Ukulele
The ukulele (pronounced OO-koo-LEH-leh), or uke, is a fretted string instrument which is, in its construction, essentially a smaller, four-stringed version of the guitar. In the early 20th century the instrument's name was often misspelled as "ukelele".
It is commonly associated with music from Hawaii (where the name roughly translates as "dancing flea") and was developed there in the 1880s as a variation of the Portuguese braguinha. It is related to the Brazilian cavaquinho, which is usually tuned in D-G-B-D.
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, with the G-string traditionally tuned an octave up, so it's pitched 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 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:
Tahitian Ukulele
The Tahitian ukulele is significantly different from other ukuleles. It differs in in not having a sound box; the body - including the head and neck - is carved from a single piece of wood, with a wide conical hole bored through the middle. At the back, the bore is about 4 cm in diameter; at the front it?s about 10 cm in diameter.
The hole at the front is covered with a thin piece of wood, which the bridge sits on ? so the instrument works rather like a wooden-skinned banjo. Indeed some of these instruments are referred to as Tahitian banjos.
The strings are usually made from light-gauge fishing line ? usually green in colour (and apparently about 50lb test).
The instrument seems to be a relatively recent invention, popular in eastern Polynesia - particularly French Polynesia. It is reported to have been introduced to the Cook Islands in 1990 by the band Te Ava Piti (
