50 Fun Facts About The Ukulele

What is the standard tuning of a ukulele?

The G is tuned an octave higher than expected, a 'reentrant' tuning that gives the uke its close-harmony sound.

Which jingle helps players remember the standard ukulele tuning?

The four notes G4, C4, E4, A4 fall on the four syllables.

Which ukulele size is normally tuned DGBE, like the top four strings of a guitar?

The baritone was created in the 1940s and resembles a small tenor guitar.

Which of the four common ukulele sizes was the original?

In Hawaii it is often just called 'standard'; the concert size arrived a few decades later as a louder, larger version.

What does the word ukulele roughly translate to in Hawaiian?

The name may describe the player's darting fingers, or the nickname of a small, fidgety English officer at court.

Which Englishman's nickname is legend's explanation for the word ukulele?

He was one of the king's officers, noted for his small size, fidgety manner and skill on the instrument.

The ukulele descends from small guitars brought to Hawaii by immigrants from where?

Small guitar-like instruments came with settlers from Madeira, the Azores and Cape Verde in the late 1800s.

Which Madeiran instrument, also called a braguinha, is the ukulele's closest ancestor?

It has four metal strings and a double-bulged body; its five-string cousin is the rajão.

What was the trade of Nunes, Espírito Santo and Dias, who built the first ukuleles?

Within two weeks of arriving in 1879 the Madeirans were giving nightly street concerts, the Hawaiian Gazette reported.

On which ship did the first ukulele makers arrive in Hawaii in August 1879?

The Hawaiian Gazette reported that the newly arrived Madeira Islanders were delighting people with nightly street concerts.

Which Hawaiian king championed the ukulele and used it at royal gatherings?

The 'Merrie Monarch' was a patron of the arts and a key figure in establishing the instrument in Hawaiian culture.

Which Hawaiian wood is traditionally preferred for ukuleles?

It is a type of acacia endemic to Hawaii; cheaper ukes are made from plywood or laminates.

Which company invented the oval-bodied 'pineapple' ukulele?

Samuel Kamaka founded his Honolulu shop in 1916, and a friend painted a pineapple on the first one.

What were ukulele strings originally made of?

Modern strings are nylon, fluorocarbon or synthetic gut, sometimes wound with metal.

A ukulele with six or eight strings arranged in four courses is often called what?

The six-string, four-course version is sometimes called a lili'u.

What is a banjolele?

George Formby often played one; the resonator body gives it a louder, brighter tone.

The Tahitian ukulele's strings are traditionally made from what?

It is carved from a single piece of wood, has no hollow soundbox and usually carries eight strings.

Which 1915 event popularised the ukulele on the US mainland?

The Hawaiian Pavilion's Royal Hawaiian Quartet set off a Tin Pan Alley craze for Hawaiian songs.

In which decade did the ukulele become an icon, with uke chords printed in sheet music?

Mainland instrument makers rushed out ukulele lines to cash in; the guitar later took over the chord-chart role.

Which vaudevillian nicknamed 'The Wizard of the Strings' played uke in a 1923 sound film?

The short, Stringed Harmony, used the DeForest Phonofilm process; a 1985 documentary about him was Oscar-nominated.

Cliff 'Ukulele Ike' Edwards later became famous as the voice of which Disney character?

He introduced 'When You Wish Upon a Star' in Pinocchio and had recorded 'Singin' in the Rain' back in 1929.

Which plastics maker turned out about nine million cheap ukuleles after World War II?

He also invented an automatic chording device for the uke called the Chord Master.

Which TV host cultivated the ukulele's post-war popularity, especially one larger size?

The instrument then went into hibernation from the 1960s, unable to compete with rock 'n' roll.

Marilyn Monroe played a ukulele in which 1959 film?

As Sugar Kane she strums along to 'Runnin' Wild' with the all-girl band.

Tiny Tim's 1968 ukulele hit was a cover of which song?

