Im going to freak out...

ShortCut

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 26, 2008
Messages
97
Reaction score
0
Location
BC, Canada
Hey, so I'm about to lose it here...Today in video productions class, a guy I know who also plays the ukulele comes to class with his uke. to record some stuff to put on thier video., my friend who is sitting beside me looks at me and says "God the ukulele is so useless I don't know why people would paly them!" Then I said "Your a f***ng idiot, there is lots of history and background with the ukulele, it's not a toy." Him, still thinking it is actually says " Your stupid, you don't know what your talking about so shut up" I looked at him and slapped myself in the face and realized I can 't make him stop saying it's not and instrument, alone. I'd need help. You guys got and ideas on what I could tell him to get him to give it some respect? BTW the teacher thinks it's a great instrument, he was trying to figure out how to play it!

Obliously the uke isn't a very ''popular'' where I am...

Mitch.
 
Last edited:
I can't figure out why you think this is worth telling us about, but the conclusion is that you need new friends. When you have a friend that understands and respects you, and isn't a friggin' moron, you will appreciate the difference.
 
There's a old saying: You can't reason something out of man that wasn't reasoned into him in the first place.

That said, if this guy really thinks the uke is "useless" and doesn't know why anyone would play one, then you should just say something like:

"I play the ukulele myself. It's actually a lot of fun. I could teach you how to strum a few chords in, like, 10 minutes. You'd probably be pretty good at it."

JJ
 
I would've punched him in the face.

Yea... LOL. Jk

Not everyone is gonna like the ukulele as much as our little group here so it's gonna get hated on every once in a while or not get the respect that we think it deserves. As long as it makes you happy playing it. Then leave it alone.

My friends still calls the ukulele as a little toy guitar but I don't let it bother me:shaka:
 
Play a couple bars of "Bandito Tyler" and he will stfu. There is nothing you can say that'll change an ignorant person's mind, unless you're a political pundit. Show 'em how it's done.

The passive dismissal of ukulele as a serious instrument is common, but you don't often hear about someone who is vocal about that (except in Youtube comments, where people pull out all the stops).
 
Last edited:
Ooohhhh. Even better. You should have taken your ukulele out and jabbed the headstock into his neck
 
Ooohhhh. Even better. You should have taken your ukulele out and jabbed the headstock into his neck

Someone did that to me once..

Not fun :(
 
I used to meet people like that back in high school. And this is in Hawaii, where the ukulele is the most popular.

One thing I learned is, if you love it, you love it. Don't hate it because someone else does.

Another thing I learned: Ukuleles, if used properly, can puncture a giant hole into an acoustic guitar XDD
 
Perhaps he was subjected to excessive mainstream music brainwash while growing up which drives his current insecurities. :p
 
influencing others...

Of course the real question here is not how to influence your friend, but why do you care about his opinion?

But here are some general tips on influencing people.

a) Remain emotionally detached. If you are too invested in the outcome your energy will come across as desperate. This is especially true when pursuing romance.

b) Try to bond positively on as many points as possible with the target. For instance: can you perhaps concede that the ukulele looks like a toy to many people? If you can him an asshole AND tell him he is wrong about the ukulele, his ears will close right away. Better to tell him he is smart and perceptive, but, sadly wrong about the ukulele.

c) Do not be extreme in your counter thought proposal. People's thoughts can only evolve so far in a short period of time. And when people are confronted with facts that refute their opinions that require too drastic a shift in gears they will often just deny the facts rather than change their beliefs.

So, given the above, a very effective response could be:

[faked but genuine sounding laughter from you] "Yes, it sure does look hysterical, but I think you might be surprised at how beautiful ukulele music can be." [followed by calm but knowing smile and nod of your head.]

And with that, the seed is planted. But always be patient when it comes to changing minds... it's a very slow business to which you need to come with realistic expectations.

And of course it would be awesome at that point if you could whip out your ukulele and blow the top off his head off with the most freaking awesome finger picking / strumming solo of all time.
 
A couple of things come to mind:

Why would you even stoop to his level?

You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar - which is to say, once you have reacted to somebody with profanity rather than reason, there is little to suggest the discussion has much potential to progress after that.

I think the best response would be, "Well, I really enjoy playing mine," and leave it at that.
 
Ask him which "useful" instrument he plays poetically.

(Note: Anyone who calls any type of instrument 'useless' is, in my mind, useless himself. I've seen a man groove some blues on a washboard. A WASHBOARD!)
 
Top Bottom