The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...

family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrument vary with size and construction. Ukuleles commonly come in four sizes: soprano, concert, tenor, and baritone.

History

Developed in the 1880s, the ukulele is based on several small, guitar-like instruments of Portuguese origin, the ''machete'', ''

cavaquinho The cavaquinho (pronounced in Portuguese) is a small Portuguese string instrument in the European guitar family, with four wires or gut strings. More broadly, ''cavaquinho'' is the name of a four-stringed subdivision of the lute family of instr ...

'', ''

timple The timple is a traditional five-string plucked string instrument of the Canary Islands. It started being manufactured in the 19th century. In La Palma island and in the north of the island of Tenerife, many timple players omit the fifth (D) ...

'', and ''

rajão The rajão ( pt, machete de rajão) is a 5-stringed instrument from Madeira, Portugal. The instrument traces back to the country's regional folk music, where it is used in folklore dances of Portugal in addition to other stringed instruments fr ...

'', introduced to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese immigrants from

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

, the Azores and

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

. Three immigrants in particular, Madeiran cabinet makers Manuel Nunes, José do Espírito Santo, and Augusto Dias, are generally credited as the first ukulele makers. 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." 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. In the

Hawaiian language Hawaiian (', ) is a Polynesian language of the Austronesian language family that takes its name from Hawaii, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language o ...

the word ukulele roughly translates as "jumping flea", perhaps because of the movement of the player's fingers. Legend attributes it to the nickname of Englishman

Edward William Purvis Colonel Edward William Purvis (July 4, 1857 – August 16, 1888) was a British army officer and settler of the Kingdom of Hawaii who served as Vice-Chamberlain during the reign of King Kalākaua. After resigning from the royal household, Purvis ...

, one of King Kalākaua's officers, because of his small size, fidgety manner, and playing expertise. One of the earliest appearances of the word ''ukulele'' in print (in the sense of a stringed instrument) is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's ''Catalogue of the Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments of All Nations'' published in 1907. The catalog describes two ukuleles from Hawaii - one that is similar in size to a modern soprano ukulele, and one that is similar to a tenor (see ).

Canada

In the 1960s, educator

J. Chalmers Doane J. Chalmers Doane (born 1938) is a Canadian educator and musician who spearheaded the use of the ukulele for music instruction in the Canadian school systems. Educator John Chalmers Doane was born in Truro, Nova Scotia in 1938. Doane earned h ...

dramatically changed school music programs across Canada, using the ukulele as an inexpensive and practical teaching instrument to foster musical literacy in the classroom. 50,000 schoolchildren and adults learned ukulele through the Doane program at its peak. "Ukulele in the Classroom", a revised program created by James Hill and Doane in 2008 is a staple of music education in Canada.

Japan

The ukulele arrived in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in 1929 after Hawaiian-born

Yukihiko Haida was a composer, ukulele player and steel guitarist. He and his brother Katsuhiko Haida founded the Nihon Ukulele Association. Early life and education Haida was born in Honolulu on 24 April 1909, to parents who were Japanese immigrants to Haw ...

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 music from the West, but fans and players kept it alive in secret, and it resumed popularity after the war. In 1959, Haida founded the

Nihon Ukulele Association The Nihon Ukulele Association ( ja, 日本ウクレレ協会) is a Japanese association for ukulele players. It was founded in 1959 by Yukihiko Haida, a Hawaiian-born ''nisei'' who moved to Japan at a young age. With his brother, Katsuhiko Haida ...

. Today, Japan is considered a second home for Hawaiian musicians and ukulele virtuosos.

