Ukulele History and Facts by Kainoa Louis

Palm trees swaying on the beach, tropical breezes, luaus, and hula girls are the immediate images that pop into people's mind when they hear the word ukulele. Because this instrument is so much a part of Hawaiian history and culture that image is certainly understandable, however, the Ukulele's history begins before it's arrival in that island paradise and has long since spanned the world wherever music can be found.

While no one knows exactly where the Ukulele originated, most accept that it was first made in Broga, Portugal and was called the Braginlio in that country. It is known that a Portuguese immigrant by the name Joao Fernandez arrived in Hawaii in 1879 and enthralled the Hawaiians with his ability to play this very musical tiny guitar like instrument. It quickly became popular in Hawaii and the Hawaiians renamed the instrument the Ukulele which meant jumping flea because that is what the hands of a Ukulele player looked liked as they strummed this unique instrument.

There were many homemade ukuleles in existence in the years following its introduction into Hawaiian culture but it was Manuel Nunes who made the first commercial Ukulele in Hawaii in 1916. It sold quickly and other manufactures soon followed suit. As the instruments popularity spread, manufacturers in the continental United States began mass producing this instrument and nearly wiped out all of the Hawaiian manufacturers of this instrument. During WWI, the instruments popularity boomed only to die out in the late 1920s. 

With no consumers to buy this product the manufacturers in the continental United States quit manufacturing the ukulele and business for the manufacturing of this small instrument returned to Hawaii. In recent years, the popularity of this instrument has begun making a comeback but, it remains an "Hawaiian " original. 

While the Ukulele can be manufactured from a number of different woods, the most common is from the koa tree. Ukuleles are used not only to make Hawaiian music, but also classical, jazz, country, reggae, and rock. This instrument is versatile and can be played as a solo instrument or in combination with other instruments.

Ukuleles have between 4-10 strings. The smallest Ukulele is called a standard or Soprano but there is also the concert, tenor, baritone, cut away and the 10 string steel string triple Ukulele. 

While there are many fine professional ukulele players, this instrument is also a popular choice of people who simply enjoy learning a musical instrument for their own enjoyment and entertainment. Actor William H. Macy and the late Marilyn Monroe both enjoyed playing this instrument, as does the investment banker Warren Buffet.

With the renewed interest and popularity of the Ukulele, people are anxious to not only learn how to play this instrument but to learn more about it. This has lead to the opening of several museums dedicated to this instrument around the world and a booming business for people who can and are willing to give ukulele lessons to interested pupils. 

Though the interest in this tiny instrument is encompassing the globe, it will always remain in the hearts and the souls of the Hawaiian people, the essence of Hawaiian music.

About Author

Kainoa Louis has been playing the ukulele for 25 years and shares his passion for the ukulele atwww.EasyUkulele.com. Learn more about the different types of ukuleles by visiting his Web site.

"Ukulele History and Facts" articlealley.com

The Ukulele A Great Musical instrument for Small children by Tebo Chicca

Many mom and dad want their particular young child to understand a musical instrument. On the other hand, it can be difficult to determine which instrument is acceptable due to troubles like price. Ukulele usually is not the first tool that springs to mind when trying to pick a guitar. However, they have many plus points, like size and value. The uke, as it is known for short is very hip, very cool. There are a lot of modern performers and bands picking up on the instrument. It provides an unique sound that most people really enjoy. But not only the does it give a beautiful sound and value. This little gem is great because it can be brought anywhere. Parties, the beach, to friend's houses and very importantly for kids, it is ideal for bringing to music classes in school.

The first benefit for learning ukulele is actually its dimension. Many young children struggle with greater instruments including guitar. Though guitars comes in sizes as small as a quarter with the size of any regular-sized guitar, they are generally still too big for kids who're 5-10 years old. Ukulele, in contrast, is small enough to be taken care of easily simply by someone within this age range. The entire body of the instrument is small and easy to hold. The neck is also lean with thin frets, which makes it very easy to play simple chords.

