Uke interview! URGENT!

Hello, UUers!


I'm writing a university paper on the history and importance of Hawaiian music, and as part of my assignment I need to interview someone who plays ukulele. Where better to look than UU, right?!

I also thought it would be a good idea to open this topic to everyone, for free discussion.



If you'd like to take part in my assignment, here are some questions for you to answer to include in my paper!


1. What is your name, and how long have you been playing ukulele?

2. What was special to you about the ukulele that you felt you should pick one up to play?

3. In your opinion, how do you feel the ukulele represents Hawaiian culture?

4. Considering the growing popularity in ukuleles in today's pop music, where do you see the ukulele music scene going in the coming years and generations?





If you like to talk about yourself, now's your chance! The beefier the answers, the better!

*Make sure to include your email at the bottom of your interview, in case you're chosen, and I can let you know!






tiny details:


Due to the nature of my assignment, I can only choose one interviewee. (Dog fight!) I'm grateful to anyone who even takes the time to answer these questions.

There is also a required consent form to be signed in order to protect the interviewee, requiring signature, for me to include on the back of my paper.

Aloha Tiffany,
Nice blog spot, and I like your freehand sketches...I too like to draw...and do art...I was more into female portraits...when I first started, I liked to sketch animated figures...Have fun and Enjoy!! MM Stan
Nice place to showcase your work on your blogspot...MM Stan

woot woot, I lurve banjamaaan

atofu said:

Hello, UUers!


I'm writing a university paper on the history and importance of Hawaiian music, and as part of my assignment I need to interview someone who plays ukulele. Where better to look than UU, right?!

I also thought it would be a good idea to open this topic to everyone, for free discussion.



If you'd like to take part in my assignment, here are some questions for you to answer to include in my paper!


1. What is your name, and how long have you been playing ukulele?

2. What was special to you about the ukulele that you felt you should pick one up to play?

3. In your opinion, how do you feel the ukulele represents Hawaiian culture?

4. Considering the growing popularity in ukuleles in today's pop music, where do you see the ukulele music scene going in the coming years and generations?





If you like to talk about yourself, now's your chance! The beefier the answers, the better!

*Make sure to include your email at the bottom of your interview, in case you're chosen, and I can let you know!






tiny details:


Due to the nature of my assignment, I can only choose one interviewee. (Dog fight!) I'm grateful to anyone who even takes the time to answer these questions.

There is also a required consent form to be signed in order to protect the interviewee, requiring signature, for me to include on the back of my paper.

Click to expand...

Hi Tiffany

here's my 2cents...

1. Jon Duncan, been playing 4 1/2 years

2. (i)such a cute and cuddly little instrument, so diminutive and so humble (ii)Was tired of the same ol' guitar based music that everyone was listening to and playing (iii) seemed non-threatening (because of its size and portability) and (iv)I had heard it was easy to play. (v)Also very much cheaper than guitars...I bought my first for only $24.95!!(vi) I bought my first one to decorate, as well as play...i figured that, because it was so cheap, it wouldn't matter if I stuffed the artwork up, I could just by another, and, lastly (vi) my father - now almost 80 - had learnt piano as a child. He had heaps of sheet music lying around from the 30's -50's, most of which had ukulele chord grids. I'd grown up listening to tin pan alley songs and it seemed a good place to start

3. well, I'm no expert on Hawaiian culture, I only know that the Hawaiian's fell in love with the Portugese instrument, the machete, soon after the ship, "The Ravenscrag" docked in hawaii in 1879, after having left Madeira 4 months previous. Apparently there were 3 musicians on board and instrument builders: Dias, Nunes and Espirito. One of these men, Dias, developed a strong friendship with King Kalakaua and would get invited to play the machete at his parties. The king fell in love with the instrument and interest spread: the word "ukulele" comes from the two hawaiian words "uku" (gift) and "lele" (to come). The Hawaiians were celebrating the gift from Portugal and adopted it as their own...

To me, the ukulele represents hawaiian culture because of it's early association with the beach, parties, and hula dancers the King Kalakaua would have at his parties...it was truly a festive instrument from the start. When we think of Hawaii, these are the things we still think of today. It is a laid-back, happy, easy to play instrument which is consistent with the holiday images we have of the Paradise isle. It also represents the hawaiian culture through the traditional hawaiian songs that are foundation pieces for new uke players to learn.

4. because it is such a foundational component of Hawaiian culture, it will always be played. I think as life in general gets more complictaed,people are more attracted to the honesty and simplicity of the humble uke...kind of like stripping away the layers to find something real beneath the production and posturing of our modern world. The old caption from the 30's Harold teen uke: "music self played is happiness self made" rings very true to me. It will conitnue to be a part of the music scene as long as there is music. It is a non-threatening instrument. People still view it as something of a novelty and approach it this way, thinking it is easy to play and fun. That's how the lil' uke lures us in. Then it grabs us, hook us, and we fall in love with it, and only then, begin to explore it's many wonders and it's subtle nuances and complexities.

Just an aside: the uke is now the fastest selling string instrument in the state of Tasmania in Australia!!! Yep...more than guitars even. School music teachers are spreading the word. It will continue to be a large part of music making because it brings people together across generations and puts smiles on faces. I work as a D/T and play music on the uke to both the young and the elderly...it's amazing how each group loves the same songs. There has never been more need for inter-generational bridge building and for me, there is no better instrument than the uke to do this.

email: jandfduncan@westnet.com.au

all the best with the essay mate! happy days!

Check out Tiffnay's blog - her art is amazing!

Aloha atofu,
I think Eugene Ukulele hit it right on target. Very well wrote piece, could'nt have done any better than that. Bravo Eugene !!

Here's an article written by Dan Scanlan entitled Cool Hand Uke's Partial History of the Ukulele, actually an interesting read.