Ukulele
It is commonly associated with music from Hawaii, where the name roughly translates as "dancing flea", but was actually developed in Portugal and is known there as the braguinha.
The ukulele comes in four sizes (from smallest to largest): soprano, concert, tenor and baritone.
In the USA, soprano and concert ukes are usually tuned in the key of C: G-C-E-A from low to high, but with the G-string actually tuned an octave up, so it's pitcheded between the E- and A-strings. The baritone is usually tuned in G like the top four strings of a guitar, D-G-B-E. The tenor can be tuned either way, and in C tuning is sometimes tuned with the G-string an octave lower, so it's pitched below the C-string, where you might expect it.
In Brazil, it is known as the "cavaquinho", present in many varieties of "samba", and usually tuned in D-G-B-D.
In the past, the soprano was tuned a whole step higher in the key of D: A-D-F#-B, with the lowest note being D (the A is a whole step below the B), and this tuning may still be popular outside the USA. An alternative tuning is Bb-Eb-G-C (raised a semitone to the key of E flat). Either of these tunings, and the C tuning above, may be referred to jocularly as "My dog has fleas", because the strings sounded in order are the same as the phrase in the song My Dog Has Fleas.
Musicians and entertainers particularly known for playing the ukulele have included:
- Cliff Edwards nicknamed "Ukelele Ike"
- George Formby
- Arthur Godfrey
- Tiny Tim
External link
- Ukulele Hall of Fame Museum
- click Ukulele Chord Forms Chart GIF by M. Ace, http://ookworld.com/irorbit/img/uke_chord_forms.gif