United Kingdom

British singer and comedian George Formby was a ukulele player, though he often played a banjolele, a hybrid instrument consisting of an extended ukulele neck with a

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

resonator body. Demand surged in the new century because of its relative simplicity and portability. Another British ukulele player was Tony Award-winner Tessie O'Shea, who appeared in numerous movies and stage shows, and was twice on '' The Ed Sullivan Show'', including the night The Beatles debuted in 1964. The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain tours globally, and the

George Formby Society The George Formby Society was created after the death of British vaudeville entertainer George Formby in 1961. A small group of his fans, brought together by an ad in ''The Stage'' placed by Londoner George Wilson,The George Formby Society met toge ...

, established in 1961, continues to hold regular conventions.

United States mainland

Pre-World War II

The ukulele was popularized for a stateside audience during the Panama–Pacific International Exposition, held from spring to autumn of 1915 in San Francisco. The Hawaiian Pavilion featured a guitar and ukulele ensemble, George E. K. Awai and his Royal Hawaiian Quartet, along with ukulele maker and player

Jonah Kumalae Jonah Kumalae (October 13, 1874 – May 6, 1940) was a Hawaiian politician, businessman, publisher and ukulele manufacturer and musician. Though most noted for manufacturing and marketing his 'Gold Award' Kumalae Ukuleles from 1911 to 1940, he ...

. The popularity of the ensemble with visitors launched a fad for Hawaiian-themed songs among Tin Pan Alley songwriters. The ensemble also introduced both the

lap steel guitar The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of playing a traditional ...

and the ukulele into U.S. mainland popular music, 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. The ukulele soon became an icon of the Jazz Age. Like guitar, basic ukulele skills can be learned fairly easily, and this highly portable, relatively inexpensive instrument was popular with amateur players throughout the 1920s, as evidenced by the introduction of uke chord tablature into the published

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses List of musical symbols, musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chord (music), chords of a song or instrumental Musical composition, musical piece. Like ...

for popular songs of the time (a role that was supplanted by the guitar in the early years of rock and roll). A number of mainland-based stringed-instrument manufacturers, among them Regal,

Harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

, and especially

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

, 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 parallel to the then-popular mandolin. It was played by

Jimmie Rodgers James Charles Rodgers (September 8, 1897 – May 26, 1933) was an American singer-songwriter and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1920s. Widely regarded as "the Father of Country Music", he is best known for his distinctive rhythmi ...

and

Ernest V. Stoneman Ernest Van "Pop" Stoneman (May 25, 1893 – June 14, 1968) was an American musician, ranked among the prominent recording artists of country music's first commercial decade. Biography Born in a log cabin in Monarat (Iron Ridge), Carroll Count ...

, as well as by early string bands, including

Cowan Powers and his Family Band Fiddlin' Powers and Family was a Virginia string band from the 1920s, considered pioneers in early country music. They were the first family string band to make a commercial record (1924). The band consisted of Cowan Powers and his children, Cha ...

, Da Costa Woltz's Southern Broadcasters, Walter Smith and Friends, The Blankenship Family, The Hillbillies, and The Hilltop Singers.

Post-World War II

From the late 1940s to the late 1960s, plastics manufacturer Mario Maccaferri turned out about 9 million inexpensive ukuleles. The ukulele remained popular, appearing on many jazz songs throughout the 1950s, '60s, and '70s. Much of the instrument's popularity (particularly the baritone size) was cultivated by Arthur Godfrey on ''The Arthur Godfrey Show'' on television. Singer-musician Tiny Tim became closely associated with the instrument after playing it on his 1968 hit " Tiptoe Through the Tulips". Viohl Ukulele sound hole

Post-1990 revival

After the 1960s, the ukulele declined in popularity until the late 1990s, when interest in the instrument reawakened. During the 1990s, new manufacturers began producing ukuleles and a new generation of musicians took up the instrument.

