to know that it's more of a journey than a destination. If it was the money, trumpets can be sold.

Keonikapila said:

I really enjoyed the uke, but my parents refused to buy me one (due to an incident in 4th grade where I failed HORRIBLY at the trumpet--after that they swore to never buy me another instrument again). I wasn't until 5 or 6 years later (when I enlisted in the airforce) that I played it again. I would borrow my friend's old beat up soprano for weeks at a time, eventually I managed to get my own and it's been full-speed ahead ever since.

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aw man,
dude that sucks
id be so pissed

i don't know exactly what is is that brought the uke into my hands, and my heart. i do know that since i was a little girl, i wanted to learn. i am the kind of person who loves to pick up a new instrument and learns to play it, too. next things i plan on learning are the cello and the violin. just need to save up the money to buy them first.

i started playing the piano at two years old (though you'd never know, i'm not all that great as of now), the guitar at eleven, the bass at thirteen, and the ukulele.. finally... about three months ago.

all i know is that since i first picked it up, i can't put it down.

there is something about ... well, everything. the feeling of it in my hands, the sound that penitrates my ears, and the feeling i get inside while playing. it's so unique from any other instrument i've played in my life. thus, even after three months.. i plan on focusing mainly on it for years to come.. if not for the rest of my life.

lovemissheather said:

all i know is that since i first picked it up, i can't put it down.

there is something about ... well, everything. the feeling of it in my hands, the sound that penitrates my ears, and the feeling i get inside while playing. it's so unique from any other instrument i've played in my life. thus, even after three months.. i plan on focusing mainly on it for years to come.. if not for the rest of my life.

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thats me too. played Sax seriously for years, switched to guitar, played piano, drums, flute...and anything else I could get my hands on. But I've never obsessed about an instrument before like I do about this one.

Boozelele said:

thats me too. played Sax seriously for years, switched to guitar, played piano, drums, flute...and anything else I could get my hands on. But I've never obsessed about an instrument before like I do about this one.

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hmmm. boozaphone, boozitar, booziano, boozrums, boozlute. i think you made a very wise choice!

i'm the same though, play a bunch of random things, but this is definitely the instrument i obsess over the most. it's so fun!

Boozelele said:

thats me too. played Sax seriously for years, switched to guitar, played piano, drums, flute...and anything else I could get my hands on. But I've never obsessed about an instrument before like I do about this one.

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Well who could blame you for switching from sax? :rofl: Just kidding, just kidding, insert the gazillion sax jokes you've already heard right here. It's just so tough to let a good sax joke walk by.

String instruments are just a tad harder for me to grasp, but uke is so enjoyable that it's still all good.

I never did get much time on drums, but we were at a music store the other day, and I managed to get about an 8 stroke roll, which I thought was :rock: of me. Then I got pwned by my husband, and demoted to this instead - :nana:

russ_buss said:

...this is definitely the instrument i obsess over the most. it's so fun!

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yeah it is!!

To be honest I thought that the ukulele was just a toy until by chance I saw Jake Shimabukuro's version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps on YouTube. WOW! after that I found my new favorite instrument.

The uke is one instrument that you can get up and playing in a relatively short period of time - a few months and you can be playing and singing to entire songs with a certain facility. Try that on a piano/violin/trumpet, etc. I think that's the initial charm and why people pick it up in the first place. Then they fall in love with the sound.

That doesn't mean it's an "easy" instrument. Aside from a kazoo there's no such thing. It can be as complex as you want to make it. I think it's interesting that people seem to make "commitments" to it after only a few months of playing. Only time will tell. Exploring an instrument can easily take a lifetime.

I picked it up because of its voice. There's just something about it.