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He'eia (Ukulele, Traditional Hawaiian Song)

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"A Tradition in Hawaiian Music: The 'Ukulele," perhaps the earliest modern exhibit of historic ukuleles, was mounted at the Bernice P. Bishop Museum at Honolulu, Hawaii in 1980 to commemorate the one-hundredth anniversary of the arrival of the Madeiran craftsmen who made the first "jumping fleas" in the Islands. Featuring instruments from the collections of the Bishop Museum and Leslie Nunes, a descendant of ukulele pioneer Manuel Nunes, the exhibit ran for seven months and was memorialized with a modest typescript catalogue printed on a folded legal-sized sheet of paper. Compelling textually for the time, it was-unfortunately-not illustrated.

In September, 1993 the Honolulu Academy of Arts presented "Extraordinary Ukuleles: The Tsumura Collection from Japan," an exhibit that displayed the noteworthy collection of Akira Tsumura but ran less than four weeks. A beautifully illustrated, full-color catalogue was produced comprised of twenty-two pages printed on coated stock. Regretfully for posterity, the accompanying text did little to illuminate the pictures. Other, recent exhibitions on the East and West coasts have produced no catalogues at all, understandable considering the prohibitive costs of photography, preparation, printing, warehousing and distribution.

The Museum of Making Music's exhibit, "The Ukulele & You: America's Love Affair with the Ukulele," was also destined to become just a memory until one passionate collector, Geoff Rezek, stepped up with a monetary gift to enable production of an online catalogue, thereby negating many of the costs associated with traditional print media. However, it should be noted that, like its predecessors, this catalogue is imperfect since it was not part of the plan from the exhibition's inception. Timing played an important role in what is presented here: because the grant was offered after the exhibit closed, many of the instruments had already been returned to their owners and were not photographed. What is left is like found art.

It's necessary therefore to judge the online catalogue on its own merits; any perceived deficiencies are likely to arise only in the minds of those persons who saw the physical installation in Carlsbad. It is neither a chronicle of a definitive historical exhibit nor a sampling of exquisite hand-made one-offs. While the original show contained elements of both, it concentrated mainly on mass-produced instruments marketed to the American public beginning in 1915. The online catalogue preserves this core component and for the first time includes detailed front, back and side images of the collection along with physical descriptions, attributions and probable dates of manufacture.

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"A Tradition in Hawaiian Music: The 'Ukulele," perhaps the earliest modern exhibit of historic ukuleles, was mounted at the Bernice P. Bishop Museum at Honolulu, Hawaii in 1980 to commemorate the one-hundredth anniversary of the arrival of the Madeiran craftsmen who made the first "jumping fleas" in the Islands.

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A more lively song with ukulele

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Jake's live performance of "Dragon". © Toasman Inc. Filmed by ISAtv. Special thanks to Dan Matthews, Rommel Andaya and Edward Oh.

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Having a hard time figuring out what size of ukulele to buy? Maybe you're trying to figure out what size of ukulele you have? Whatever your questions are, we're going to look at the different sizes of ukuleles and the advantages and disadvantages to each.

There are four main types of ukuleles: soprano, concert (or alto), tenor, and baritone.

Soprano Ukulele

The most common and standard type of ukulele is the soprano ukulele. It's the smallest ukulele and is known for its thin, jangly sound so commonly associated with ukuleles. Because it's so small, its perfect for traveling.

Sometimes people with larger fingers or hands have trouble playing the soprano ukulele because the frets are closer together. Because the strings have less tension on a soprano uke, you might find it easy to accidentally bend a string out of tune.

Despite these relatively minor downsides, the soprano ukulele is probably the best bang for the buck. In comparison to other types of ukuleles, it can usually be had for the cheapest price.

Take a listen to how a soprano uke sounds in the following video by doogey9.

Concert Ukulele

The concert ukulele, sometimes referred to as the alto, is just a little bit bigger than the soprano and some would consider it to have a fuller sound. It's commonly tuned in standard like the soprano uke although some people will opt to tune their G down an octave ( linear tuning).

Because a concert uke is longer than a soprano, there will be more tension on the strings. This can be beneficial if you find yourself bending strings out of tune as you press your fingers down on the strings against the frets.

The frets are a bit more spaced on a concert ukulele than the soprano, so folks with larger fingers might find it easier to play. There can be up to 20 frets on a concert ukulele which allows players to navigate to higher notes on the fretboard.

Take a listen to the following performance on a concert ukulele by Ribbeemusic.

Tenor Ukulele

The tenor ukulele is just a little bit bigger than the concert uke. The overall sound and tone is even fuller than it's smaller brothers. For performers, the tenor ukulele is great because you get a rich full sound, and since you have more frets, you're able to reach higher notes on the fretboard.

Tenor ukuleles are commonly tuned in standard re-entrant or linear tuning, but some will choose to tune it lower like a baritone ukulele to DGBE.

In this video, IveBenCrazy gives us a performance of "Sweet Caroline" on a tenor ukulele.

Baritone Ukulele

The baritone ukulele is the biggest of the ukes. It's tuned down lower to DGBE, which is equivalent to the tuning of the bottom four strings on a guitar. This is going to produce a deeper sound. While you can still strum it like any other ukulele, you're going to really lose that bright crisp sound that you'd get with soprano. Baritone ukes are great for blues players and fingerpickers, or those who prefer that deeper and fuller sound.

In the following video, mugambismonkey gives us a performance of an original song he wrote on the ukulele called "Kiss Me." You can really hear how much lower the baritone uke sounds in this video.

What Ukulele is Best for Me?

Generally, beginners will start out on a soprano uke because you can usually find a decently playable one for a low price, comparatively speaking.

However, the best thing you can do is to go to your nearest music store and try out different ukuleles. What ukulele sounds best to you? What ukulele feels best to you? For some, what ukulele looks best to you? These questions are more often not answered as you start playing different kinds of ukuleles.

Reader Response

What's your favorite size of ukulele? I have a tenor uke and I love it. It gives me a nice full sound, but I still get the plunky sound when I strum it. I also like that there is a bit more tension on the strings and the frets are wider for my fingers.

Share your thoughts, questions, or comments below.

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Ukulele Sizes - Soprano, Concert, Tenor & Baritone

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Having a hard time figuring out what size of ukulele to buy? Maybe you're trying to figure out what size of ukulele you have? Whatever your questions are, we're going to look at the different sizes of ukuleles and the advantages and disadvantages to each.

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You can see his songs and his biography