Jim Beloff Jim Beloff (born December 25, 1955) is an American musician. He is a leading proponent of the ukulele. After working in the music industry in Los Angeles, he discovered the ukulele and became an advocate of the instrument. He established Flea Mar ...

set out to promote the instrument in the early 1990s and created over two dozen ukulele music books featuring modern music and classic ukulele pieces. All-time best-selling Hawaiian musician Israel Kamakawiwo'ole helped repopularize the instrument, in particular with his 1993 reggae-rhythmed

medley Medley or Medleys may refer to: Sports *Medley swimming, races requiring multiple swimming styles * Medley relay races at track meets Music *Medley (music), multiple pieces strung together People *Medley (surname), list of people with this nam ...

of " Over the Rainbow" and " What a Wonderful World," used in films, television programs, and commercials. The song reached number 12 on ''Billboards

Hot Digital Tracks The Hot Digital Tracks chart is a song popularity chart that ranks the best selling digital tracks in the United States according to ''Billboard'' magazine. It is not to be confused with the Hot Digital Songs chart, which combines different versi ...

chart the week of January 31, 2004. The creation of YouTube helped revive the popularity of the ukulele. One of the first videos to go viral was Jake Shimabukuro's ukulele rendition of

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

's " While My Guitar Gently Weeps" on YouTube. The video quickly went

viral Viral means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents). Viral may also refer to: Viral behavior, or virality Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example: * Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spread a marke ...

, and as of September 2020, had received over 17 million views.

Construction

The ukulele is generally made of wood, though variants have been composed partially or entirely of plastic or other materials. Cheaper ukuleles are generally made from

plywood Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured ...

laminate Lamination is the technique/process of manufacturing a material in multiple layers, so that the composite material achieves improved strength, stability, sound insulation, appearance, or other properties from the use of the differing materials ...

d woods, in some cases with a soundboard of a tonewood such as

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...

. More expensive ukuleles are made of solid hardwoods such as

mahogany Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Unive ...

. The traditionally preferred wood for ukuleles is a type of acacia endemic to Hawaii, called ''

koa KOA (short for Kampgrounds of America) is an American franchise of privately owned campgrounds. Having more than 500 locations across the United States and Canada, it is the world's largest system of privately owned campgrounds. It was founded in ...

''. Typically, ukuleles have a figure-eight body shape similar to that of a small

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

. They are also often seen in nonstandard shapes, such as cutaway and oval, usually called a "pineapple" ukulele (see image below), invented by the

Kamaka Ukulele Kamaka Hawaii, Incorporated, also known as Kamaka Ukulele or just Kamaka is a family-owned Hawaii-based maker of ukuleles. It is often credited with producing some of the world's finest ukuleles, and created the first pineapple ukulele. The compan ...

company, or a boat-paddle shape, and occasionally a square shape, often made out of an old wooden cigar box. These instruments usually have four

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

; some strings may be paired in

courses Course may refer to: Directions or navigation * Course (navigation), the path of travel * Course (orienteering), a series of control points visited by orienteers during a competition, marked with red/white flags in the terrain, and corresponding ...

, giving the instrument a total of six or eight strings (primarily for greater strumming volume.) The strings themselves were originally made of catgut. Modern ukuleles use nylon polymer strings, with many variations in the material, such as

fluorocarbon Fluorocarbons are chemical compounds with carbon-fluorine bonds. Compounds that contain many C-F bonds often has distinctive properties, e.g., enhanced stability, volatility, and hydrophobicity. Fluorocarbons and their derivatives are commerci ...

, aluminium (as winding on lower-pitched strings), wound metal strings (similar to wound nylon strings, but with a metal core) and Nylgut. Instruments with six or eight 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-course version, has two single and two double courses, and is sometimes called a ''lili'u'', though this name also applies to the eight-string version. Eight-string baritone taropatches exist, and, 5-string tenors have also been made. 3 ukes

Types and sizes

Common types of ukuleles include soprano (standard ukulele), concert, tenor, and baritone. Less common are the sopranino (also called piccolo, bambino, or "pocket uke"), bass, and

contrabass Contrabass (from it, contrabbasso) refers to several musical instruments of very low pitch—generally one octave below bass register instruments. While the term most commonly refers to the double bass (which is the bass instrument in the orchest ...

