What comes to mind when you hear the word ukulele? Hawaiian music? Arthur Godfrey? "Tiptoe through the Tulips"? The ukulele is a versatile little instrument that has been used to play everything from Hawaiian folk songs to punk. Its popularity has spread all over the world since it was introduced to Hawaii by Portuguese instrument maker in the 1870's. An Internet search for "ukulele" will yield sites from Germany to Japan.
You can learn more about ukulele history at http://www.ukes.com/ukelele_history.html and at http://www.geocities.com/~ukulele/history.html
Meet some famous ukulele players at the Ukulele Hall of Fame at http://www.ukulele.org/
Learn to play the uke like they did when it was all the rage in America by checking out a scanned 1914 instruction manual at http://www.snowcrest.net/motman/uke.html Then learn some chords using this great interactive chord finder: http://www.sheep-entertainment.nl/ukulele/chordfinder.html Now you're ready to play along while you listen to Beatles tunes being played on the uke at http://4rmj.com/rick/beatlesite/index.html You'll find lots more songs and chords at Ukulele Boogaloo http://www.alligatorboogaloo.com/uke/ Pick up a few pointers at this Japanese banjo site: http://www.st.rim.or.jp/~kunisige/eukulele.html
The banjo ukulele, a uke with a banjo head, was make famous in Britain by George Formby starting in the 1920's. Listen to him play a tune at http//www.banjoukulele.co.uk Learn more about the banjo uke at http://freespace.virgin.net/dennis.taylor/index_3.htm You can shop for your own banjo uke at http://www.ukuleleworld.com/uw_tal.html Then get a beginner's lesson at http://my.genie.co.uk/dennis.taylor/Page_014_tuition_beginners.htm
Even more unusual than the banjo uke is the ukelin - a uke crossed with a violin! http://www.geocities.com/~ukelin/
If you have any favorite sites or topics you'd like to see mentioned in Cyberfolk, please let us know. Write to me care of Common Times, or email me at chris.mcintosh@usa.net. See you in Cyberspace!
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By Chris McIntosh Copyright © 2002 Chris McIntosh All Rights Reserved.