The ukulele (/ju?k?'le?li?/, ew-k?-lay-lee, from Hawaiian: ?ukulele ['?uku'l?l?

]
, oo-koo-le-le; British English: ukelele)[1] sometimes abbreviated to uke, is a
member of the guitar family of instruments; it generally employs four nylon or g
ut strings or four courses of strings.[2]
The ukulele originated in the 19th century as a Hawaiian interpretation of the m
achete,[3] a small guitar-like instrument related to the cavaquinho, timple, bra
guinha and the rajo, taken to Hawaii by Portuguese immigrants, many from the Maca
ronesian Islands. It gained great popularity elsewhere in the United States duri
ng the early 20th century, and from there spread internationally.
The tone and volume of the instrument varies with size and construction. Ukulele
s commonly come in four sizes: soprano, concert, tenor, and baritone.
Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 Hawaii
1.2 Canada
1.3 Japan
1.4 United Kingdom
1.5 United States (mainland)
1.5.1 PreWorld War II
1.5.2 PostWorld War II
1.5.3 Post-1990 revival
2 Types
2.1 Construction
2.2 Sizes
Edward W. Purvis, ca. 1880
The Ukulele is commonly associated with music from Hawaii where the name roughly
translates as "jumping flea,"[4] perhaps because of the movement of the player'
s fingers. Legend attributes it to the nickname of the Englishman Edward William
Purvis, one of King Kalakaua's officers, because of his small size, fidgety man
ner, and playing expertise. According to Queen Lili?uokalani, the last Hawaiian
monarch, the name means the gift that came here, from the Hawaiian words uku (gift
or reward) and lele (to come).
Developed in the 1880s, the ukulele is based on several small guitar-like instru
ments of Portuguese origin, the machete,[5] the cavaquinho and the rajo, introduc
ed to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese immigrants from Madeira and Cape Verde.
[6] Three immigrants in particular, Madeiran cabinet makers Manuel Nunes, Jos do
Esprito Santo, and Augusto Dias, are generally credited as the first ukulele make
rs.[7] Two weeks after they disembarked from the SS Ravenscrag in late August 18
79, the Hawaiian Gazette reported that "Madeira Islanders recently arrived here,
have been delighting the people with nightly street concerts."[8]
One of the most important factors in establishing the ukulele in Hawaiian music
and culture was the ardent support and promotion of the instrument by King Kalak
aua. A patron of the arts, he incorporated it into performances at royal gatheri
ngs.[9]
Canada[edit]
In the 1960s, educator J. Chalmers Doane dramatically changed school music progr
ams across Canada, using the ukulele as an inexpensive and practical teaching in
strument to foster musical literacy in the classroom.[10] 50,000 schoolchildren
and adults learned ukulele through the Doane program at its peak.[11] Today, a r
evised program created by James Hill and J. Chalmers Doane continues to be a sta
ple of the music education in Canada.
Japan[edit]
The ukulele came to Japan in 1929 after Hawaiian-born Yukihiko Haida returned to
the country upon his father's death and introduced the instrument. Haida and hi
s brother Katsuhiko formed the Moana Glee Club, enjoying rapid success in an env
ironment of growing enthusiasm for Western popular music, particularly Hawaiian
and jazz. During World War II, authorities banned most Western music, but fans a
nd players kept it alive in secret, and it resumed popularity after the war. In
1959, Haida founded the Nihon Ukulele Association. Today, Japan is considered a
second home for Hawaiian musicians and ukulele virtuosos.[12]
United Kingdom[edit]
See also: Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain
The singer and comedian George Formby was perhaps the UK's most famous ukulele p
layer, though he often played a banjolele, a hybrid instrument consisting of an
extended ukulele neck with a banjo resonator body. Demand surged in the new cent
ury because of its relative simplicity and portability.[13] Today the ukulele's
popularity in Great Britain continues to grow with the Ukulele Orchestra of Grea
t Britain touring globally, establishment of dedicated ukulele groups such as Bi
rmingham's Moselele, and Paul McCartney's 2002 tribute tour to George Harrison,
a huge fan of the instrument. Ukulele is often spelled ukelele in British Englis
h.[14]
United States (mainland)[edit]
1916 cartoon by Louis M. Glackens satirizing the current ukulele craze
PreWorld War II[edit]
The ukulele was popularized for a stateside audience during the Panama Pacific I
nternational Exposition, held from spring to fall of 1915 in San Francisco.[15]
The Hawaiian Pavilion featured a guitar and ukulele ensemble, George E. K. Awai
and his Royal Hawaiian Quartet,[16] along with ukulele maker and player Jonah Ku
malae.[17] The popularity of the ensemble with visitors launched a fad for Hawai
ian-themed songs among Tin Pan Alley songwriters.[18] The ensemble also introduc
ed both the lap steel guitar and the ukulele into U.S. mainland popular music,[1
9] where it was taken up by vaudeville performers such as Roy Smeck and Cliff "U
kulele Ike" Edwards. On April 15, 1923 at the Rivoli Theater in New York City, S
meck appeared, playing the ukulele, in Stringed Harmony, a short film made in th
e DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film process. On August 6, 1926, Smeck appeared pl
aying the ukulele in a short film His Pastimes, made in the Vitaphone sound-on-d
isc process, shown with the feature film Don Juan starring John Barrymore.[20]
The ukulele soon became an icon of the Jazz Age.[21] Highly portable and relativ
ely inexpensive, it also proved popular with amateur players throughout the 1920
s, as is evidenced by the introduction of uke chord tablature into the published
sheet music for popular songs of the time,[21] a role that would eventually be
supplanted by the guitar in the early years of rock and roll.[22] A number of ma
inland-based instrument manufacturers, among them Regal, Harmony, and Martin, ad
ded ukulele, banjolele, and tiple lines to their production to take advantage of
the demand.