ukuleles. Other types of ukuleles include banjo ukuleles and electric ukuleles. Of the standard ukuleles, the soprano, often called "standard" in Hawaii, is the second-smallest and was the original size. The concert size was developed in the 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 tone. The baritone (resembling a smaller tenor guitar) was created in the 1940s, and the contrabass and bass are recent innovations (2010 and 2014, respectively). Ukulele wall

The following chart shows the range of notes of standard ukulele types. Note that range varies with the tuning and size of the instruments. The examples shown in the chart reflect the range of each instrument from the lowest standard tuning, to the highest fret in the highest standard tuning. Additionally, the contrabass below aligns with the bass in the above table. ImageSize = width:700 height:250 PlotArea = left:0 right:0 top:0 bottom:20 AlignBars = justify Colors = id:legend value:gray(0.94) # background of top and bottom legend bars id:legendtext value:gray(0.1) # text in top and bottom legend bars id:sp value:gray(1) # spacer between bars and content id:h1 value:rgb(0.99,0.2,0.90) # light violet = top of hierarchy id:h2 value:rgb(0.99,0.1,0.1) # light red-violet id:h3 value:rgb(0.99,0.2,0.30) # light red id:h4 value:rgb(0.99,0.4,0.30) # light red-orange id:h5 value:rgb(0.99,0.6,0.20) # light orange id:h6 value:rgb(0.99,0.75,0.60) # light yellow-orange, bottom of hierarchy id:gridlines value:gray(0.7) # vertical gridlines BarData = bar:pitch bar:Hz barset:ranges bar:pitch2 bar:Hz2 Period = from:0 till:651 ScaleMajor = increment:72 start:2 gridcolor:gridlines TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal # positions points used by the bars # Cx4 = middle C # Cs4 = middle C sharp Define $Cx0 = 6 # 16.35Hz Define $Cs0 = 12 # 17.32Hz Define $Dx0 = 18 # 18.35Hz Define $Ds0 = 24 # 19.45Hz Define $Ex0 = 30 # 20.6Hz Define $Fx0 = 36 # 21.83Hz Define $Fs0 = 42 # 23.12Hz Define $Gx0 = 48 # 24.5Hz Define $Gs0 = 54 # 25.96Hz Define $Ax0 = 60 # 27.5Hz Define $As0 = 66 # 29.14Hz Define $Bx0 = 72 # 30.87Hz Define $Cx1 = 78 # 32.7Hz Define $Cs1 = 83 # 34.65Hz Define $Dx1 = 89 # 36.71Hz Define $Ds1 = 95 # 38.89Hz Define $Ex1 = 101 # 41.2Hz Define $Fx1 = 107 # 43.65Hz Define $Fs1 = 113 # 46.25Hz Define $Gx1 = 119 # 49Hz Define $Gs1 = 125 # 51.91Hz Define $Ax1 = 131 # 55Hz Define $As1 = 137 # 58.27Hz Define $Bx1 = 143 # 61.74Hz Define $Cx2 = 149 # 65.41Hz Define $Cs2 = 155 # 69.3Hz Define $Dx2 = 161 # 73.42Hz Define $Ds2 = 167 # 77.78Hz Define $Ex2 = 173 # 82.41Hz Define $Fx2 = 179 # 87.31Hz Define $Fs2 = 185 # 92.5Hz Define $Gx2 = 191 # 98Hz Define $Gs2 = 197 # 103.8Hz Define $Ax2 = 203 # 110Hz Define $As2 = 209 # 116.5Hz Define $Bx2 = 215 # 123.5Hz Define $Cx3 = 221 # 130.8Hz Define $Cs3 = 227 # 138.6Hz Define $Dx3 = 233 # 146.8Hz Define $Ds3 = 239 # 155.6Hz Define $Ex3 = 244 # 164.8Hz Define $Fx3 = 250 # 174.6Hz Define $Fs3 = 256 # 185Hz Define $Gx3 = 262 # 196Hz Define $Gs3 = 268 # 207.7Hz Define $Ax3 = 274 # 220Hz Define $As3 = 280 # 233.1Hz Define $Bx3 = 286 # 246.9Hz Define $Cx4 = 292 # 261.6Hz Define $Cs4 = 298 # 277.2Hz