The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four

nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic. Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from pe ...

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'', ''

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'', introduced to the Hawaiian Islands by

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

immigrants from Madeira, the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

and Cape Verde. 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 Hawaiian may refer to: * Native Hawaiians, the current term for the indigenous people of the Hawaiian Islands or their descendants * Hawaii state residents, regardless of ancestry (only used outside of Hawaii) * Hawaiian language Historic uses * ...

'' 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 The music of Hawaii includes an array of traditional and popular styles, ranging from native Hawaiian folk music to modern rock and hip hop. Styles like slack-key guitar are well known worldwide, while Hawaiian-tinged music is a frequent part ...

and

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

was the ardent support and promotion of the instrument by

King Kalākaua King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ti ...

. A patron of the arts, he incorporated it into performances at royal gatherings. In the Hawaiian language 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, Purvi ...

, 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 The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

'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 dramatically changed school music programs across

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, 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 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 Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fu ...

, particularly Hawaiian and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

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

United Kingdom

British singer and comedian

George Formby George Formby, (born George Hoy Booth; 26 May 1904 – 6 March 1961) was an English actor, singer-songwriter and comedian who became known to a worldwide audience through his films of the 1930s and 1940s. On stage, screen and record he s ...

was a ukulele player, though he often played a

banjolele The banjo ukulele, also known as the banjolele or banjo uke, is a four-stringed musical instrument with a small banjo-type body and a fretted ukulele neck. The earliest known banjoleles were built by John A. Bolander and by Alvin D. Keech, both ...

, 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. Another British ukulele player was

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

-winner

Tessie O'Shea Teresa Mary "Tessie" O'Shea (13 March 1913 – 21 April 1995) was a Welsh entertainer and actress. Early life O'Shea was born in Plantagenet Street in Riverside, Cardiff to newspaper wholesaler James Peter O'Shea, who had been a soldier and ...

, who appeared in numerous movies and stage shows, and was twice on ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the '' CBS Sunday Night M ...

'', including the night

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

debuted in 1964. The

Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain (UOGB) is a British musical ensemble founded in 1985 by George Hinchliffe and Kitty Lux as a bit of fun. The orchestra features ukuleles of various sizes and registers from soprano to bass. The UOGB is ...

tours globally, and the George Formby Society, 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 The Panama–Pacific International Exposition was a world's fair held in San Francisco, California, United States, from February 20 to December 4, 1915. Its stated purpose was to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, but it was widely s ...

, held from spring to autumn of 1915 in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. 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. The popularity of the ensemble with visitors launched a fad for Hawaiian-themed songs among

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It originally referred to a specific place: West 28th Street ...

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

s. The ensemble also introduced both the lap steel guitar and the ukulele into U.S. mainland popular music, where it was taken up by

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

performers such as

Roy Smeck Leroy Smeck (6 February 1900 – 5 April 1994) was an American musician. His skill on the banjo, guitar, and ukulele earned him the nickname "The Wizard of the Strings". Background Smeck was born in Reading, Pennsylvania. He started on the vau ...

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 A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

made in the DeForest

Phonofilm Phonofilm is an optical sound-on-film system developed by inventors Lee de Forest and Theodore Case in the early 1920s. Introduction In 1919 and 1920, Lee De Forest, inventor of the audion tube, filed his first patents on a sound-on-film proce ...

sound-on-film Sound-on-film is a class of sound film processes where the sound accompanying a picture is recorded on photographic film, usually, but not always, the same strip of film carrying the picture. Sound-on-film processes can either record an analog ...

process. On August 6, 1926, Smeck appeared playing the ukulele in a short film ''His Pastimes'', made in the

Vitaphone Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone was the last major analog sound-on-disc system and the only one ...

sound-on-disc Sound-on-disc is a class of sound film processes using a phonograph or other disc to record or play back sound in sync with a motion picture. Early sound-on-disc systems used a mechanical interlock with the movie projector, while more recent syste ...

process, shown with the

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

Don Juan Don Juan (), also known as Don Giovanni ( Italian), is a legendary, fictional Spanish libertine who devotes his life to seducing women. Famous versions of the story include a 17th-century play, ''El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra'' ...

'' starring

John Barrymore John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly att ...

