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Ukulele
Ukulele
Classification

String instrument (plucked, nylon stringed instrument usually played with the bare thumb and/or fingertips, or a felt pick. A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making Music. A string instrument (or stringed instrument) is a Musical instrument that produces Sound by means of Vibrating strings In the Hornbostel-Sachs Pizzicato (ˌpɪtsɪˈkɑːtoʊ is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a String instrument. A guitar pick is a type of Plectrum designed for use on a Guitar. )
Related instruments

The ukulele (pronounced /ˌjuːkəˈleɪli/, from Hawaiian: ʻukulele), variantly spelled ukelele (particularly in the UK), or alternately abbreviated uke, is a chordophone classified as a plucked lute; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four strings or four courses of strings. A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making Music. A string instrument (or stringed instrument) is a Musical instrument that produces Sound by means of Vibrating strings In the Hornbostel-Sachs Plucked string instruments are a subcategory of String instruments that are played by plucking the strings Plucking is a way of pulling and releasing the string in The cavaquinho ( pron /kava'kiɲu/ in Portuguese) is a small string instrument of the European Guitar family with four wire or gut strings The Hawaiian language (Hawaiian ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i) is an Austronesian language that takes its name from Hawai'i, the largest island in the tropical A Chordophone is any Musical instrument which produces sound primarily by way of a vibrating string or strings stretched between two points Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck (either Fretted or unfretted and a deep round back or more specifically to an instrument from The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making Music. A course is a pair or more of adjacent strings tuned to unison or an octave and usually played together as if a single string [1]

The ukulele originated in the 19th century as a Hawaiian interpretation of small Portuguese guitar-like instruments. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar The Portuguese guitar or Portuguese guitarra ( guitarra portuguesa) is a plucked string instrument with twelve steel strings strung in six courses comprising of two It gained great popularity elsewhere in the United States during the early 20th century, and from there spread internationally. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The twentieth century of the Common Era began on

Contents

History

Hawaii

The ukulele is commonly associated with music from Hawaii, where the name roughly translates as "jumping flea". Music is an Art form in which the medium is Sound organized in Time. The State of Hawaii ( or həˈwaɪʔiː Hawaiian: Mokuāina o Hawaii) is a state in the United States located on an Archipelago in the [2] It was developed there in the 1880s, based on the Portuguese small guitar-like instrument, the cavaquinho, introduced to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese immigrants (mainly from Madeira Island). Events and Trends Technology Development and commercial production of Electric lighting Development and commercial production of gasoline-powered Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. The cavaquinho ( pron /kava'kiɲu/ in Portuguese) is a small string instrument of the European Guitar family with four wire or gut strings History See also History of Madeira Pre-Portuguese times Pliny mentions certain Purple Islands the position of which with reference to the [3]

U. S. mainland

The ukulele was popularized for a stateside audience during the Panama Pacific International Exposition, held for most of 1915 in San Francisco. The Panama-Pacific International Exposition (PPIE was a World's fair held in San Francisco California between February 20 and December 4 in The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city [4] The Hawaiian Pavilion featured a guitar and ukulele ensemble, George E. K. Awai and his Royal Hawaiian Quartette,[5] along with ukulele maker and player Jonah Kumalae. [6] The popularity of the ensemble with visitors launched a fad for Hawaiian-themed songs among Tin Pan Alley songwriters. Tin Pan Alley is the name given to the collection of New York City -centered music publishers and Songwriters who dominated the popular [7] The ensemble also introduced both the lap steel guitar and the ukulele into U. The lap steel guitar is a type of Steel guitar, from which other types developed S. mainland popular music,[8] where it was taken up by vaudeville performers such as Roy Smeck and Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards. Vaudeville was a Genre of variety entertainment prevalent on the stage in the United States and Canada, from the early 1880s Roy Smeck (born Leroy Smeck, 6 February 1900 – 5 April 1994) was an American Musician. Cliff Edwards ( 14 June, 1895 - 17 July, 1971) also known as "Ukelele Ike", was an American singer [9]

The ukulele became an icon of the Jazz Age[10] as this highly portable and relatively inexpensive instrument also proved popular with amateur players throughout the 1920s, as is evidenced by the introduction of uke chord tablature into the published sheet music for popular songs of the time (a role that would eventually be supplanted by the guitar). The Jazz Age describes the period from 1918-1929 the years after the end of World War I, continuing through the Roaring Twenties and ending with the rise of the Tablature (or Tabulature) is a form of Musical notation, which tells players where to place their fingers on a particular instrument Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of Musical notation; like its analogs -- books pamphlets etc A number of mainland-based instrument manufacturers, among them Regal, Harmony, and Martin, added ukulele, banjolele, and tiple lines to their production to take advantage of the demand. The Regal Musical Instrument Company was established in 1908 in Chicago. The Harmony Company is an American Musical instrument manufacturer that was in its heyday the largest stringed instrument manufacturer in the USA The CF Martin & Company is a US Guitar manufacturer established in 1833 by Christian Frederick Martin. The banjolele (brand name sometimes banjo ukulele or banjo uke) is a four-stringed Musical instrument with a small Banjo -type body and The Spanish word for Treble or Soprano, often applied to specific instruments

