Do you seek out and listen to ukulele music?

UkingViking said:

What is "ukulele music" really?

Click to expand...

What I envisioned when using the term was distinctly Hawaiian music played on ukulele or to a lesser degree, music many people play for little reason other than that they think it's music that should be played on the ukulele. Corny, tin pan alley type of stuff comes to mind when I think of the latter though I can't say that that type of music is totally absent from the stuff that I play though it would be a small minority.

When I read the OP, and read that the post was inspired by the thread about favorite ukulele artists, I reckon that ukulele music is in this context music played on ukulele by someone famous for playing ukulele. Not a genre.

But that again leaves the question, how much should an artist limit him/her self to the Ukulele to be an Ukulele artist?
If you listen to Eddie Vetters ukulele album, I guess you are listening to ukulele music, but if you listen to a mixed Eddie Vetter playlist, are you then?
If you listen to the Asylum Street Spankers, some times Christina Marrs pulls out an Ukulele to play, but it hardly makes the band ukulele music.

UkingViking said:

When I read the OP, and read that the post was inspired by the thread about favorite ukulele artists, I reckon that ukulele music is in this context music played on ukulele by someone famous for playing ukulele. Not a genre.

But that again leaves the question, how much should an artist limit him/her self to the Ukulele to be an Ukulele artist?
If you listen to Eddie Vetters ukulele album, I guess you are listening to ukulele music, but if you listen to a mixed Eddie Vetter playlist, are you then?
If you listen to the Asylum Street Spankers, some times Christina Marrs pulls out an Ukulele to play, but it hardly makes the band ukulele music.

Click to expand...

Exactly. It’s any song performed awesome on a Ukulele. It might be an MJ song but the UKE IS producing the sound product. That’s my thoughts anyway.

And I love original composition covers very much.

Since there seems to be so much confusion, let me expand upon what I already stated above.

Ukulele music is music being played by a ukulele. The reason people would seek it out is specifically because it's being played on a ukulele. The ukulele is the featured instrument front and center. If there happens to be other instruments there, the ukulele is still front and center and the dominant lead instrument. If someone were to walk in the room and hear it they would say it's ukulele music, not a band that might feature a ukulele somewhere in the background. The ukulele is the reason you are listening to it. My intended meaning touches on both genre and the any kind on music played specifically on a ukulele connotations.

I don't seek ukulele music. In fact, I seldom listen to music these days.

Typically, I search my memory for songs that I imagine might be fun to play on a ukulele. If I can't figure them out, I'll google chords or go to my wife's collection of music books.

If I were to list the ukulele players I listen to the most, it would be the players that demo new ukes for sale on their websites or in reviews.

I do not seek out ukulele music, unless it's a tutorial for me trying to learn something. In fact, I don't consider myself a huge music person at all. I listen to music on the radio when I'm in the car, but not otherwise. I've only been to a handful of concerts in my life, and that's because my husband is really in to going to concerts and he dragged me along. But I wanted to learn to play a musical instrument for whatever reason (probably to learn a new skill and for a sense of accomplishment), and I have fun playing the ukulele for myself. I care little (at least not at this moment in my ukulele journey) about playing with others or for others (except a few family members that I play for). But it's a fun and rewarding hobby for myself.

I rarely listen to music as I prefer a quiet context so I can concentrate on one task at a time (listening to music while doing anything is for me multitasking, not a preferred activity for me). That said, I often sit and listen to ukuleles playing music. I do that because I am interested in the music that can be generated by ukuleles specifically.
Almost all the music I have ever purchased has been music played on ukuleles.

mikelz777 said:

I don't know ukulele players, I don't listen to ukulele music (unless you want to count string band type music), I don't seek out ukulele music and I don't play much if any of what would be considered ukulele music. I enjoy making music with my ukes but other than the fact that what I'm playing is a ukulele, I'm pretty much otherwise outside of the ukulele sphere. Am I alone in this?

Click to expand...

Outside of the fact that I know a number of ukulele players, no - this sounds very much like myself. I don't really think of the ukulele players I know as only that; I think of them as musicians (and most are multi-instrumentalists). I rarely play "ukulele music" - I do play some standards but little Hawaiian and rarely songs that people think of as "ukulele songs." And I'll go a step further and say that for the most part, I actively avoid ukulele-oriented festivals and such - done that, been there, not for me.

Depends on the medium. On YouTube, the bulk of the music videos I watch are ukulele performers, usually for inspiration or just for enjoyment, plus tutorials, but I don't really count that. But then YouTube's algorithms will figure out what you like and feed you more of it, so it's a slippery slope. If I listen to Spotify (generally just at work) it's less probably less than 5% ukulele music. In the car, just what's on the radio.

If we're strictly talking "ukulele music", very little Hawaiian, maybe a little of the Roy Smeck style and some ukulele jazz.