Define $Dx4 = 304 # 293.7Hz Define $Ds4 = 310 # 311.1Hz Define $Ex4 = 316 # 329.6Hz Define $Fx4 = 322 # 349.2Hz Define $Fs4 = 328 # 370Hz Define $Gx4 = 334 # 392Hz Define $Gs4 = 340 # 415.3Hz Define $Ax4 = 346 # 440Hz Define $As4 = 352 # 466.2Hz Define $Bx4 = 358 # 493.9Hz Define $Cx5 = 364 # 523.3Hz Define $Cs5 = 370 # 554.4Hz Define $Dx5 = 376 # 587.3Hz Define $Ds5 = 382 # 622.3Hz Define $Ex5 = 388 # 659.3Hz Define $Fx5 = 394 # 698.5Hz Define $Fs5 = 400 # 740Hz Define $Gx5 = 406 # 784Hz Define $Gs5 = 411 # 830.6Hz Define $Ax5 = 417 # 880Hz Define $As5 = 423 # 932.3Hz Define $Bx5 = 429 # 987.8Hz Define $Cx6 = 435 # 1047Hz Define $Cs6 = 441 # 1109Hz Define $Dx6 = 447 # 1175Hz Define $Ds6 = 453 # 1245Hz Define $Ex6 = 459 # 1319Hz Define $Fx6 = 465 # 1397Hz Define $Fs6 = 471 # 1480Hz Define $Gx6 = 477 # 1568Hz Define $Gs6 = 483 # 1661Hz Define $Ax6 = 489 # 1760Hz Define $As6 = 495 # 1865Hz Define $Bx6 = 501 # 1976Hz Define $Cx7 = 507 # 2093Hz Define $Cs7 = 513 # 2217Hz Define $Dx7 = 519 # 2349Hz Define $Ds7 = 525 # 2489Hz Define $Ex7 = 531 # 2637Hz Define $Fx7 = 537 # 2794Hz Define $Fs7 = 543 # 2960Hz Define $Gx7 = 549 # 3136Hz Define $Gs7 = 555 # 3322Hz Define $Ax7 = 561 # 3520Hz Define $As7 = 567 # 3729Hz Define $Bx7 = 572 # 3951Hz Define $Cx8 = 578 # 4186Hz Define $Cs8 = 584 # 4435Hz Define $Dx8 = 590 # 4699Hz Define $Ds8 = 596 # 4978Hz Define $Ex8 = 602 # 5274Hz Define $Fx8 = 608 # 5588Hz Define $Fs8 = 614 # 5920Hz Define $Gx8 = 620 # 6272Hz Define $Gs8 = 626 # 6645Hz Define $Ax8 = 632 # 7040Hz Define $As8 = 638 # 7459Hz Define $Bx8 = 644 # 7902Hz Define $max = 650 PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:10 mark:(line,black) width:16 shift:(0,-4) barset:ranges color:h1 from:$Dx2 till:$Cx6 text:classical guitar color:h3 from:$Ex1 till:$Ex6 text:all ukuleles color:h6 from:$Gx4 till:$Ex6 text:sopranino color:h5 from:$Cx4 till:$Cx6 text:soprano color:h6 from:$Cx4 till:$Ex6 text:concert color:h5 from:$Gx3 till:$Ex6 text:tenor color:h6 from:$Dx3 till:$Cs6 text:baritone color:h5 from:$Ex2 till:$Cs5 text:bass color:h6 from:$Ex1 till:$Bx3 text:contrabass color:legend textcolor:legendtext align:left fontsize:7 mark:(line,white) width:12 shift:(3,-4) bar:pitch from:0 till:$max at:$Cx0 text:C0 at:$Cx1 text:C1 at:$Cx2 text:C2 at:$Cx3 text:C3 at:$Cx4 text: C4 (middle C) at:$Cx5 text:C5 at:$Cx6 text:C6 at:$Cx7 text:C7 at:$Cx8 text:C8 bar:Hz from:0 till:$max at:23 text:20 Hz at:65 text:30 at:105 text:44 at:153 text:70 at:190 text:100 at:232 text:150 at:262 text:200 at:304 text:300 at:344 text:440 at:392 text:700 at:430 text:1000 at:472 text:1500 at:502 text:2000 at:544 text:3000 at:583 text:4400 Hz bar:pitch2 # exact copy of bar:pitch from:0 till:$max at:$Cx0 text:C0 at:$Cx1 text:C1 at:$Cx2 text:C2 at:$Cx3 text:C3 at:$Cx4 text: C4 (middle C) at:$Cx5 text:C5 at:$Cx6 text:C6 at:$Cx7 text:C7 at:$Cx8 text:C8 bar:Hz2 # exact copy of bar:Hz from:0 till:$max at:23 text:20 Hz at:65 text:30 at:105 text:44 at:153 text:70 at:190 text:100 at:232 text:150 at:262 text:200 at:304 text:300 at:344 text:440 at:392 text:700 at:430 text:1000 at:472 text:1500 at:502 text:2000 at:544 text:3000 at:583 text:4400 Hz

