Name | |names= |
---|---|
Image capt | Martin 3K Professional Ukulele |
Background | string |
Classification | String instrument (plucked, nylon stringed instrument usually played with the bare thumb and/or fingertips, or a felt pick.) |
Hornbostel sachs | 321.322 |
Hornbostel sachs desc | Composite chordophone |
Developed | 19th century |
Related | *Bowed and plucked string instruments, in particular the cavaquinho |
The ukulele originated in the 19th century as a Hawaiian interpretation of the cavaquinho or braguinha and the rajão, small guitar-like instruments taken to Hawaii by Portuguese immigrants. 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.
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 David Kalakaua. A patron of the arts, he incorporated it into performances at royal gatherings.
Hawaiian musician Israel Kamakawiwo'ole helped popularise the instrument, in particular due to his 1993 ukulele medley of "Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful World", used in several 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).
Canada: In the 1960s, educator J. Chalmers Doane dramatically changed school music programmes across Canada, using the ukulele as an inexpensive and practical teaching instrument to foster musical literacy in the classroom. There were 50,000 schoolchildren and adults learning ukulele through the Doane program at its peak.
UK: The singer and comedian George Formby was perhaps the most famous ukulele player in the UK, although this is technically a misnomer as what he actually played was a banjolele, a hybrid instrument consisting of an extended ukulele neck with a banjo resonator body. There has been a recent upsurge in demand for the instrument, due to its relative simplicity and portability.
Typically ukuleles have a figure-eight body shape similar to that of a small acoustic guitar. They are also often seen in non-standard shapes, such as cutaway shape and an oval, usually called a "pineapple" ukulele, invented by the Kamaka ukulele company, or a boat-paddle shape, and occasionally a square shape, often made out of an old wooden cigar box.
These instruments may have just four strings; or some strings may be paired in courses, giving the instrument a total of eight strings.
Instruments with 8 strings in 4 courses are usually called taropatch ukuleles, and used to be common in a concert size, but now the tenor size is more common for taropatch ukuleles. There is also a 6 string, 4 course version, with 2 single and 2 double courses, called a Lili'u ukulele.
The soprano, often called "standard" in Hawaii, is the smallest, and the original size ukulele. 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 largest common size is the baritone, created in the 1940s.
{|class=wikitable |- !Type !!Scale length !!Total length!!Tuning(Helmholtz notation) |- |soprano or standard |13" (33 cm) || 21" (53 cm) || g'c'e'a' or a'd'f#'b' |- |concert |15" (38 cm) || 23" (58 cm) || g'c'e'a' or gc'e'a' |- |tenor |17" (43 cm) || 26" (66 cm) || gc'e'a', g'c'e'a', or d'gbe' |- |baritone |19" (48 cm) || 30" (76 cm) || dgbe' |}
The standard tuning for soprano, concert, and tenor ukuleles is C-tuning, g'c'e'a'. The g string is tuned an octave higher than might be expected. This is known as reentrant tuning. Some prefer "Low G" tuning, with the G in sequence an octave lower. The baritone is usually tuned to d g b e' (low to high).
Another common tuning for sopranos and concerts is D-tuning, a' d' f#' b', one step higher than the g'c'e'a' tuning. D tuning is said by some to bring out a sweeter tone in some ukuleles, generally smaller ones. 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. D tuning with a low 4th, ad'f#'b' is sometimes called "Canadian tuning" after its use in the Canadian school system, mostly on concert or tenor ukes.
Hawaiian ukuleles may also be tuned to open tunings, similar to the Hawaiian slack key style.
Close cousins of the ukulele include the Portuguese forerunners, the cavaquinho (also commonly known as machete or braguinha) and the slightly larger rajão. Other stringed variants include the Puerto Rican bordonua, the Venezuelan cuatro, the Colombian tiple, the timple of the Canary Islands, the Spanish vihuela, and the Andean charango traditionally made of an armadillo shell. In Indonesia, a similar Portuguese-inspired instrument is the kroncong.
Category:Ukuleles Category:Hawaiian musical instruments
ca:Ukulele cs:Ukulele cy:Iwcalili da:Ukulele de:Ukulele el:Ουκουλέλε es:Ukelele eo:Ukulelo fa:یوکللی fr:Ukulélé gl:Ukelele ko:우쿨렐레 haw:ʻUkulele hr:Ukulele id:Ukulele it:Ukulele he:יוקולילי la:Cithara Havaiana lb:Ukulele hu:Ukulele nl:Ukelele nds-nl:Joekelille ja:ウクレレ no:Ukulele nn:Ukulele oc:Ukulele pl:Ukulele pt:Ukulele ru:Укулеле simple:Ukulele sk:Ukulele fi:Ukulele sv:Ukulele tl:Yukulele th:อูกูเลเล zh:烏克麗麗This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
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