Ukuleles can also be very cheap in comparison with most other musical instruments with prices starting around $20 for the most inexpensive ukuleles. However, you ought to avoid the lowest priced instruments because they're generally poor and won't be in tune. It truly is better to choose something a tad bit more expensive, for example a Lanikai LU-21. These ukuleles just cost around $60 and are significantly better instruments than lower cost ukuleles. There is also better resale value as compared to cheaper ukes, so you could recoup several of your expenditure if your little child quits participating with playing.

Costs past the instrument are low. You generally will undoubtedly need a couple of things as well as the instrument themselves. This includes a tuner, so that you or your youngster can keep the actual ukulele in track. A concert bag or case is wonderful for protecting the actual instrument any time storing or transporting the item. Tuners and also gig baggage can be purchased for around $20 each. You'll need to obtain strings along with replace these regularly. These are also reasonably priced, usually starting from $5 for a load up of strings. Like all things you can start off on the cheaper end of the spectrum, to see if the instrument is indeed for you. If you like it then you can always upgrade later.

Most important of the, ukulele is an easy and fun instrument to learn. Almost all children must be able to pick up a few fundamental chords within the very first session. From there, they'll learn how to play basic strum patterns and overall songs. It becomes an opportunity to effortlessly learn fundamental concepts throughout music. These types of concepts can help your child move forward on the ukulele or some other instrument if he or she choose to swap later.

Ukulele is certainly a superb music instrument for teenagers.

If you want a great instrument to learn music, look no further than the ukulele [http://ukulelehub.com/]. Whether for begniners or kids, this little instrument is fantastic. Click here [http://ukulelehub.com/] to look at more information. Tebo Chicca, "The Ukulele A Great Musical Instrument for small children" GoArticles.com 2012-03-20 

Easy Ukulele Songs for Beginners by Jennifer Quilter

The ukulele is one of the easiest instruments to pick up and play, but that doesn't mean you're going to sound great the first time you pick up and play it. While it's faster to learn than most instruments, you do still have to learn how to play. The thing everyone wants to do as soon as possible is play their first song, so this list goes over easy ukulele songs for beginners.

It's important to keep in mind though that the way we're determining what's "easy" is by what chords you are likely to have learned in the beginning. Before you can do any songs you'll need to start learning some chords, and then you can learn to play some songs and put them together.

The first three songs that should be pretty easy to play are Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Happy Birthday, and I Wanna Be Like You (from the Disney film The Jungle Book).

Most people are looking to play something more current and popular though, and once you master the chords C, F, and G you can go ahead and play the songs "Five Years Time" by Noah and the Whale, "This Too Shall Pass" by OK Go, and "The Bucket" by Kings of Leon. All three of these songs are fairly popular and current and are more likely to impress people when you play them, because they're not songs people will expect a beginning ukulele player to play, even though they're fairly easy (others just won't know that).

Of course, the more chords you add to your knowledge database, the more you'll be able to play! With just a few more chords you'll be able to play a lot more than the ones listed above, soon you'll be able to try songs like The Addams Family Theme, "Foundations" by Kate Nash, "Oxford Comma" by Vampire Weekend, "Kiss With a Fist" by Florence and the Machine, and "Be Ok" and "You and I" by Ingrid Michaelson. Another great one is "Creep" by Radiohead, which was covered on the ukulele by Amanda Palmer.

Once you start learning some more and can conquer some more difficult songs, the easiest way to add to the chords you can play and learn new songs is to look up songs that you like and see if there are ukulele tutorials for the song. Most songs these days have been covered and tutorialed, everything from The Beatles to Lady Gaga ukulele covers are out there these days.

Remember, a song that's supposed to be easy is only said to be so because it assumes you'll learn those chords first. If you have a hard time with a song marked "easy" don't let it discourage you! It just means you need to take some time to learn the chords in that song first.

About the author:

There are a ton of covers out there from your favorite musicians todaywho play ukulele [http://www.playtheukulele.net/current-famous-musicians-who-play-the-ukulele/], and it's easy to do it yourself. You can pick up the pace by learning songs you already know to get yourself motivated and learning to play the ukulele [http://www.playtheukulele.net/].

Jennifer Quilter. "Easy Ukulele Songs for Beginners". GoArticles.com 2011-07-09