Your story: how ukulele found you?

Choirguy: I also think that this thread was probably one of your better ideas and I must read more of your threads. I've enjoyed reading all the previous posts here and most of them run along the same lines as me.
I only had a slight connection to music trying to play a clarinet without much success during my 1950's RAF days also a 'harp' which could be easily slipped into ones pocket so my music education was nil. I had no aspiration to play a guitar during the Tommy Steel and Joe Brown days so music was something that other guys did. At he age of 30 I decided I needed a hobby so I took up Outdoor Bowls and this was my only passion for 50 years but due to long term health problems I had to give it up.
I then said to my wife that I needed something to do with my now plentiful time. Later I was talking to one of our female friends and she also said the same thing and that she always fancied trying to play a Ukulele. I replied I will if you will..! So October 2015 we both purchased our first music machines mine was a cheap Korala Concert as I have rather large hands. She went off to lessons locally and I just messed around playing with the help of the internet and this site which I found quite by accident.
After a couple of months I found a group locally and went along asked if I could join explaining I was a newby and was welcomed with open arms. On my first visit the guy who was running it saw I was having a little trouble and told me that if I couldn't find the chords they were playing I was to just play the 'C' chord then I would be with them and that I would soon find my way. He is such a lovely man and so are all our other members approx. 20 off and on. I've been with them for just over a year now and enjoying every minute of it. I have played with the group at a few gigs in old peoples homes where I have been older than most of the people in the homes (I'm 83 now) but I enjoy it so much and we have a few charity gigs to do later on in the year as well as the 'old people'.
I now have 3 ukulele's now my latest being a Snail UKT which to me has a lovely sound and good looks. I had a amplifier, pick-up and mike bought for me for Christmas so I'm getting a few things around me. My next step is to find a Banjolele which I like the sound of.
I must keep at it for I found like my bowling I am well and truly hooked to my Ukulele and my day starts and finishes with it.
Must go now its 11pm here in UK and I must get a song or two in before bed and the wife moaning because she can't get to sleep......!!
Thanks for having me and.......Keep on strumming..............

Slightly off-topic to the mainline subject, but please indulge me...

I just wanted to say that I am really enjoying this thread and reading all the stories that folks are sharing about their own experiences. For me, it really ties the community here on UU more closely together, which I like very much.

Everyone's history here is special and unique, with many common feelings, but yet many different paths to enjoying ukulele in our lives.

This is one of the best threads I have ever read on all of UU since reading UU almost 3.5 yrs ago, and joining about 3 yrs ago.

The idea for something that becomes special like this thread can only come from a person, who themselves is very special.

Without gushing too much here, I just wanted to thank Choirguy for everything he has given so generously, for they truly are gifts to behold.

Mahalo brother! :music:

I just want to thank all of you for taking the time and energy to share your stories! Your joy is contagious--but then, I know that well, being a happy uke player myself! Booli, I write one song a week, and sometimes it's like pulling teeth... I can't imagine writing a song a day, but now that you've brought it up, I wouldn't be surprised to be dragged, voluntarily but still kicking and screaming, into that myself! O give me strength... <3

Booli...thank you...I am humbled. I don't know if I'll ever come up with another thread idea better than this. However, if I meet many of you, this is the sort of thing that I like to do...to hear your stories and learn about you!

I thought the TIL thread idea was pretty good, too...but that topic can be overwhelming.

I'd love to see some way to attach these stories to profiles, so that when this thread is good and buried, there would be a way to easily see someone's story on their profile.

Ukulele Underground Forums Statistics said:

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Surely from the over 1,500 active members as per above, are are a few more stories folks could share?

Dont be shy or hold back! Please let's keep this thread alive!

My uku found me bound and gagged behind a dumpster.

No, wait, it was the aliens that found me there ... some of the details get mixed up in my memory ...

All right, all right, I give--it was Sarah Maisel. Somebody got a vid of her--not a whole song, just the last few minutes of one, taken at some big uku festival; it was on FB. I thought I was too old for lust, but there it was anyway, so I took a second look at ukus. That was over a year ago. I still don't know what song it was, but I suspect either "Hotel California" or "Stairway to Heaven." Girl tore the sky apart with that thing.

I'd looked at them earlier, but got the mistaken notion they used steel strings, so that was a no-no for me.