Yes, I do seek out music played on the ukulele. Some of my faves are already listed here. I'll listen to anything but rap, which I really don't consider music at all.
I like to listen to amateurs too, so I attend a lot of open mics, and usually wind up onstage playing with others.
There are a few wizards of the uke living around here...

I didn't exactly seek it out per-say, I just stumbled onto musicians because of my ukulele searches (on YouTube) all related to learning songs, technique, and etc. Because of that I bought three ukulele albums plus I added them to my Pandora and Spotify and by doing so you hear other musicians (Pandora) and from there I add more to my list of a song/person catches my ear.

Same for me, more stumbling than searching. I did pick a up book with some jazz standards (that I don't know) so I've listened to the CD a few times to become familiar with the songs but that's about it.

When I first started playing, I didn't really listen to ukulele music aside from a few songs that featured the instrument, for example Good Company by Queen (which is bloody excellent). I also just mostly played songs that were typically originally played with classical or acoustic guitar. After that came the few typical former artists associated with the ukulele that you usually bump into fairly quickly, like George Formby and Tiny Tim. I still play and listen to some Formby, even though he's obviously more known for playing the ukulele banjo. Finally, I stumbled upon a few ukulele artists that are still active, like James Hill, Rachel Manke and Ralph Straw, and I'm starting to listen to their music more.

But for me, at least currently, the ultimate ukulele music is the magnificence of Roy Smeck. I've been listening to some of this compilation albums almost non-stop for the past few weeks and I can't get enough. I'm even starting to play some of the stuff he did, but learning that will take some time as I'm sure you'll know if you're familiar with the guy and his talent.

I have hundreds of ukulele songs on a flash drive in my car, including just about everything that George Formby recorded.

Anthroterra said:

I very much seek out music featuring ukulele, and include bands that do not feature it as the primary instrument. I like to see how far people push it and how it can combine with other instruments (Rob Scallon playing death metal, anyone?). I'm hearing it more and more, too, particularly with children's programming like Peg + Cat. These are just artists whose albums I own. I own more than this, but these are the ones I actually listen to often. Also, I *may* have an addiction-

Click to expand...

Thank you Anthrotherra your list should be made a sticky for the UU. I have met some of the artists in person, and others I have stumbled upon on youtube, but others I have not heard of. Some of these ukers are both inspiring yet frightening to me.

Ah... new life breathed into a dormant thread!

My situation hasn't changed since first posting. I have a 4 CD box set of ukulele music (2 of the 4 discs are almost all Cliff Edwards and George Formby) but I think I've only listened to it once. I may have to give it a spin again, I remember nothing about it. I went to a Squeeze concert earlier this week and Glenn Tilbrook played a ukulele on one of the songs but the band was so loud you could barely hear it. I recently bought a Romero Creations ST and they included a Daniel Ho CD sampler which was excellent. It was a very nice surprise! If any of you are familiar with the vibe of ECM recordings it very much has that kind of vibe. It's a lovely, soothing and relaxing sampler which I've enjoyed a lot. I've spun that one about 5-6 times.

For those who do listen to ukulele music, Daniel Ho has a new album out. I haven't purchased it yet, but from the preview, it sounds lovely.

Embroidering Melodies - Daniel Ho and The Suzhou Masters
The description is:
"A deeply moving embroidery of southern Chinese music embellished with Western accents…a musical landscape by six-time Grammy® Award-winner Daniel Ho."

It might not feature ukulele as much as his previous albums, (my guess based on the preview and not hearing the album yet), but the preview on his website makes me think I want this one.

From a Hawaiian perspective, and I’m not Hawaiian, but I’ve lived here in Honolulu for six years, you hardly ever hear ukulele alone. Rather, ukulele is usually part of a larger group that includes a guitar and bass and of course singers. The ukulele plays rhythm and lead parts. Jake and Taimane make the ukulele the center of the show but it’s more of an attention grabbing novelty that shows off certain techniques. Jake can be very melodic if he’s in the mood or he can emphasize the tremolo effect. Hawaiian is certainly not the only kind of music I like but for good current Hawaiian music I highly recommend Hoku Zuttermeister. He comes from a famous Hawaiian musical family and has a beautiful voice and great choice of songs. There are of course many others.

But to answer the beginning question, no I don’t search out ukulele music, but I love playing the ukulele with people playing other instruments. I use it in its capacity as a rhythm instrument with which I can throw in fills. When I feed my Pono chambered tenor or baritone through an amp I don’t think it can necessarily be identified as an ukulele. People would probably think it’s a guitar playing up the neck, in a jazzy or rock or folk style. I’m not a lead guitarist and have no desire to be one but I do consider myself to be a halfway decent rhythm guitarist who just happens to play a four stringed guitar. Keith Richards just uses one more string than I do.

Amazon is a good place to find uke music. I like the oldies - Formby, Cliff Edwards, Roy Smeck, and the newer ones - IZ, and Keali'i Reichel