From the late Forties to the late Sixties, a plastics manufacturer named Mario Maccaferri turned out about 9 million toy ukuleles. [11] A lot of the instrument's popularity was cultivated via "The Arthur Godfrey Show" on television. Arthur Morton Leo Godfrey ( August 31 1903 &ndash March 16 1983) was an American Radio and Television broadcaster [12]

Types and tunings

Ukuleles hanging in a music store.
Ukuleles hanging in a music store.

Construction

Ukuleles are generally made of wood, although variants have been made composed partially or entirely of plastic. Cheaper ukuleles are generally made from ply or laminate woods, in some cases with a soundboard of an inexpensive but acoustically superior wood such as spruce. Other more expensive ukuleles are made of exotic hardwoods such as mahogany. Some of the most valuable ukuleles, which may run into the thousands of dollars in price, are made from koa (Acacia koa), a Hawaiian wood known for its fine tone and attractive colour and figure. The koa ( Acacia koa; Family Fabaceae) is a large tree endemic to the Hawaiian Islands, primarily Hawai{{okina}}i, Maui photo

Sizes

Type Scale* length Total length Tuning†
soprano or standard (the original size) 13" (33 cm) 21" (53 cm) g' c' e' a'
concert 15" (38 cm) 23" (58 cm) g' c' e' a'
tenor (created in the 1920s) 17" (43 cm) 26" (66 cm) g c' e' a'
baritone (created in the late 1940s) 19" (48 cm) 30" (76 cm) d g b e'

* The "Scale" is the length of the playable part of the strings, from the nut at the top to the bridge at the bottom. The 1920s is sometimes referred to as the " Jazz Age " or the " Roaring Twenties " when speaking about the United States and Canada The 1940s decade ran from 1940 to 1949 Events and trends The 1940s was a period between the radical 1930s and the conservative 1950s which also leads the period to be

† note that on the soprano and concert instruments, the "bottom" or string is actually pitched a 5th higher than the next string (and a Major 2nd below the "top" string)

Another common tuning (also the more 'traditional' tuning) for sopranos and concerts is A D F# B, one step higher than the GCEA tuning. This is said by some to bring out a sweeter tone in some ukuleles, generally smaller ones.

Ukuleles are also often seen in non-standard shapes, such as an oval, usually called a "pineapple" ukulele, or a boat-paddle shape, made popular by the Fluke brand of ukulele, and occasionally a square shape, often made out of an old wooden cigar box.

Unlike most other ukuleles, baritone ukuleles are not re-entrant tuned; instead they are tuned D-G-B-E (low to high), matching the tuning of the top four strings of a guitar. A reentrant tuning is a tuning of certain Stringed instruments such as the Ukulele or certain Tenor guitars where the strings are not ordered from the lowest

Though the vast majority of ukuleles fall into the above four categories, there are also bass ukuleles and sopranino ukuleles at the extreme ends of the size spectrum.

Tuning

These instruments may have just four strings; or some strings may be paired in courses, giving the instrument a total of six or eight strings. A course is a pair or more of adjacent strings tuned to unison or an octave and usually played together as if a single string

The strings or courses are tuned to A6 D6 F#6 B5 or G5 C6 E6 A5 (See Scientific pitch notation for a description of these codes). Scientific pitch notation is one of several methods that name the Notes of the standard Western Chromatic scale by combining a letter-name accidentals The chord formations are identical in either tuning, but transposed.

Hawaiian ukuleles may also be tuned to open tunings, similar to the Hawaiian slack key style. Guitar tunings are differing pitch arrangements of open (unfretted strings used for the Guitar. Slack-key guitar is a fingerstyle genre of guitar music that originated in Hawai{{okina}}i. [13][14] These tunings would include "wahine" tunings.

Predecessors

The ukulele is a descendant of the Madeiran braguinha and rajão. History See also History of Madeira Pre-Portuguese times Pliny mentions certain Purple Islands the position of which with reference to the A braguinha is an instrument similar to a cavaquinho, built in the city of Braga and named after it; the Portuguese cavaquinho is usually tuned in D-G-B-D, a G-major chord. The cavaquinho ( pron /kava'kiɲu/ in Portuguese) is a small string instrument of the European Guitar family with four wire or gut strings Braga (ˈBrag-uh a city and municipality in northwestern Portugal, is the capital of the district of Braga, the oldest archdiocese Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. The Madeira rajão is tuned D-G-C-E-A. The D and G strings are both re-entrant, i. e. , tuned an octave higher than expected in the normal low-to-high course of strings. The GCEA strings of the rajão are the source of the re-entrant tuning of the modern ukulele[1].