Before that, I'd been playing an electric lap steel guitar, which I used to make one expensive throw-away song (an original composition with a science-fiction theme) with a new iMac and a copy of Logic Express 8, plus a MIDI keyboard. I'd meant to record some of my other original songs, but never got around to it. Since then (2008) the steel has been in its case. It's for sale ...

Prior to that I was jamming now and again on the steel with a friend of mine (sometimes two). I was living in Columbus then. I moved up here to the North Coast, then my friend died, and I've never sought out anybody to jam with. The steel guitar is an excellent solo instrument, but I missed just being able to play some accompaniment to sing to.

(In case you haven't figured it out yet, this is my musical autobiography in reverse chronology.)

I bought the steel in 2001 (it took me about an hour to find that date) after futzing with keyboards for a while. Previous piano lessons didn't take; I guess I didn't like the idea of having to learn different fingerings for each of the twelve scales. Besides, I just liked guitar a lot better.

Somewhere in that dim past I had an autoharp. Sometime later (when I moved, I think) I sold it.

Now we go way back. In 1977 I had an accident with a radial saw; it amputated the distal joints of the first two fingers on my left hand. What bothered me about this the most was that I could no longer play the guitar. I tried, but it hurt too much and I'd lost too much reach.

Further back ... sometime around 1965, my mom found me kinda moping and she asked me what was bothering me. Because my dad wasn't around at the moment, I felt safe telling her the truth: "I want to learn to play drums." She sort of stumbled around a short list of excuses, but then offered an alternative: "How 'bout we get you guitar lessons instead?"

There was more, earlier, but not worth mention here.

So. Aliens.

I was hoping for another thread about UAS or low vs high g.... Just kidding, this is a great topic for conversation!

You know how Pandora sometimes gives you a song that doesn't really fit your channel? Well, I'm listening to my classical channel on Pandora when I notice a nice instrumental that doesn't "fit" the channel, definitely not classical. So I walk over to my iphone to check it out, and it's a traditional Hawaiian group called Holunape. It sounds nice so I set up a Hawaiian channel on Pandora and start listening to that quite a bit. Then I start noticing the ukulele sound.

Then a few months later (we're now at February 2016) I place an order on Amazon for a Kala Tenor and Hal Leonard Method Book 1. A few months later, my 11 year old has a Gretsch concert and my 9 year old daughter has a Cordoba concert, and I'm helping them work through the Ukulele in the Classroom curriculum.

Well done, Choirguy for kickstarting uke in your school! I wish every school picked up ukes instead of recorders!! New Zealand has MANY schools playing uke now & regularly try to set records for the most ukulele players in the one place, playing the same song ...... whilst Australia is a bit behind in picking up ukes in schools ..... so far!

I played piano from about age 8 (for exams, so it was all kind of serious) and got into trouble for playing pieces other than my exam pieces! (My teacher was a real B ...... ) My sister & I shared a guitar at boarding school & in 1970 she bought a ukulele that we both played, as well as the guitar. If a song was too high or low for us, we'd just retune the uke til it 'suited' us! She finished school in 1970 & took the uke with her.

Skip forward to 2010 - I was in a 2nd hand shop in Sydney & saw a banjo uke for sale! I picked it up, tuned it & strummed Little Brown Jug (first song I had learned.)

I took down the details of the uke & went home & googled it ...... it was a Mainland Banjo Uke - and when I saw how much they cost 'new' I rang the shop & told them to put it aside as I was coming back to buy it!

I played it a bit at home & researched songs on the net - then looked for a group to join in my home town but there wasn't one - so I started one! We now have about 30-40 regular attendees & perform regularly at local Old Folks Homes & the occasional Uke Festival.

I can't imagine my life now without a ukulele (or 8!) My sister now also plays uke (she lost her original one) & both my brothers have ukes - they just don't play them much ..... yet!

cheers

Roberta

Decades ago, I'd been in a couple of group lessons in early high school, but they stopped as quickly as they started and the only thing I remembered from them was the DDU UDU strumming pattern. I occasionally thought about it learning music, and even bought a bass from my younger brother in the mid-90s, but that didn't go anywhere either. I thought I had no musical talent and never pursued it.