Tuning

One of the most common tunings for the standard or soprano ukulele is C⁶ tuning: G₄–C₄–E₄–A₄, which is often remembered by the notes in the "My dog has fleas" jingle (see sidebar). The G string is tuned an octave higher than might be expected, so this is often called "high G" tuning. This is known as a " reentrant tuning"; it enables uniquely close-harmony chording. More rarely used with the soprano ukulele is C⁶ linear tuning, or "low G" tuning, which has the G in sequence an octave lower: G₃–C₄–E₄–A₄, which is equivalent to playing the top four strings (DGBE) of a guitar with a capo on the fifth fret. Another common tuning for the soprano ukulele is the higher string-tension D⁶ tuning (or simply D tuning), A₄–D₄–F₄–B₄, one step higher than the G₄–C₄–E₄–A₄ tuning. Once considered standard, this tuning was commonly used during the Hawaiian music boom of the early 20th century, and is often seen in sheet music from this period, as well as in many method books through the 1980s. D⁶ tuning is said by some to bring out a sweeter tone in some ukuleles, generally smaller ones. D⁶ tuning with a low fourth string, A₃–D₄–F₄–B₄, is sometimes called "Canadian tuning" after its use in the Canadian school system, mostly on concert or tenor ukuleles, and extensive use by James Hill and

. Whether C⁶ or D⁶ tuning should be the "standard" tuning is a matter of long and ongoing debate. There are historic and popular ukulele methods that have used each. For the concert and tenor ukuleles, both reentrant and linear C⁶ tunings are standard; linear tuning in particular is widely used for the tenor ukulele, more so than for the soprano and concert instruments. The baritone ukulele usually uses linear G⁶ tuning: D₃–G₃–B₃–E₄, the same as the highest four strings of a standard 6-string guitar. Bass ukuleles are tuned similarly to the bass guitar and double bass: E₁–A₁–D₂–G₂ for U-Bass style instruments (sometimes called contrabass), or an octave higher, E₂–A₂–D₃–G₃, for Ohana type metal-string basses. Sopranino ukulele tuning is less standardized. They are usually tuned re-entrantly, but frequently at a higher pitch than C; for example, re-entrant G⁶ tuning: D₅–G₄–B₄–E₅. As is commonly the case with string instruments, other tunings may be preferred by individual players. For example, special string sets are available to tune the baritone ukulele in linear C⁶. Some players tune ukuleles like other four-string instruments such as the

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

, Venezuelan cuatro, or

dotara The ''dotara'' (or ''dotar'') Persian ( bn, দোতারা, as, দোতাৰা, literally, 'Of or having two strings') is a two, four, or sometimes five- stringed musical instrument, originating from Iran and Central Asia. It is comm ...

