Anyone get inspired by Eddie and buy a ukulele?

JB128716 · October 2012

I'm thinking about buying my 6 year old niece a ukulele for the holidays. While I'm at it, I might buy one for myself after being inspired by Eddie.

Just wondering if anyone else decided to pick up the instrument after listening to Eddie's solo album. If so, what did you buy?

Berasapj · October 2012

I bought one after listening to ukulele songs and i got a cambra ukelele

Jamminonthe1 · October 2012

I would guess that uke sales went up drastically when EV went "mainstream" with it...

cmmac80 · October 2012

I was given one. It's just a cheap one but it's super fun to play! I've never played guitar or anything like that but I learned a few songs thanks to youtube. I say go for it!

pearlswirl · October 2012

Haha... Not only did I start playing but I bought a replica of his Mya- Moe uke...

FrankS · October 2012

I bought one a while back to learn to play Soon Forget and it was maybe a month or so after buying it I saw Ukulele Songs was coming out...still haven't learned anything off that album but I have come up with a few little things myself.

Hugh Freaking Dillon · October 2012

bought my daughter a pink denver soprano uke for christmas one year. it was only $25, and I thought, "hey, now she can ruin the tuning on her own guitar!".

http://www.long-mcquade.com/products/30 ... e_Pink.htm

I've seriously considered buying my own uke, and learning Uke Songs. it would be a great little carry-around to campfires and such. not as bulky as an acoustic guitar.

Trope44 · October 2012

I sell them and a lot of people who have bought tell me they were "inspired" by Eddie and Uke songs.
When you do learn the songs you realize he's a pretty good player. Most definitely a good writer.
He and that Jake cat on youtube are the names I most hear, and probably a big part of the surge the
last few years in Uke sales.

dougfloyd · October 2012

No but if you put a capo on the 5th fret of your guitar, poof you've got a decent enough replica of a ukulele to mess around with. I've done that and learned most of the songs on the Ukulele Songs album. Fun to play around with something different for a while.

rockpants · October 2012

I think it's fantastic to see people realizing it's not a toy, rather that it's an affordable way to learn and play music.

I already had one - A lot of Canadian kids grew up playing the uke in school due to Chalmers Doane's efforts, so when Ed started bringing it out 'round the Binaural era, I was stoked; consequently I was extremely pleased that he was taking it further. I'd say he's definitely pushed me to get into it more seriously - before I just kinda farted around and played what little I remembered from grade school: the D scale, a bunch of random chords, and that Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree song.

The upswing of uke popularity has been going on for a little while. There's a 2009 documentary called Mighty Uke that covers this. In the doc are Jake Shimabukuro and James Hill - an alumnus of The Langley Ukulele Orchestra, which is also featured in the documentary (and going into its 32nd year of existence). The LUO are amazeballs. The YouTube videos don't do them justice, at least not with sound quality.

I was at the Langley Ukulele Workshops (run by James Hill) both this year and last; going to gatherings and workshops is a lot of fun and I highly recommend it. The uke community are a supportive and friendly bunch. The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain has also gotten a lot of attention in the last few years. Bands like Florence and the Machine & Mumford and Sons are using ukes on a regular basis, too.

Uke on!

brianlux · October 2012

Trope44 wrote:

I sell them and a lot of people who have bought tell me they were "inspired" by Eddie and Uke songs.
When you do learn the songs you realize he's a pretty good player. Most definitely a good writer.
He and that Jake cat on youtube are the names I most hear, and probably a big part of the surge the
last few years in Uke sales.

Suggestions for models?

-Emma- · October 2012

Yep, I bought a Fender NoHea Koa Tenor ukulele from:

http://www.theukulelesite.com/fender-no ... ckage.html

The site where I bought it has videos of the different ukuleles being played, so if you want to hear what this model sounds like look here: http://vimeo.com/16727563 . (I use the Aquila Nylgut strings though) .

I can't actually play it though (apart from a couple of beginner finger picking songs). I've been travelling overseas for the past 5 weeks and have missed having my ukulele though. Shortly before I went on holiday, I took my ukulele into work to play for the kids...I had a group of about 10-12 toddlers (from about the age of 21 months - 2 years old) go from being unsettled and bored , to sitting calmly on the floor in front of me. They clapped for me and got excited, and were saying "yay!" and then I had requests for "baa baa" and they were saying "more". It was so adorable and sweet ♥ and a very good motivator for spending more time practicing.

veddertown · October 2012

I got a little Mahalo one for Christmas from our girls as they liked Soon Forget and Blue, Red & Grey but it was really difficult to keep in tune with the cheap strings that came with it. I really started to enjoy it once I put better ones on and last year I upgraded to a mahogany Brunswick tenor which was really worth the money. I'd recommend Aquila strings for anyone wanting to get the best from their uke even if it's only a cheap one. I've not learned any of EV's songs as I find them a little dull. It's great fun adapting PJ songs for uke though. Corduroy and Hail Hail are my favourites to play. Ed is an exceptional player with an amazing knowledge of chords and knows all about writing good melodies. I just wasn't struck by the album but love the use of the uke on Into The Wild. It's a great place to start for anyone who wants to learn any stringed instrument and has the advantage of being perfect for travelling. If parents bought ukes for their kids instead of games consoles I"m sure the world would be a much nicer place....

Trope44 · October 2012

JB128716 wrote:

I'm thinking about buying my 6 year old niece a ukulele for the holidays. While I'm at it, I might buy one for myself after being inspired by Eddie.

Just wondering if anyone else decided to pick up the instrument after listening to Eddie's solo album. If so, what did you buy?