Nearly three years ago, my wife and I were walking past our local Aldi store when I saw they were going to be selling guitars the following week. I mentioned to my wife that despite being in my early 40s at the time, I'd always thought about learning guitar. She said "go for it", so the following weekend, I dropped $50 on a steel string acoustic. I figured that if I didn't have any talent and it sat in the corner and gathered dust, I'd only wasted $50.

But online lessons had come a LONG way since the early days. With the help of the JustinGuitar.com website, I learned a few chords and got to playing music for the first time in my life. I practiced every day, and discovered I had some musical talent after all.

A few months later, I spotted an Ovation guitar at a local music store and fell in love. That ended up with me meeting another local O fan and joining him at a bluegrass/folk jam session once a month, which also radically helped my playing improve. Not long after that, I started saving for my first Ovation, which I bought in October 2014. Having a really good guitar helped a lot too, and by the end of that year, I was able to play whole songs using open chords without any trouble.

About that time, I was doing some websurfing, researching Os, and a throwaway comment on a wikipedia page about Weird Al Yankovic led me to a page about Al's guitarist, Jim "Kimo" West. It was there that I first learned about ki ho'alu (Hawaiian Slack Key guitar) and I fell in love with the music instantly and knew that I had to learn how to play it.

Now, up to about that point, I didn't think about ukes at all. I didn't like the sound of them, and hadn't even considered buying one. But a friend of mine suggested I listen to Jake Shimabukuro's youtube vid of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", which I did. That changed my mind about the instrument's sound. Learning ki ho'alu got me listening to a lot of Hawaiian music, and you can't listen to that without hearing the uke, so it started growing on me.

A few months after that, I had to travel interstate for work for a week. I didn't trust taking either of my Ovation guitars with me on the plane (I'd bought a second one for playing ki ho'alu on by that stage), and because work gave me some spending money for the week, I took the plunge and spent a chunk of that money on a Hulala H02 Concert uke (instead of spending it on alcohol and fancy restaurants, which is what I think most people do). I figured out the first night that the chords shapes were pretty much the same as guitar (even if they were in a different key), so I was up and running with basic chords pretty quickly. I had a lot of fun that first week sitting in my hotel room of an evening strumming up a storm.

I played it on and off for over a year, but guitar was (and actually still is) my main focus. About mid way through last year, I decided to join a local uke group on a whim, to see if I could find more local people into Hawaiian music. I found a good group of people to play with, but no one else particularly into the Hawaiian stuff

But I've been putting in more time with my uke since then and getting better at playing it. It's also helped me understand music better, especially the whole chord melody idea, which I love the sound of. That understanding has fed back into my slack key guitar playing, which has helped a lot there too.

There's been some interest in Hawaiian music from a couple of people at the uke group, so I ordered myself a Cordoba Mini M guilele last week from HMS. Sadly, that won't be arrive for another four weeks or so, because of their setup backlog. Still, I am looking forward to that, and it'll make playing slack key with some uke players a lot easier. It'll also be a hell of a lot more convenient than my Ovation for taking to work so I can practice on my lunch break

If things go according to plan, I'll be upgrading my Hulala to a solid top uke in a few months (at this stage, a cedar topped Kala, with a pickup). Fingers crossed.

So, while I still consider myself a guitar player primarily, I'm having plenty of fun playing uke and try to balance my practice of the two instruments out. I swing back and forth between them, but it's all good I'm working on learning chord melody style playing, because I find it more interesting than just straight strumming, but still I do plenty of that too.

One of the first videos I ever saw on youtube was "while my guitar gently wheeps", starring mr. Shimabukuro. I was in awe. How could someone possibly play such a complex piece of music with a uke?
The sound of the instrument really made me feel good.

Prior to this I, like many others, thought of the uke as a toy. Regretful, I did'nt go to the music shop right away. Years went by. From time to time I still listened to some of Shimabukuro's arrangements. When people said that the ukulele was not a "real" instrument, I found myself defending it. I referred them to videos of JS, James Hill etc.
I did'nt even consider that I could be able to play anything close to that, so I figured; "why bother?". In our P.E. classes, teachers would always tell me that I had no sense of rhythm when we were dancing. I had come to terms with my shortcomings, and thought that music just was'nt for me.

