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UKELELE!!


operative451
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[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1383395962' post='2264006']


That is fifty shades of awesome.
[/quote]Jake Shimbakura is amazing, I particularly like this which was my introduction to his work.
http://youtu.be/pZt0wm_wp7I
Every time I hear this I want to go out and get a tenor uke

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  • 2 months later...

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1379377953' post='2212038']
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][pedant] Ukulele. [/pedant][/font]

[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Factoid: In Hawaii, the name roughly translates as 'jumping flea'.[/font]

[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Another factoid, contradicting the first one: According to Queen Liliʻuokalani - the last Hawaiian monarch - the name means 'the gift that came here', from the Hawaiian words [i]uku[/i] (gift or reward) and [i]lele[/i] (to come).[/font]
[/quote]

It's a contentious discussion in work - Me and the boss say it's a Portuguese instrument, and the other guy reckons it's Hawaiian.

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[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1389540556' post='2335256']
It's a contentious discussion in work - Me and the boss say it's a Portuguese instrument, and the other guy reckons it's Hawaiian.
[/quote]

The ukulele is a Hawaiian instrument. It is an interpretation of a Portuguese instrument.

Google it, twas what I did :)

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[quote name='Myke' timestamp='1389569882' post='2335746']
The ukulele is a Hawaiian instrument. It is an interpretation of a Portuguese instrument.

Google it, twas what I did :)
[/quote]

An interpretation? Portuguese settlers brought over "small guitars" to Hawaii and gifted them to the natives. Don't know where the crossover between "small guitars" and ukuleles happened, but as far as I can tell, it's a Portuguese instrument which the Hawaiians are known for. Don't know what differences would be, but I can't see them being too large. Everyone comes into our shop and says "What are these wee guitars?".

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I know that they have a different name so I guess that's one difference and also that they were strung with metal strings, which I've never seen on a ukulele before. They were also different size to the instruments brought across and had a different tuning.

Hawaiians obviously had to start building their own version at some point which would be the 'ukulele'. And they were merely based on these instruments rather than direct copies. Hence the different tuning and size.

Edited by Myke
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[quote name='Myke' timestamp='1389601666' post='2335868']
I know that they have a different name so I guess that's one difference and also that they were strung with metal strings, which I've never seen on a ukulele before. They were also different size to the instruments brought across and had a different tuning.

Hawaiians obviously had to start building their own version at some point which would be the 'ukulele'. And they were merely based on these instruments rather than direct copies. Hence the different tuning and size.
[/quote]

We have electric ukuleles in the shop, which have metal strings. Is a different tuning enough to make a different instrument? Is a guitar in drop-D no longer a guitar? (not being facetious, maybe just a little philosophical).

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The design they're based on is the Cavaquinho! There are two versions of that, the original Portuguese one and the Brazilian version. A Carioca friend of mine has one of the latter and it's the most beautiful instrument I've ever seen, though it works in open G tuning so a lot of the chords are a nightmare- it's more suited to lead work- looks and sounds like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwtdCxcLYIE

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[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1389602161' post='2335873']
We have electric ukuleles in the shop, which have metal strings. Is a different tuning enough to make a different instrument? Is a guitar in drop-D no longer a guitar? (not being facetious, maybe just a little philosophical).
[/quote]

I'm meaning the original ukuleles. The ones where some person saw the original Cavaquinho and decided to build one but the one they built was smaller and instead of steel strings they used gut strings instead. Seeing that this is different instrument to the Cavaquinho they named it the Ukulele. Hence the Ukulele is a Hawaiian instrument where as the instrument it is based on is a Portuguese instrument. :)

Same as some building a longer guitar with four strings and realising that in fact it's a different instrument so they named it the bass. (I know, I know, it's a bass guitar.. But we all recognise it as a different instrument don't we?) :P

Not really a story you'd tell the kids at bedtime! :lol:

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  • 3 weeks later...

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