. Ukuleles may also be tuned to

open tuning Guitar tunings are the assignment of pitch (music), pitches to the open string (music), open strings of guitars, including acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and classical guitars. Musical tuning, Tunings are described by the particular pitc ...

s, similar to the Hawaiian slack key style.

Related instruments

Ukulele varieties include hybrid instruments such as the guitalele (also called guitarlele), banjo ukulele (also called banjolele), harp ukulele,

lap steel ukulele 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 with high action played with a slide * Resonator ukuleles, particularly those with squa ...

, and the

ukelin The ukelin is a bowed psaltery with zither strings made popular in the 1920s. It is meant to be a combination of the violin and the Hawaiian ukulele. It lost popularity prior to the 1970s because the instrument was difficult to play and often ret ...

. It is very common to find ukuleles mixed with other stringed instruments because of the amount of strings and the easy playing ability. There is also an electrically amplified variant of the ukulele. The resonator ukulele produces sound by one or more spun aluminum cones (

resonators A resonator is a device or system that exhibits resonance or resonant behavior. That is, it naturally oscillates with greater amplitude at some frequencies, called resonant frequencies, than at other frequencies. The oscillations in a resonator ...

) instead of the wooden soundboard, giving it a distinct and louder tone. The

Tahitian ukulele The Tahitian ukulele (ukarere or Tahitian banjo) is a short-necked fretted lute with eight nylon strings in four doubled courses, native to Tahiti and played in other regions of Polynesia. This variant of the older Hawaiian ukulele is noted by ...

, another variant, is usually carved from a single piece of wood, and does not have a hollow soundbox, although the back is open. The Tahitian ukulele generally has eight strings made from fishing line, tuned the same as a Hawaiian ukulele in four courses, although the middle two courses are an octave higher than its Hawaiian cousin. Inspired by the Tahitian ukulele, there is the Motu Nui variant, from France, which has just four strings made from fishing line and the hole in the back is designed to produce a wah-wah effect. Mario Maccaferri invented an automatic chording device for the ukulele, called Chord Master. Close cousins of the ukulele include the Portuguese forerunners, the ''

'' (also commonly known as ''machete'' or ''braguinha'') and the slightly larger ''

''. Other relatives include the

Venezuelan cuatro The cuatro of Venezuela has four single nylon strings, tuned (ad'f#'b). It is similar in shape and tuning to the ukulele, but their character and playing technique are vastly different. It is tuned in a similar fashion to the traditional D tuni ...

, the

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

n '' tiple'', the ''

'' of the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

, the Spanish '' vihuela'', the Mexican requinto jarocho, and the Andean ''

charango The charango is a small Andean stringed instrument of the lute family, from the Quechua and Aymara populations in the territory of the Altiplano in post-Colonial times, after European stringed instruments were introduced by the Spanish during c ...

'' traditionally made of an

armadillo Armadillos (meaning "little armored ones" in Spanish) are New World placental mammals in the order Cingulata. The Chlamyphoridae and Dasypodidae are the only surviving families in the order, which is part of the superorder Xenarthra, along wi ...

shell. In Indonesia, a similar Portuguese-inspired instrument is the kroncong.

Audio samples

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* An exhibition that details the ukulele's history and waves of mainstream popularity. * Information about over 600 ukulele makers past and present. * The differences between the word "ukulele" in Hawaiian and English. {{Authority control Ukuleles Hawaiian musical instruments Surf culture American musical instruments Guitar family instruments Necked box lutes Portuguese musical instruments Lute family instruments Guitars