The song came from the 1929 musical Gold Diggers of Broadway; he sang it in his trademark falsetto.

What was Tiny Tim's real name?

He was born in Manhattan in 1932 and was also a serious archivist of early popular music.

On which television programme did Tiny Tim marry 'Miss Vicki' in December 1969?

He was 37 and Victoria Budinger 17; he had earlier appeared on the first regular broadcast of Laugh-In in 1968.

George Formby, the ukulele-playing comedian, was born in which English town?

He took his stage name from his father, George Formby Sr, and became the UK's highest-paid entertainer.

Which Beatle, a Formby fan, gave ukuleles to friends and taught Tom Petty to play?

Lennon and McCartney played the uke too, and the George Formby Society has held conventions since 1961.

Which Canadian educator put the ukulele into school music programmes in the 1960s?

At its peak 50,000 people learned through his programme; James Hill revised it as 'Ukulele in the Classroom' in 2008.

The ukulele arrived in Japan in 1929 thanks to which Hawaiian-born musician?

He founded the Moana Glee Club with his brother and, in 1959, the Nihon Ukulele Association.

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain was formed in which year?

Founders George Hinchliffe and Kitty Lux are widely credited with starting the ukulele revival.

In 2009 the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain played which famous London concert series?

Their Royal Albert Hall show was the fastest-selling late-night Prom in history.

Israel Kamakawiwoʻole's famous medley combines 'Over the Rainbow' with which song?

The reggae-rhythmed medley has been used in countless films, television shows and commercials.

How was IZ's 'Over the Rainbow' medley recorded in 1988?

A friend phoned Milan Bertosa's Honolulu studio in the small hours; IZ played and sang once, and it was over.

For how many weeks did IZ's medley top Billboard's World Digital Songs chart?

That makes it the longest-leading number one on any Billboard song chart.

Which 1993 IZ album became Hawaii's first certified platinum record?

It passed a million US sales in 2005 and was released by The Mountain Apple Company.

What honour did IZ receive after his death in 1997?

He was the third person, and the only non-official, so honoured; his koa casket lay in the building and the flag flew at half-staff.

What was the name of the group IZ performed with before his solo career?

The group recorded No Kristo in 1976 and released several more albums.

Which nickname did NPR give IZ when naming him one of its 50 Great Voices in 2010?

He was also known as Braddah IZ, and is regarded as the most successful musician from the state.

Jake Shimabukuro's viral YouTube video was a cover of which Beatles song?

It was posted in 2006 without his knowledge and had passed 17 million views by 2020.

Jake Shimabukuro composed the soundtrack to which 2007 Japanese film?

He also scored Sideways, the 2009 Japanese remake of the American film.

What is the title of the 2012 documentary about Jake Shimabukuro?

It screened at festivals and aired repeatedly on PBS.

Which promoter created more than two dozen ukulele songbooks from the early 1990s?

He also wrote The Ukulele: A Visual History.

The ukulele's Portuguese cousin, the cavaquinho, is played by someone called what?

The standard Brazilian tuning is D G B D; the Portuguese commonly use C G A D.

Which Andean relative of the ukulele was traditionally made from an armadillo shell?

Other cousins include the Venezuelan cuatro, the Canary Islands timple and Indonesia's kroncong.

Which Tony-winning British uke player was on Ed Sullivan the night the Beatles debuted?

She appeared twice on the show and in numerous films and stage productions.

From the 2000s, the ukulele began replacing which instrument as a first in schools?

The ukulele rose in school music programmes through the 2000s and 2010s, used solo and in ensembles such as Markus Rathey's arrangements for three ukuleles.

Which famous guitar maker especially added ukulele lines to meet 1920s demand?

Regal and Harmony did the same, and uke chord charts began appearing in printed sheet music.

How many frets does a ukulele typically have, depending on its size?

The smallest common size has the fewest; larger bodies leave room for more.