Have we become a key market demographic?

I have noticed that more folks are being exposed to the uke. I even saw the First Act uke at Walmat a year or so ago. One of the things that attracted me to the instrument was that most of the folks that played were into playing and not collecting expensive ukes. There is a kind of snobbery (is that a word) in the guitar world. I've have a few cheap guitars I set up properly that really play nice. Other guitar players would be ashamed to play a non-fender/gibson guitar like I do. I mean realy ashamed, it's so dumb. I am starting to see the same type of behaviour in the uke world now.

If Ukes get really popular I would be surprised. You still have to have some patience and focus to learn how to play. Those are two traits that are becoming very rare.

dave alexander said:

Mainstream? Hardly a threat. There will be a spike in sales, we won't see a uke at a garage sale for two years, and then something else will come along.

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A threat? No, but a presence for sure, and a lot of exposure. Ukes could be the next Spice Girls in consumer popularity... And I for one want to see it happen. I want ukes in every household. In every store, featured in windows and advertising flyers. I want kids carrying ukes down the street instead of skateboards. I want ukes hung on walls and stacked in cases under sideboards.

Why?

I'm eagerly awaiting for those garage sales so I can add to my collection at a good price, when the fad has passed!

dave alexander said:

Personally I play for me.

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Ditto. I play for the fun of it, for my own entertainment and learning, to keep my fingers supple and my brain active. I play because I like making music.

In an argument, I will defend the uke as a serious instrument voraciously, but I really don't care if the listener agrees. I do and I'm the guy with the ukuleles in my living room.

guitars paving the way for more uke lovers

Quote from the Los Angeles Times, May 16, 2009 :"Sales of new acoustic pianos, which peaked three decades ago, have been harmed by the crash of the stock and housing markets, Lamond said. Figures from NAMM and Music Trades reveal that in 2000, 105,000 acoustic upright and grand pianos were sold in the United States. In 2007, the total was just 54,000. (Electronic piano sales rose from 82,000 to 121,000 over the same period, and Americans bought 1.2 million portable keyboards in 2007.)

By contrast, sales for a generally cheaper instrument -- the guitar -- have risen: From 1998 to 2007, acoustic guitar sales grew to 1,348,000 from 611,000; for electric guitars, the numbers grew to 1,520,000 from 543,000.

"The guitar has displaced the piano in a lot of the music people listen to -- and not just kids," Parakilas said.

People see the guitar -- mistakenly -- as easy to master, and "kids want to see themselves as guitar players," he said.

Garrett Sullivan, the manager of Adams Music, a popular spot on the Westside for lessons, said that electric guitar lessons have been gaining ground for years. It's by far the most popular in the Pico Boulevard studio, with band and orchestra instruments and piano competing for second place."

I think every new guitar player is a potential ukulele player! I give just as much effort and concentration into the ukulele as I did for the guitar. For me, the experience is the same. The ukulele has the advantage of smaller size, and lower cost, which are both helpful for today's lifestyle. So, I think that this bump in guitar players will evolve into future uke players. Maybe not for another 5 or 10 years, but I think it might happen. Especially if there continues to be the great range of quality ukuleles available from the craftsmen/ manufacturers we have today.
–Lori