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From : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukulele
The ukulele (/juːkəˈleɪliː/, ew-kə-lay-lee, from Hawaiian: ʻukulele
[ˈʔukuˈlɛlɛ], 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 gut strings or four courses of
strings.[2]
The ukulele originated in the 19th century as a Hawaiian interpretation
of the machete,[3] a small guitar-like instrument related to the
cavaquinho, timple, braguinha and the rajão, taken to Hawaii by
Portuguese immigrants, many from the Macaronesian Islands. It gained
great popularity elsewhere in the United States during the early 20th
century, and from there spread internationally.
The tone and volume of the instrument varies with size and construction.
Ukuleles commonly come in four sizes: soprano, concert, tenor, and
baritone.
Hawaii :
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 Kalākaua’s
officers, because of his small size, fidgety manner, and playing
expertise. According to Queen Liliʻuokalani, 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 instruments of Portuguese origin, the machete,[5] the
Cavaquinho and the Rajão, introduced to the Hawaiian Islands by
Portuguese immigrants from Madeira and Cape Verde.[6] Three immigrants
in particular, Madeiran cabinet makers Manuel Nunes, José do Espírito
Santo, and Augusto Dias, are generally credited as the first ukulele
makers.[7] Two weeks after they disembarked from the SS Ravenscrag in
late August 1879, 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 Kalākaua. A patron of the arts, he incorporated it
into performances at royal gatherings.[9]
Canada :
In the 1960s, educator J. Chalmers Doane dramatically changed school
music programs across Canada, using the ukulele as an inexpensive and
practical teaching instrument 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 revised program created by
James Hill and J. Chalmers Doane continues to be a staple of the music
education in Canada.
Japan :
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 his brother Katsuhiko formed the Moana Glee Club,
enjoying rapid success in an environment of growing enthusiasm for
Western popular music, particularly Hawaiian and jazz. During World War
II, authorities banned most Western music, but fans and 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 :
See also: Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain
The singer and comedian George Formby was perhaps the UK’s most famous
ukulele player, 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 century because of its relative simplicity and
portability.[13] Today the ukulele’s popularity in Great Britain
continues to grow with the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain touring
globally and Paul McCartney’s 2002 tribute tour to George Harrison, a
huge fan of the instrument. Note that ukulele is often spelled ukelele
in British English.[14] Stefan Abingdon can be seen playing the Ukulele
in interviews and in a cover of his own song “What You’re Told”.
United States (Mainland)[edit]
Pre–World War II :
The ukulele was popularized for a stateside audience during the Panama
Pacific International 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 Kumalae.[17] The popularity of the
ensemble with visitors launched a fad for Hawaiian-themed songs among
Tin Pan Alley songwriters.[18] The ensemble also introduced both the lap
steel guitar and the ukulele into U.S. mainland popular music,[19]
where it was taken up by vaudeville performers such as Roy Smeck and
Cliff “Ukulele Ike” Edwards. On April 15, 1923 at the Rivoli Theater in
New York City, Smeck appeared, playing the ukulele, in Stringed Harmony,
a short film made in the DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film process. On
August 6, 1926, Smeck appeared playing the ukulele in a short film His
Pastimes, made in the Vitaphone sound-on-disc 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 relatively
inexpensive, it 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,[21] a role that
would eventually be supplanted by the guitar in the early years of rock
and roll.[22] 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 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 Broadcasters, Walter Smith and Friends,
The Blankenship Family, The Hillbillies, and The Hilltop Singers.[23]
Post–World War II :
From the late 1940s to the late 1960s, plastics manufacturer Mario
Maccaferri turned out about 9 million inexpensive ukuleles.[24] The
ukulele continued to be popular, 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 instrument
after playing it on his 1968 hit “Tiptoe Through the Tulips.”
Post-1990 Revival :
After the 1960s, the ukulele declined in popularity until the late
1990s, when interest in the instrument reappeared.[27] During the 1990s,
new manufacturers began 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 over two dozen ukulele music
books featuring modern music as well as classic ukulele pieces.
Hawaiian musician Israel Kamakawiwo’ole helped re-popularise the
instrument, in particular with his 1993 medley of “Over the Rainbow” and
“What a Wonderful World,” 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 survey 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. The video quickly went viral, and has received over 12 million
views.[29] and launched Jake’s career. The ready availability of
thousands of instructional videos has greatly expanded the popularity of
this
easy to learn instrument.