But, 16. April 2015, something happened. One of my friends had picked up the guitar. He had played for a couple of months, and invited me to come along to the music store with him, he was going to buy a pick. When we got there, I saw an elderly guy standing with a concert uke. He was just strumming a few basic chords, but unlike the guys who sat elsewhere in the shop with guitars, this man was smiling. Ear to ear. He put the uke down, and while my friend discussed picks with one of the employees, I grabbed the uke. Love at first touch. It was not in tune at all, but it did'nt matter to me at that point. I loved it. Before my friend had decided on a pick, I put the uke on the desk and said ; "I'll take this one!".
My friend looked at me with a sceptical look, and mumbled something like "what the fugde?"

I've been playing every single day since, and realized what it means to have a passion. I upgraded to a Kala Acacia tenor cut-away with active pick-up after a few months, and my plan is to start busking when the summer tourists hits the streets. I live in Norway, so it's too cold for that the rest of the year anyway.

Oh, and by the way, this is my first post at this forum, I joined UU+ today.

Ga'ukulele, welcome to UU, and thanks for sharing your story!

Welcome to UU, Ga'ukulele ..... I think that with Jake's rendition of 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' has gotten a LOT of people into ukulele! I can recall being incredibly amazed at the sound he got out of the uke.... and that was some years before I got back into uke .... but playing TAB was definitely 'up there' on my list to achieve, all because of that exact video! It is still amazing to watch!

Enjoy your journey with your ukes!

No musical background, always wanted to play an instrument. I figured 4 strings would be easier than 6 on a guitar, plus I find guitars larger size a bit cumbersome. So I just kind of woke up a week ago and started looking at Ukes and bought one after mulling it over and researching.

I'd say Grace Vanderwaal from Got Talent did influence me a bit, I came across her performances on youtube, and I figured if a 12 year old can play a Uke, so can I!

And I've actually picked it up a bit quicker than I expected.

Now all I need to do is find a woman to swoon with my newfound skills

Ga'ukulele said:

I upgraded to a Kala Acacia tenor cut-away with active pick-up after a few months, and my plan is to start busking when the summer tourists hits the streets. I live in Norway, so it's too cold for that the rest of the year anyway. Oh, and by the way, this is my first post at this forum, I joined UU+ today.

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Welcome, not only to UU but to the unofficial Kala KAATP-CTG-CE owners group. Until I got a used Godin Multiuke, I considered it my best sounding and playing uke, and in my opinion rivals the $1000+ (US) Hawaiian K brands for 1/3 the price.

kohanmike said:

Welcome, not only to UU but to the unofficial Kala KAATP-CTG-CE owners group. Until I got a used Godin Multiuke, I considered it my best sounding and playing uke, and in my opinion rivals the $1000+ (US) Hawaiian K brands for 1/3 the price.

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Wow, awesome!
I have never tried any of the big brands yet, neither have I heard them being played live in front of me. I would not know how they compare, but I'm very satisfied with my uke so far.

Thanks for the warm welcome everybody

Ga'ukulele said:

One of the first videos I ever saw on youtube was "while my guitar gently wheeps", starring mr. Shimabukuro. I was in awe. How could someone possibly play such a complex piece of music with a uke?
The sound of the instrument really made me feel good.

Prior to this I, like many others, thought of the uke as a toy. Regretful, I did'nt go to the music shop right away. Years went by. From time to time I still listened to some of Shimabukuro's arrangements. When people said that the ukulele was not a "real" instrument, I found myself defending it. I referred them to videos of JS, James Hill etc.
I did'nt even consider that I could be able to play anything close to that, so I figured; "why bother?". In our P.E. classes, teachers would always tell me that I had no sense of rhythm when we were dancing. I had come to terms with my shortcomings, and thought that music just was'nt for me.

But, 16. April 2015, something happened. One of my friends had picked up the guitar. He had played for a couple of months, and invited me to come along to the music store with him, he was going to buy a pick. When we got there, I saw an elderly guy standing with a concert uke. He was just strumming a few basic chords, but unlike the guys who sat elsewhere in the shop with guitars, this man was smiling. Ear to ear. He put the uke down, and while my friend discussed picks with one of the employees, I grabbed the uke. Love at first touch. It was not in tune at all, but it did'nt matter to me at that point. I loved it. Before my friend had decided on a pick, I put the uke on the desk and said ; "I'll take this one!".
My friend looked at me with a sceptical look, and mumbled something like "what the fugde?"

