Ever encountered guitarists who are snobby towards the uke?

Andy Chen

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And what do you say to them?
 
And what do you say to them?

I tell them to listen to jake or kimo hussey and than they will realize its a serious instrument.
I also play jazz for them and usually their impressed (i practice jazz pieces over and over and over
and over and over all day until i get it). I explain to them its just as difficult and rewarding to play as guitar
i also tell them bigger ukes baritone and tenor are very serious instruments. (even soprano/concert can be also).

Guitarist do seem to be negative towards anything that isn't a guitar or bass or drums pretty bog standard mindset
i love the uke because its the little underdog of the stringed instruments and honestly i just like how it sounds better
than guitar!
 
And what do you say to them?

I get this all the time. How I respond depends on what they say exactly and tone of voice....

One fantasy of mine is to act like this (which I've not done YET...)

They pejoratively jab at me with 'Hey man is that a kiddie gee-tar, and did you know you are missing 2 strings - ha ha!'

At which point I blast into the opening movement of 'Tocatta's Fuge In D' ala Tamaine Gardner style in full fury and I get all up in their face like Gene Simmons from KISS, and say 'how to you like me know?' give them the shaka sign, and make a quick exit before they ask me to 'play more like that' (I only know the first 8 bars or so of that song)...

feel free to substitute 'Flight of the Bumble Bee' or 'William Tell Overture' or 'Malaguen~a' played at 168bpm or faster......

:)
 
I get this all the time. How I respond depends on what they say exactly and tone of voice....

One fantasy of mine is to act like this (which I've not done YET...)

They pejoratively jab at me with 'Hey man is that a kiddie gee-tar, and did you know you are missing 2 strings - ha ha!'

At which point I blast into the opening movement of 'Tocatta's Fuge In D' ala Tamaine Gardner style in full fury and I get all up in their face like Gene Simmons from KISS, and say 'how to you like me know?' give them the shaka sign, and make a quick exit before they ask me to 'play more like that' (I only know the first 8 bars or so of that song)...

feel free to substitute 'Flight of the Bumble Bee' or 'William Tell Overture' or 'Malaguen~a' played at 168bpm or faster......

:)



nice my chinese housemate walked in on me in the livign room playing my soprano and goes 'ooohhhh awww it's soooo cute its so little how do you play it"
hahaha. Thats cool because he was interested. than another housemate who moved out from turkey said 'is that a mini guitar its hilarious' at that point those
kind of comments make me want flip out, but instead i responded snidely (yep its a mini guitar got shrunk in the wash). F-ing a-holes
 
An otherwise nice guy told me once he doesn't think singers who accompany themselves on the uke are musicians. Such a line of thinking completely baffles me.
 
What's up with soprano and concerts then ? LOL....

I play all sorts on my newly strung £15 soprano.....even Russian Folk Music like Kalinka, Ochechonye etc.....:music:
 
i also tell them bigger ukes baritone and tenor are very serious instruments. (even soprano/concert can be also).

See this is exactly the same mindset as snobby guitarists to me.
 
An otherwise nice guy told me once he doesn't think singers who accompany themselves on the uke are musicians. Such a line of thinking completely baffles me.

There's a hell of a lot of guitarists/singers who I don't think are musicians either. If possible, I send them a Jake, or a James Hill, or other impressive YouTube video, depending on their music preference. That usually does it. If not, they are just "A-holes" who want to drag you down to their level so they can beat you with experience.
 
I tell them to listen to jake or kimo hussey and than they will realize its a serious instrument.
I also play jazz for them and usually their impressed (i practice jazz pieces over and over and over
and over and over all day until i get it). I explain to them its just as difficult and rewarding to play as guitar
i also tell them bigger ukes baritone and tenor are very serious instruments. (even soprano/concert can be also).

Guitarist do seem to be negative towards anything that isn't a guitar or bass or drums pretty bog standard mindset
i love the uke because its the little underdog of the stringed instruments and honestly i just like how it sounds better
than guitar!

I am quoting this post only as a clear example of what I am responding to, but am really responding to those who lump all guitarists into the same bucket. As in any thread some people will make it sound as if all guitarists fit the description the OP is complaining about, while others understand that not all guitarist fit this description.

Remember that there are many guitar players who also appreciate and play ukulele right here in these forums. So rather than "Guitarists do seem to be negative..", maybe broaden the thinking in this thread to SOME guitarists. Wherever people are involved in anything, there will be snobbery AND acceptance/embracing of the idea or activity, depending on the person.

Tony
 
Most associate the uke as a toy. I've shown several musician friends videos of Jake and they almost always stand there shaking their heads in disbelief. Any video of Jake, Brittani Paiva James Hill or Lyle Ritz etc usually does the trick. I'm sure many think the harmonica is a toy or a joke too. One listen to Toots Thielman or Stevie Wonder usually dispels that myth. It's not the instrument, it's the person playing it.
 
As a long-time guitarist myself, I never really gave the ukulele much thought (negative or positive) until I played one for the first time. I have never had a truly talented guitarist make any negative comments to me about the ukulele. Those types of comments tend to come from mediocre (at best) players - in which case, they cannot keep up with me on either four or six strings, so the issue is put to rest rather dramatically.

I now find that I get more requests from other musicians to bust out the ukulele. It tends to add a little extra something to the vast sea of guitars.
 
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Remember that there are many guitar players who also appreciate and play ukulele right here in these forums. So rather than "Guitarists do seem to be negative..", maybe broaden the thinking in this thread to SOME guitarists. Wherever people are involved in anything, there will be snobbery AND acceptance/embracing of the idea or activity, depending on the person.

Tony

As a guitar player myself I know where you're coming from, but I think there really is a mindset that is very common among guitarists that you just don't find with players of most other instruments. I think maybe it's because there are so many juveniles attracted to guitar who think they are hot stuff because they can chunk out some easy power chords. Not saying that's all guitarists, by any means, but you're just far more likely to run into the "unearned prima donna attitude" from guitarists than probably any other group.

John
 
you're just far more likely to run into the "unearned prima donna attitude" from guitarists than probably any other group.

John

How many guitarists does it take to change a light bulb? Only one. He holds on to it and the world revolves around him. :)
 
And what do you say to them?

Absolutely nothing. I've got nothing to prove to anyone in terms of skill level or validation of the instruments I play (and for reference, I get a lot more snide comments when I pull out my 6 string bass over a ukulele). It's too bad that fellow musicians can't appreciate passion and playing on any instrument, regardless of stigma.
 
Absolutely nothing. I've got nothing to prove to anyone in terms of skill level or validation of the instruments I play (and for reference, I get a lot more snide comments when I pull out my 6 string bass over a ukulele). It's too bad that fellow musicians can't appreciate passion and playing on any instrument, regardless of stigma.

Well said. Why in the world would we exert effort to justify our choices to selfish jerks? Play music and smile.
 
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