Playing Ukulele is Fun
Fun Facts:
This word comes from to words: “uku” means “flea” and “lele” means “jumping”. Altogether, they create the opposite.
There are four types of ukuleles: soprano, concert, tenor, and baritone.
Beatle George Harrison, before he passed away, collected hundreds of ukuleles and was often seen strumming them or giving them away to friends.
Early ukulele strings were made from cat or sheep gut. Most modern ukulele strings are now made of nylon, but you can find gut strings in specialty shops.
There is a ukulele orchestra in Great Britain that is hugely popular. They regularly perform worldwide to great critical acclaim.
Playing Tips:
Are your fingers getting sore? Sometimes it can happen in a beginner’s fingers but as time passes and you start practicing more, you’ll find out that it’s getting better.
Bzzt! Are you having a hard time playing or strumming the ukulele without a string buzzing? Sometimes it’s because of the quality of the ukulele, but you can minimize it by putting your fretting fingers behind the frets as closely as possible.
Is your ukulele getting out of tune very often (like every time after you play it or while you’re playing it)? Sometimes it can happen because it is brand new or depends on the humidity.
Ukulele History:
The ukulele is a member of the lute family of instruments. It is a four-stringed instrument originated from Hawaii in the 19th century. It generally employs four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings. Some strings are paired in courses, giving it a total of six to eight strings. The ukulele originated in the 19th century as a Hawaiian adaptation of the Portuguese machete, a small guitar-like instrument, which was introduced to Hawaii by Portuguese immigrants, mainly from Madeira and the Azores. It gained great popularity elsewhere in the United States during the early 20th century and from there spread internationally. It was invented in 1879 when a ship named the Raven´s Crag from Madeira, Portugal arrived at Honolulu. On that ship was a man named Manuel Nunes came to Hawaii with his friends to work the sugar cane fields. However, he soon developed the ukulele based on a Portuguese instrument, called the braguinha.