I've been playing every single day since, and realized what it means to have a passion. I upgraded to a Kala Acacia tenor cut-away with active pick-up after a few months, and my plan is to start busking when the summer tourists hits the streets. I live in Norway, so it's too cold for that the rest of the year anyway.

Oh, and by the way, this is my first post at this forum, I joined UU+ today.

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Excellent story. I like it.

Ukerz said:

No musical background, always wanted to play an instrument. I figured 4 strings would be easier than 6 on a guitar, plus I find guitars larger size a bit cumbersome. So I just kind of woke up a week ago and started looking at Ukes and bought one after mulling it over and researching.

I'd say Grace Vanderwaal from Got Talent did influence me a bit, I came across her performances on youtube, and I figured if a 12 year old can play a Uke, so can I!

And I've actually picked it up a bit quicker than I expected.

Click to expand...

Great story that reads like an epiphany! I'm sure that Grace Vanderwaal has inspired many folks to pick up a uke. Many of us were in a frenzy when she first became known. I think there are at least 3-4 threads about her here starting around back in the summer 2016 time-fram.

Ukerz said:

Now all I need to do is find a woman to swoon with my newfound skills

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True dat! You and me both brother...were I to serenade a woman and she started laughing at me, I really don't think I could handle the rejection.

So it narrows the playing field to finding someone who will be both a romantic partner, and is ALSO at least appreciative of ukulele, if not a player herself...

I dont recall if Match.com, eHarmony or Tinder has an option for 'uke player' in the search criteria...LOL

Booli said:

I dont recall if Match.com, eHarmony or Tinder has an option for 'uke player' in the search criteria...LOL

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Hmm. "RomanticUkeEncounters.com."

Helloooo small business idea!

#1--Excel soprano: Years ago, maybe 15 or so, I had the urge to have a uke, so my buddy who has a music store and sells stringed instruments at reasonable prices had a cheap starter uke. Maybe $25. I ignored/neglected it for years. My son played with it. I rescued and re-strung it, and use it at work. Cheap, and the (plastic) bushing on the 1st string tuning key rattles sometimes, but it works, and doesn't sound half bad.

#2--Harmony (Chicago factory) baritone: I was feeling sad that I sold a really cool Harmony (Chicago-made) bari uke--one that had been through a music store fire and had burn marks on it, and sounded AMAZING--so somehow, I forget how, I found another Chicago Harmony bari uke for sale. It was in nearly mint condition, with a case. I sold it to my boss, then bought it back, then to a friend, then bought it back.

#3--Harmony (China) soprano: Found it on eBay, the price was right, so yes. It needed set-up, fret repair and new strings. Took it to my music store buddy. Keep it at home.

#4--Dave Schneider tenor: I was getting much, much worse with my UAS so I IM'ed my friend who used to have a lot of instruments but either sold or gave a lot away to ask if I could buy any he had. He said he had a baritone that needed a little work--a nut and some set-up--that he would give me. It was made by a friend who is a luthier, and who has built all sorts of mandolins and mountain dulcimers, and a few ukes and guitars, and some category-defying critters. My friend brought the uke to meet me over a drink, and the guy who built it was there too. The luthier friend didn't remember building it! Anyway, he took it, fixed it, set it up, and strung it up as a tenor--a tenor with a somewhat bigger body than the average tenor, but I really like it. I need to re-string it--I don't like the nickel-wound 4th string.

#5--Soprano banjo uke: My music store friend called me, while I was in Chicago on business, and said, "Hey Andy! While you're in your collecting weird instrument phase, I've got a banjo uke for you." Next chance I got, I checked it out. Didn't like it at first and told my friend I would pass, but I was advised, by lots of people on this board, that if it's in good shape (it is), BUY IT, especially for only $75! I did. My friend had steel strings on it. Yuck! I re-strung it with Aquila Red banjo uke strings, and it sounds GREAT! SMALL at the nut, which is a bit of a challenge for my slightly big finners, but I love it!

#6--yet to come--Homemade cookie tin uke. I'm almost finished with the neck, and I need to cut the holes in the tin and buy the tuning keys. I'll let you know how it goes.