The ukulele also made inroads into early country music or old-time music.[23] It
was played by Jimmie Rodgers and Ernest V. Stoneman, as well as by early string
bands, including Cowan Powers and his Family Band, Da Costa Woltz's Southern Br
oadcasters, Walter Smith and Friends, The Blankenship Family, The Hillbillies, a
nd The Hilltop Singers.[23]
PostWorld War II[edit]
Boy in Hawaii wearing lei and holding a Maccaferri "Islander" plastic ukulele
alt text
A modern red ukulele.
From the late 1940s to the late 1960s, plastics manufacturer Mario Maccaferri tu
rned out about 9 million inexpensive ukuleles.[24] The ukulele continued to be p
opular, appearing on many jazz songs throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.[25]
Much of the instrument's popularity was cultivated via The Arthur Godfrey Show
on television.[26] Singer-musician Tiny Tim became closely associated with the i
nstrument after playing it on his 1968 hit "Tiptoe Through the Tulips."
Post-1990 revival[edit]
After the 1960s, the ukulele declined in popularity until the late 1990s, when i
nterest in the instrument reappeared.[27] During the 1990s, new manufacturers be
gan producing ukuleles and a new generation of musicians took up the instrument.
Jim Beloff set out to promote the instrument in the early 1990s and created ove
r two dozen ukulele music books featuring modern music as well as classic ukulel
e pieces.[28]
Hawaiian musician Israel Kamakawiwo'ole helped re-popularise the instrument, in
particular with his 1993 medley of "Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful Worl
d," used in films, television programs, and commercials. The song reached #12 on
Billboard's Hot Digital Tracks chart the week of January 31, 2004 (for the surv
ey week ending January 18, 2004).[citation needed]
The creation of YouTube was a large influence on the popularity of the ukulele.
One of the first videos to go viral was Jake Shimabukuro's ukulele rendition of
George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" on YouTube.[citation needed] Th
e video quickly went viral, and has received over 12 million views.[29] and laun
ched Jake's career. The ready availability of thousands of instructional videos
has greatly expanded the popularity of this easy to learn instrument.
Types[edit]
Soprano pineapple ukulele, baritone ukulele and taropatch baritone ukulele.
Ukuleles in a music store.
Construction[edit]
Ukuleles are generally made of wood, though variants have been composed partiall
y or entirely of plastic or other materials. Cheaper ukuleles are generally made
from ply or laminate woods, in some cases with a soundboard of an acoustically
superior wood such as spruce. Such instruments typically cost from $50 to $100.
More expensive ukuleles are made of solid hardwoods such as mahogany (Swietenia
spp.) Some of the most expensive ukuleles, which may cost thousands of dollars,
are made from koa (Acacia koa), a Hawaiian wood.
Typically ukuleles have a figure-eight body shape similar to that of a small aco
ustic guitar. They are also often seen in non-standard shapes, such as cutaway s
hape and an oval, usually called a "pineapple" ukulele, invented by the Kamaka U
kulele company, or a boat-paddle shape, and occasionally a square shape, often m
ade out of an old wooden cigar box.
These instruments may have just four strings; or some strings may be paired in c
ourses, giving the instrument a total of six or eight strings. The strings thems
elves were originally made of catgut. Modern ukuleles use nylon polymer strings,
with many variations in the material. Some of the lower strings, particularly o
n the larger sizes, are wound with aluminum.
Instruments with 6 or 8 strings in four courses are often called taropatches, or
taropatch ukuleles. They were once common in a concert size, but now the tenor
size is more common for six-string taropatch ukuleles. The six string, four cour
se version, has two single and two double courses, and is sometimes called a Lil
i'u, though this name also applies to the eight-string version.[30]
Sizes[edit]
Common types of ukuleles include concert, soprano (standard ukulele), tenor, bar
itone. Less common are the sopranino (also called piccolo, bambino, or "pocket u
ke") and bass ukelele.[31] The soprano, often called "standard" in Hawaii, is th
e second-smallest and was the original size. The concert size was developed in t
he 1920s as an enhanced soprano, slightly larger and louder with a deeper tone.
Shortly thereafter, the tenor was created, having more volume and deeper bass to
ne. The baritone was created in the 1940s, and the bass is a very recent innovat
ion (2009).
Size and popular tunings of standard ukulele types:
Type Scale length[32] Total length Tuning[33]
sopranino (piccolo or pocket) 11" (28cm) ~16" (40cm) D5-G4-B4-E5 or C
5-F4-A4-D5
soprano (standard) 13" (33cm) 21" (53cm) A4-D4-F#4-B4 or G4-C4-E4
-A4 (most common)
concert ("super soprano") 15" (38cm) 23" (58cm) A4-D4-F#4-B4 or
G4-C4-E4-A4 (most common)
tenor 17" (43cm) 26" (66cm) A4-D4-F#4-B4, G4-C4-E4-A4 (most common),
G3-C4-E4-A4, or D4-G3-B3-E4
baritone 19" (48cm) 29" (74cm) D3-G3-B3-E4
bass 21" (53cm) 30" (76cm) E1-A1-D2-G2