Once in a while, I get a sort of *serious nudge* from The Parent to do something, stop moping around, go cheer yourself up etc, etc, and so this summer, I got the gift of a ukulele.
Let's just say that The Parent was very motivated by the Elvis Presley movie "Blue Hawaii", and so I went ahead and bought it from the very same shop in Bras Basah where I'd gotten my also-smaller guitar in the winter of the year last.
The uke is a small instrument, and although I knew that it was petite and small, I didn't realize just how cute and light and small it was until I was carrying it back home and found myself continuously on nerves just in case it slipped out of my hands, or worse, left it behind on the bus.
And whilst I also knew that the ukulele was a cheerful, high pitched instrument, again, I didn't know just how high pitched it was until I tuned it on my own, thank you YouTube, and tried out a single chord.
I was floored.
Because it really was as high pitched as it sounds. Honestly, it caught me a little by surprise- I'm a little more folksy and reflective with my guitar- but I guess that is exactly what they mean when they say that the instrument originates from the tropical beaches and volcanoes of Hawaii, and that is precisely what they mean when they say that the instrument has a lively, bubbly, cheerful voice of its own, and so will not, and cannot put you in a melancholic, contemplative mood.
Maybe an skilled uke player would make it possible- I found a video of a very skilled maestro playing Seasons in the Sun with the uke on YouTube, which was quite inspirational.
I don't think I'm there yet.
Not yet anyway. :)
Let's just say that The Parent was very motivated by the Elvis Presley movie "Blue Hawaii", and so I went ahead and bought it from the very same shop in Bras Basah where I'd gotten my also-smaller guitar in the winter of the year last.
The uke is a small instrument, and although I knew that it was petite and small, I didn't realize just how cute and light and small it was until I was carrying it back home and found myself continuously on nerves just in case it slipped out of my hands, or worse, left it behind on the bus.
And whilst I also knew that the ukulele was a cheerful, high pitched instrument, again, I didn't know just how high pitched it was until I tuned it on my own, thank you YouTube, and tried out a single chord.
I was floored.
Because it really was as high pitched as it sounds. Honestly, it caught me a little by surprise- I'm a little more folksy and reflective with my guitar- but I guess that is exactly what they mean when they say that the instrument originates from the tropical beaches and volcanoes of Hawaii, and that is precisely what they mean when they say that the instrument has a lively, bubbly, cheerful voice of its own, and so will not, and cannot put you in a melancholic, contemplative mood.
Maybe an skilled uke player would make it possible- I found a video of a very skilled maestro playing Seasons in the Sun with the uke on YouTube, which was quite inspirational.
I don't think I'm there yet.
Not yet anyway. :)