Three sizes- Tenor, concert, and soprano.
Tenor is the easiest to play.
They arent sized like violins so you can play any size, its just a matter of the tone you want.
Mahalo, Kala, and Lanikai make a full range from $29 to hundreds.
You can definitely get a good one for under $100.
Visit your local Sam Ash! They stock a great variety of Ukes.

Candilea · October 2012

I did!

I intended to buy my husband one this past summer--he's a teacher, and I thought it would be fun for him to have while off from work. I ended up getting one for myself as well.

He has a Kala tenor sized, I have a Lanikai soprano. Mine has that great, traditional sound (kind of 'plucky' and bright, lots of projection, his sounds a little richer). He can play a bit on the guitar already, so has learned a lot for the uke. I have no previous experience with musical instruments (except for the recorder, fourth grade, I was AWESOME). It's coming along slowly, but I've learned some chords and notes (and to read music!), and I can play 'Oh Susanna' like nobody's business.

acutejam · October 2012

LOL -- yeah yeah. I had been WANTING one ever since hearing Ed's early songs before the album. We got Satallite at Berkely in '08.

I already play guitar, own too many of those.... What I really wanted was a small parlour guitar like the Size 5 Mini Martin that Ed plays at his shows. When you're hangin around the house, watching a game on the couch, a big acoustic dreadnaught is unweildy, electrics as well. So I was totally pursuing a Larivee or Ami parlour guitar...

As Uke Songs was coming out, got a lil xmas money and bought a tenor Kala KA-TEM for about $150. Then the daughter a soprano Kala Ukadelic for about $80... That's our beater/travel uke -- been camping a few times. Then about six months later, having found I REALLY enjoy the uke, a soprano Martin S1 for about $350... Solid mahogony (the kalas are laminate) and OH BOY can you hear the difference!

And then ... well ... the disease had set in. And I was headed to Hawaii. Checked out all the K-brand Uke's at a number of shops, all koa handmade awesomenesses imbibed with that Hawaiin Mana! Oh my. Ended up at "The Ukulele Site" on the north shore of Oahu (having missed Jack Johnson who had just picked up his uke), they did a bit of light fret work to my Martin, I played a handful of ukes until one of them said, "I'm Yours."

Brought home a gorgeous KoAloha concert size, so now I have all 3!

I think I'm done... My wife certainly hopes so! The Kala is leaning against a sofa, the KoAloha rests in its case on the coffee table on weekends next to a pile of songbooks and loose sheet music. The Martin is now the travel uke! But no camping for it, it only likes the resorts and business trips!

josevolution · October 2012

No but i did go to Hawaii in feb ..

Cosmo · October 2012

I got the one from Costco. 99 bucks... but, it's supposedly Koa.
I can play 'Blue, Red and Grey' (a song I've always loved) and 'Soon Forget'. That's it. Two songs.
I want to learn 'Good Company'... and 'Tip-toe Through The Tulips', too.

PJSEMPRE · October 2012

I have one, but I'm still learning how to play it.

pjradio · October 2012

no, but I was inspired by Jeff to buy an Acoustic Bass

JB128716 · October 2012

pjradio wrote:

no, but I was inspired by Jeff to buy an Acoustic Bass

I'm going to buy a double bass too as I'm a bass player and not a guitar player. So first the Uke, then the double bass.

acutejam · October 2012

I like playin Alt Jeremy on the Uke. I run through EV's songbook every weekend, have about 4 songs down by memory now, well, my take on 'em at least... Soon Forget, is fun, lol we've all got that huh. Black is just not quite right, still working that....

Floyd's Brain Damage works well on Uke, picked that up cause of Ed's BD/Sometimes combo... And then a whole boatload of beatles, Day in the Life, Lucy, Prudence, So Tired ... got the big beatles songbook. There's a good interactive flash site that teaches beatles uke...

Seems like ya gotta learn Creep too... Thanks amanda...

If you're inspired, $99 gets you a Silver Creek All Solid Soprano ukulele ($99) - cheapest non-lamy uke. Not that I have any probs with my Kala, laminates can work...

And then the Keli'i Soprano - Silver Series - Koa/Mahogany ($349) is the cheapest of the handmade all solid wood hawaiin builds...

JB128716 · October 2012

I ended up getting a Gretsch G9120-SM Tenor Deluxe Ukulele. It should arrive tomorrow

Speaking of Beatles on the Uke, check this guy out...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jTMyB6vQqg

papa_pearls_jam.pj20 · October 2012

Saw Ed play "Without You" on Letterman, a couple of days after Clarence Clemons died. What an incredible song, and, yes, I was definitely inspired. David Letterman said it, "Let me tell you something...If I had this guy's voice you could all kiss my ass!"

I did a lot of research on the Internet, looking for reviews from players and uke sites. I knew I didn't want to buy one that was so cheap that I would want something better right away, but spending a lot (over $150 for me is a lot) was kind of crazy considering I didn't know if I was going to like playing it much.

For $99, I bought a Lanakai LU-21T (tenor, no electronics),at Sam Ash. I found an advertised price for the same ukulele at Chicago Music Exchange, and Sam Ash honored the price. CMX was a farther drive and I really liked the sound of the one I played at Sam's. Sam Ash does have a large assortment of ukuleles, and I liked the Lanakai better than some of the more expensive ones, mainly because of the sound and playability.

So far, I haven't tried to learn any other songs, but I've got a little set of songs from Ed's book that I've worked up and like to play...

Soon Forget
Longing To Belong
Sleeping By Myself
Without You
Goodbye
Can't Keep
:corn:

DURP · October 2012

Parents got me a Makala for my birthday. I wanted one just as instrument to have for a different sound and not take to serious. It's fun and a good change up from the guitar every now and then. I really just wanted one cause i thought it would be funny to see me playing this tiny instrument and well it is.

Anyone get inspired by Eddie and buy a ukulele?

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