. 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 Tablature (or tabulature, or tab for short) is a form of musical notation indicating instrument fingering rather than musical pitches. Tablature is common for fretted stringed instruments such as the guitar, lute or vihuela, as well as many fr ...

into the published sheet music for popular songs of the time (a role that was supplanted by the guitar in the early years of

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...

). A number of mainland-based stringed-instrument manufacturers, among them Regal, Harmony, 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 Austr ...

, added ukulele, banjolele, and

tiple A tiple (, literally treble or soprano), is a plucked typically 12-string chordophone of the guitar family. A tiple player is called a ''tiplista''. The first mention of the tiple comes from musicologist Pablo Minguet e Irol in 1752. Although ma ...

lines to their production to take advantage of the demand. The ukulele also made inroads into early country music or

old-time music Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dancing, clogging, and buck dancing. It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering on a combinati ...

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, 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.

Post-World War II

From the late 1940s to the late 1960s, plastics manufacturer

Mario Maccaferri Mario Maccaferri (1900–1993) was an Italian luthier, classical guitarist, businessman, and inventor. He is noted for designing the guitar favored by jazz musician Django Reinhardt, and for designing plastic clothespins, plastic bath and kitche ...

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 Arthur Morton Godfrey (August 31, 1903 – March 16, 1983) was an American radio and television broadcaster and entertainer who was sometimes introduced by his nickname The Old Redhead. At the peak of his success, in the early-to-mid 1950s, Godf ...

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 "Tiptoe Through the Tulips", also known as "Tip Toe Through the Tulips with Me", is a popular song published in 1929. The song was written by Al Dubin (lyrics) and Joe Burke (music) and made popular by guitarist Nick Lucas. On February 5, 1968, ...

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 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 Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

helped repopularize the instrument, in particular with his 1993

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

-rhythmed medley of " Over the Rainbow" and "

What a Wonderful World "What a Wonderful World" is a song written by Bob Thiele (as "George Douglas") and George David Weiss. It was first recorded by Louis Armstrong and released in 1967 as a single. It topped the pop chart in the United Kingdom, but performed poor ...

," 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 vers ...

chart the week of January 31, 2004. The creation of

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

helped revive the popularity of the ukulele. One of the first videos to go viral was

Jake Shimabukuro Jake Shimabukuro (born November 3, 1976) is a Hawaiian ukulele virtuoso and composer known for his fast and complex finger work. His music combines elements of jazz, blues, funk, rock, bluegrass, classical, folk, and flamenco. Shimabukuro has writt ...

's ukulele rendition of George Harrison's "

While My Guitar Gently Weeps "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album '' The Beatles'' (also known as "the White Album"). It was written by George Harrison, the band's lead guitarist. Harrison wrote "While ...

" on YouTube. The video quickly went viral, 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 or laminated woods, in some cases with a soundboard of a

tonewood Tonewood refers to specific wood varieties that possess tonal properties that make them good choices for use in woodwind or acoustic stringed instruments. Varieties of tonewood As a rough generalization it can be said that stiff-but-light softwood ...

such as spruce. More expensive ukuleles are made of solid hardwoods such as mahogany. The traditionally preferred wood for ukuleles is a type of acacia endemic to Hawaii, called '' koa''. Typically, ukuleles have a figure-eight body shape similar to that of a small acoustic guitar. 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; some strings may be paired in courses, giving the instrument a total of six or eight strings (primarily for greater strumming volume.) The strings themselves were originally made of

catgut Catgut (also known as gut) is a type of cord that is prepared from the natural fiber found in the walls of animal intestines. Catgut makers usually use sheep or goat intestines, but occasionally use the intestines of cattle, hogs, horses, mules, ...

. Modern ukuleles use

polymer A polymer (; Greek '' poly-'', "many" + ''-mer'', "part") is a substance or material consisting of very large molecules called macromolecules, composed of many repeating subunits. Due to their broad spectrum of properties, both synthetic a ...

strings, with many variations in the material, such as fluorocarbon,

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...

