Why have ukuleles become trendy?

[SoxFan]

Can someone explain this nonsense to me?

Over the last year or so, every hipster peckerhead seems to have decided to run out and buy one of these things. The local music store has more ukuleles in stock than 12 string guitars or mandolins.

No non-Hawaiian (Tiny Tim excluded) looks good or sounds good with these things, so can someone explain why every 25 year old this side of Brooklyn seems to be jumping on to this trend?

[Rosie1223]

1. I blame Call Me Wesley.

:hi:

[Call Me Wesley]

4. LOL! But, to be honest, blame Heidi.

She started the trend. I was just a hipster peckerhead following it.



:hi:

[Rosie1223]

5. haha BTW

Thanks for telling me to order a stylus for my iPad. I'm having fun with the doodling program now. My kids thought I was crazy to order something based on the recommendation of 'some guy in Switzerland' but I knew better.

[Call Me Wesley]

10. It's great, isn't it?

I still see people cleaning their iPads viciously after smearing it with their finger prints. ;) Works great for the iPhone, too. :hi:

[LeftinOH]

2. They were big in the 1920s& 30s- cheap and easy; gramps had one,

-and there are so many 80 year old ukeleles out there that they usually have little value as antiques.

[Call Me Wesley]

3. Nonsense?

The ukulele is the greatest instrument ever. And why do you call me a hipster peckerhead?

[SoxFan]

15. I blame you for that #@%&$#% Train song

You and you alone.

[MorningGlow]

6. Can't speak for the hipster peckerheads, but

it's great for kids.

One of the teachers at my son's elementary school has a "ukulele club" for fifth graders that pulls quite a few members each year. The instrument is fun and easier to play than a guitar (especially for kids), and you can play tunes you hear on the radio on it. My brother just got back from Hawaii and brought my son a nice uke as a souvenir, and the first thing he said was he wanted to join the ukulele club at school when he's old enough.

Shit, when I was in elementary school, the only recourse we had for a simple instrument was the recorder. IMO, ukuleles sound a damn sight better than those things, especially when played by little kids.

And call me a hipster peckerhead, but I've been playing my kid's new ukulele and I've been having a ball.

[Heidi]

7. This post says more about you than it says about the ukulele.

:hi:

[SoxFan]

16. Damn right it does!

The Edge never needed a ukulele. Neither did Mark Knopfler, Stuart Adamson, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Will Sergeant, John McGeoch, or Jimi Hendrix! A mandolin is fine; a guitar that got stuck in the wash is not!

:evilgrin:

[LisaM]

8. I've been seeing them everywhere

But really, when the guy pulled one out and started playing on the ferry last week, I think he should have been required to also wear a raccoon coat and pork pie hat. And do his singing through a megaphone.

[Lars39]

9. Maybe because of groups like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2P1-UvqdD7o&playnext_from=TL&videos=StTkpnyOm_Q

[Call Me Wesley]

11. Aren't they great?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGEhAVdmMr8

[Lars39]

14. Hehe...was just listening to that! :^)

[SoxFan]

17. That violates at least 6 provisions of the Geneva Convention

Call Amnesty International right fucking now!

[Sebastian Doyle]

33. Or what about these guys?

This band could have been huge, but sadly the uke player passed away :evilfrown:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5k-OE0-fWs

[dawg]

12. Zooey Deschanel

That's the best reason I can think of.

[Chan790]

23. And what a damn fine reason it is.

[Call Me Wesley]

13. And by the way,

since you think that non-Hawai'i-an can't play it, enjoy this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq_HwXmF23o

It's like saying that only angels can play the harp, but ... well, you get the meaning of it.

[MiddleFingerMom]

18. This is very sweet...

.
.
.
.
.
.
...WARNING -- it's also very sad.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
But what a splendid group of friends/musicmakers. The bonds that
form -- the creative connections -- the love of homegrown music...
WHATEVER form it takes -- those sorts of things are what make
collaborating in music so wonderful.
.
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZknGc7eDmI
.

[KamaAina]

19. Jake Shimabukuro looks AND sounds great with his

he is from Hawai'i but is of Japanese, not native Hawaiian, descent.

edit: the 'ukulele ("jumping flea") itself is an import to the islands, believed to have been brought by the Portuguese.

[MiddleFingerMom]

20. And by the way...

.
.
.
.
...the Woody Guthrie-inspired ukelele is GENIUS -- ESPECIALLY with the postscript. :rofl:
.

[frogmarch]

21. I LOVE my uke, goddamit, so

stop badmouthing these great instruments. Forget Tiny Tim. Ukuleles sound awesome.

[Rabrrrrrr]

22. Because of that fucking song that I used to love.

But then every hipster shitbag seems to have glommed on to it and ruined, like the fad-following fucks always ruin everything that's good.

Don't worry, the trend will die out in a year or two when the fuckers find some new shiny thing to be utterly fucking fascinated with.

[Call Me Wesley]

24. So, you fucking say, that some shitbags having a fucking ukulele

and fucking try to have fucking fun with it, ruined that fucking song you always loved? I hope you handwrote this fucking thought down on fucking Amalfi paper.

Dude, I'll never send you a gift. I'd be afraid of your 'Thank you' note. :P

What's the song? I'll learn it and play it for you!

[Rabrrrrrr]

25. The song is that version of Over the Rainbow

loved that song because it so much reminds me of Hawaii, but then it became hipster douchebag popular, and now it just pisses me off to listen to it because of the human garbage that I have to share it with now.

[Call Me Wesley]

26. Yeah, I assumed that, about the song.

Well, the original has nothing to do with Hawai'i, so you might have fallen into a tourist trap here. But it's a wonderful song played by Iz: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1bFr2SWP1I&feature=related

And I want to be able to play it, too, along with all the other hipster douchebags trying it out. Darn, wouldn't it be fun if all these try to paint as well, write by hand with a fountain pen, admire good paper? I'd encourage them. I'd encourage you, too. ;)

Nighty night!

[Rabrrrrrr]

31. Yes, of course I realize it has nothing to do with Hawaii.

But it is very much in a Hawaiian vibe. I know, I lived there.

I have no idea if you're trying to fuck with me with your posts, but I'll assume and hope that you aren't.

:shrug:

[TK421]

27. They're easier to pronounce than vuvuzela n/t

[Schema Thing]

28. Because my 18 y/o (not 25) daughter and three friends decided to do a music tour

....playing house parties and busking. Dallas-Atlanta-NYC-Vermont and many stops in between. 12 cities in 14 days.

Their "tour bus"? A 1992 Mazda 323 with no AC. There was only room for one guitar, so everything else had to be small - hence a ukulele. Also she could learn to play it in a week.

[pokerfan]

29. 'The Mighty Uke': A Musical Underdog Makes A Comeback

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127116452

[The Midway Rebel]

30. Carmaig De Forest

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsNi79cGhwc

Recorded an LP produced by the late great Alex Chilton...if you can find a copy, BUT IT!

[Sebastian Doyle]

32. George Harrison plotted this all out from beyond the grave

[Rob H.]

34. "hipster peckerheads"? Mr.B the Gentleman Rhymer would like a word with you

"Mother says, 'Knock you a-a-r-r-r-rt,'" indeed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6t28COxEp2k

:P

[csziggy]

35. Smaller and more portable than most stringed instruments

That is my guess. My sister has never recovered from having to give up her Firebird for a minivan to carry her son's bass fiddle to band practice. Think of how happy she would have been if he had played a ukulele!

[mikeSchmuckabee]

36. Fish listening to the radio!