Before the invention of the ukulele, Hawaiians referred to the rajão as a "taro-patch fiddle. " After the Hawaiian ukulele was invented, the Hawaiians referred to a similar, eight-string instrument tuned GCEA as a taro-patch fiddle. Taro (from Tahitian or other Polynesian languages) more rarely kalo (from Hawaiian) and gabi in The Philippines, is a

Audio samples

Ukulele chords

A chord being played on an ukulele - 47 kB
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Henry Kailimai's hene

A piece being played on an ʻukulele - 327 kB
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Pronunciation issues

While the mainstream American English pronunciation of "ukulele" is /ˌjuːkəˈleɪli/, some English speakers prefer to accurately follow the original Hawaiian pronunciation: /ˌuːkuˈlele/. Though the American English pronunciation is more common overall, the Hawaiian pronunciation is favored within Hawaii and by individuals interested in Hawaiian culture.

Related instruments

Ukulele variants

Related instruments

See also

References

  1. ^ Erich M. An electric ukulele is a ukulele which is electrically amplified The term harp ukulele is used to describe two different variants of the Ukulele an ukulele with unfretted strings extending from the body essentially forming The lap steel ukulele is a type of and method of playing the Ukulele There are three main types of lap steel ukulele Lap slide ukuleles simply a ukulele The Tahitian Ukulele (also known as the Tahitian Banjo) is a short-necked fretted lute with eight nylon strings in four doubled courses The Bordonua (Bordonúa is a large deep body (sound-boxes are usually 6 in or 15 The cavaquinho ( pron /kava'kiɲu/ in Portuguese) is a small string instrument of the European Guitar family with four wire or gut strings This article is about an instrument For the album by British Trip-Hop band Morcheeba, see Charango. The cuatro is any of several Latin American instruments of the Guitar or Lute family Slack-key guitar is a fingerstyle genre of guitar music that originated in Hawai{{okina}}i. The timple is a traditional Plucked string instrument of the Canary Islands. The Spanish word for Treble or Soprano, often applied to specific instruments Vihuela is a name given to two different Guitar -like String instruments one from 15th and 16th century Spain, usually with 12 paired strings and the A Applause Aria Ariana Ashton B Bear Creek Black Bear Boatpaddle This is a list of ukulele musicians. These musicians and bands are well-known for playing the Ukulele as their primary instrument von Hornbostel & Curt Sachs, "Classification of Musical Instruments: Translated from the Original German by Anthony Baines and Klaus P. Wachsmann. " The Galpin Society Journal 14, 1961: 3-29.
  2. ^ Beloff, Jim (2003). The Ukulele: A Visual History. Backbeat books, 13. ISBN 9780879307585.  
  3. ^ Nidel, Richard (2004). World Music: The Basics. Routledge, 312. ISBN 9780415968003.  
  4. ^ Lipsky, William (2005). San Francisco's Panama-Pacific International Exposition. Arcadia Publishing, 36. ISBN 9780738530093.  
  5. ^ Doyle, Peter (2005). Echo and Reverb: Fabricating Space in Popular Music Recording, 1900-1960. Wesleyan, 120. ISBN 9780819567949.  
  6. ^ Jonah Kumalae (1875-1940) - 2002 Hall of Fame Inductee. Ukulele Hall of Fame Museum (2007). Retrieved on 2008-06-02. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 455 - The Vandals enter Rome, and plunder the city for two weeks
  7. ^ Koskoff, Ellen (2005). Music Cultures in the United States: An Introduction. Routledge, 129. ISBN 9780415965880.  
  8. ^ Volk, Andy (2003). Lap Steel Guitar. Centerstream Publications, 6. ISBN 9781574241341.  
  9. ^ Whitcomb, Ian (2000). Ukulele Heaven: Songs from the Golden Age of the Ukulele. Mel Bay Publications, 11. ISBN 9780786649518.  
  10. ^ Whitcomb, Ian (2001). Uke Ballads: A Treasury of Twenty-five Love Songs Old and New. Mel Bay Publications, 4. ISBN 9780786613601.  
  11. ^ Wright, Michael (3 Mar 2002). Maccaferri History: The Guitars of Mario Maccaferri. Vintage Guitar. Retrieved on 2008-06-02. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 455 - The Vandals enter Rome, and plunder the city for two weeks
  12. ^ Arthur Godfrey ((1903-1983) - 2001 Hall of Fame Inductee. Ukulele Hall of Fame Museum (2007). Retrieved on 2008-06-02. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 455 - The Vandals enter Rome, and plunder the city for two weeks
  13. ^ Kimura, Heeday. How to Play Slack Key Ukulule.  
  14. ^ Heaukulani, David (2007). Ukulele Slack Key: Hawaiian Slack Key Styling. Outskirts Press. ISBN 9781432706258.  

External links

Dictionary

ukulele

-noun

  1. (music) A small four-stringed guitar.
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