(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 ukuleles. Other types of ukuleles include

banjo ukulele The banjo ukulele, also known as the banjolele or banjo uke, is a four-stringed musical instrument with a small banjo-type body and a fretted ukulele neck. The earliest known banjoleles were built by John A. Bolander and by Alvin D. Keech, both ...

s 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 The tenor guitar or four-string guitar is a slightly smaller, four-string relative of the steel-string acoustic guitar or electric guitar. The instrument was initially developed in its acoustic form by Gibson and C.F. Martin so that players of ...

) 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 On a stringed instrument, a break in an otherwise ascending (or descending) order of string pitches is known as a re-entry. A re-entrant tuning, therefore, is a tuning where the strings (or more properly the courses) are not all ordered from th ...

"; 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 J. Chalmers Doane. 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 The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

: 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, Venezuelan

cuatro Cuatro is Spanish (and other Romance languages) for the number four. Cuatro may also refer to: * Cuatro (instrument), name for two distinct Latin American instruments, one from Puerto Rico (see Cuatro) and the other from Venezuela (see 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 tunings, similar to the Hawaiian

slack key Slack-key guitar (from Hawaiian ''kī hōalu'', which means "loosen the uningkey") is a fingerstyle genre of guitar music that originated in Hawaii after Portuguese cowboys introduced Spanish guitars there in the late 19th century. The Hawaiia ...

style.

Related instruments

Ukulele varieties include hybrid instruments such as the

guitalele A guitalele (sometimes spelled guitarlele or guilele), also called a ukitar, or kīkū,banjo ukulele The banjo ukulele, also known as the banjolele or banjo uke, is a four-stringed musical instrument with a small banjo-type body and a fretted ukulele neck. The earliest known banjoleles were built by John A. Bolander and by Alvin D. Keech, both ...

(also called banjolele),

harp ukulele The term harp ukulele is used to describe two different variants of the ukulele: *an ukulele with unfretted strings extending from the body, essentially forming a miniature harp guitar *an ukulele with an "arm" extending from the upper bout, oft ...

, lap steel ukulele, 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 A resonator ukulele or "resophonic ukulele" is a ukulele whose sound is produced by one or more spun aluminum cones (''resonators'') instead of the wooden soundboard (ukulele top/face). These instruments are sometimes referred to as "Dobro ukule ...

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, another variant, is usually carved from a single piece of wood, and does not have a hollow

soundbox A sound box or sounding box (sometimes written soundbox) is an open chamber in the body of a musical instrument which modifies the sound of the instrument, and helps transfer that sound to the surrounding air. Objects respond more strongly to vib ...

, although the back is open. The Tahitian ukulele generally has eight strings made from

fishing line A fishing line is a flexible, high-tensile cord used in angling to tether and pull in fish, in conjunction with at least one hook. Fishing lines are usually pulled by and stored in a reel, but can also be retrieved by hand, with a fixed attach ...

, 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 France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, which has just four strings made from fishing line and the hole in the back is designed to produce a wah-wah effect.

invented an automatic chording device for the ukulele, called

Chord Master Chord Master (also rendered Visual Chord Master, chordmaster) is the brand-name for a type of automated chording device produced for the ukulele. Competing products were sold under labels such as Noteless Player by Ferry & Co. These devices allowe ...

. Close cousins of the ukulele include the Portuguese forerunners, the '' cavaquinho'' (also commonly known as ''machete'' or ''braguinha'') and the slightly larger '' rajão''. 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 Colombian ''

'', the ''

'' of the Canary Islands, the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

vihuela The vihuela () is a 15th-century fretted plucked Spanish string instrument, shaped like a guitar (figure-of-eight form offering strength and portability) but tuned like a lute. It was used in 15th- and 16th-century Spain as the equivalent of t ...

'', the Mexican

requinto jarocho The requinto jarocho or guitarra de son is plucked string instrument, played usually with a special pick. It is a four- or five-stringed instrument that has originated from Veracruz, Mexico. The ''requinto'' is used in conjunto jarocho ensembles ...

, and the

Andean The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S l ...

'' charango'' traditionally made of an armadillo shell. In Indonesia, a similar Portuguese-inspired instrument is the

kroncong Kroncong (pronounced "kronchong"; id, Keroncong, nl, Krontjong) is the name of a ukulele-like instrument and an Indonesian musical style that typically makes use of the kroncong (the sound ' comes from this instrument, so the music is called ' ...

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