A friend sent me a link that was an interesting (and alternately annoying) read: In Defense of the Ukulele. Thought others here might find it worth reading - it raised some points about gender and ukulele, and the use of ukulele in media, among other things.
A friend sent me a link that was an interesting (and alternately annoying) read: In Defense of the Ukulele. Thought others here might find it worth reading - it raised some points about gender and ukulele, and the use of ukulele in media, among other things.
I didn't bother to do much more than scan it. I guess at my age these things have become nonsensical to me. It hardly matters to me what anyone else thinks about the Ukulele as long as I like it. They can love it or hate it and it's none of my business and a waste of valuable time caring.
I thought the part about using ukulele rather than a louder instrument to create intimacy in a film was interesting. I hadn't ever really thought about that before, but when I saw Her last month, I was surprised to find myself NOT annoyed that ukulele was being used - I thought it really, really worked well in that context but couldn't really pinpoint why.
(Also... I had no idea that there were ukulele haters out there, but then I spend most of my time around other ukulele players. Not to mention that I had to look up just about every "famous" person or group in that article, so, hey, call me clueless!)
I'm not sure there are very many uke haters out there at all. This is what the media does. They make up controversy so they have a job and can make money stirring the pot. Nobody except uke players wants to hear how great it is very often. But get some nasty back and forth going and the public will likely take a look. This is truly a sad state of human affairs but that's the way it is. I can easily fall prey to it myself if I don't pay attention.
I wonder how many "haters" have any actual experience with a ukulele - or realize how often they are hearing it in popular songs. I sorta stopped reading at "twee", whatever the blazes that is.
I found the article to be a bit ridiculous and annoying. The author was setting up a straw man argument or assertion for the sole purpose of knocking it down and positioning himself as the "hero" riding in to come to its defense. He's defending a premise that doesn't really need defending. Perhaps I'm ignorant or uninformed but I've never really seen or felt the trend of a negative bias or hatred towards the ukulele. No matter what field you are in, there are always going to be detractors. I don't think the ukulele harbors any more "haters" than you'd normally find on any topic.
I found the article to be a bit ridiculous and annoying. The author was setting up a straw man argument or assertion for the sole purpose of knocking it down and positioning himself as the "hero" riding in to come to its defense. He's defending a premise that doesn't really need defending. Perhaps I'm ignorant or uninformed but I've never really seen or felt the trend of a negative bias or hatred towards the ukulele. No matter what field you are in, there are always going to be detractors. I don't think the ukulele harbors any more "haters" than you'd normally find on any topic.
Yep, I think this pretty much covers it. Well said.
My response to my (considerably younger) friend who emailed me the link was "Huh, I didn't realize the ukulele needed defending." I'm wondering if this is a phenomenon among younger players - for the most part, the uke players I know, myself included, are somewhere well north of 40 years old. I get a bit of ribbing from my multi-instrumentalist or guitarist friends for my lack of interest in playing anything other than ukulele, but it's definitely not a negative bias, just enthusiasm for their own instruments.
I have noticed that among my younger acquaintances (mostly in the workplace), when they find out that I play they're always kind of... disappointed maybe? ... when they learn that I don't do the sort of singing/strumming thing that the young women in the linked article do - but then as someone who plays instrumentals only, mostly classical and standards, and absolutely no rock music, I don't expect a 28-year-old to get particularly excited about what I do
I found the article to be a bit ridiculous and annoying. The author was setting up a straw man argument or assertion for the sole purpose of knocking it down and positioning himself as the "hero" riding in to come to its defense. He's defending a premise that doesn't really need defending. Perhaps I'm ignorant or uninformed but I've never really seen or felt the trend of a negative bias or hatred towards the ukulele. No matter what field you are in, there are always going to be detractors. I don't think the ukulele harbors any more "haters" than you'd normally find on any topic.
The first thing I noticed was the name of the guy who wrote it, Jesse David Fox. Three names, isn't that a thing just for serial killers and assassins.
The first thing I noticed was the name of the guy who wrote it, Jesse David Fox. Three names, isn't that a thing just for serial killers and assassins.
Nah, more like a thing for guys with feminine first names who are very uncomfortable with that and still angry with their parents... LOL Of course, that's not to say that many of those might not become serial killers...
The first thing I noticed was the name of the guy who wrote it, Jesse David Fox. Three names, isn't that a thing just for serial killers and assassins.
BTW, I liked all the videos in the article but disagree with the premise of uke haters since the instrument is just not that prevalent in general society in my opinion.
I didn't bother to do much more than scan it. I guess at my age these things have become nonsensical to me. It hardly matters to me what anyone else thinks about the Ukulele as long as I like it. They can love it or hate it and it's none of my business and a waste of valuable time caring.
I think the ukulele seems pretty gender neutral, in fact it is less threatening than the long history of the guitar and the revered styles of music associated with the guitar (classical, rock, etc). There were female ukulele players in the 1920s-1930s (i.e May Singhi Breen).
As for the present, I'm seeing more and more younger musicians that play guitar have a ukulele on the side (male or female). On the other hand, I never had a ukulele when I started playing guitar in my teens. I wish I had known! hehe
