The Ukulele

Moving from the South to the Midwest was a huge change in my life. For my whole life I grew up to the southern hospitality and the tang of salt in the air since the beach was always less than 5 minutes away wherever I lived. Now I moved to a place where they flip you off to say hi, and the closest thing to an ocean is a sea of grass that seems to go on forever. Although I am now adapted to the change for the most part, it took me awhile to break in to the social norms of an average Midwest kids.

As a child, I decided to try my hand at the cello. From then, I traversed the vast world of music, and satiated my relentless

When I was in fifth grade, I was caught between two worlds, playing a woodwind or string instrument. If I played a woodwind instrument I would have to blow in it to make music, but string instruments are played with a bow to make music. After much thought, I decided that the violin was the best instrument for me, because it has a beautiful, unique sound, plus the possibilities are never-ending. I could receive a compliment from a teacher, or even get accepted to the symphony.

Even though my makeshift cardboard violin didn’t make any sound, I still carried it with me everywhere, always eager to show people mow much I had learned.I have been playing for twelve years now and even though I have enjoyed most of it, it has not always been so easy. There have been more late nights, crying in frustration over something I just could not get, but I made it through. Playing the violin has given me the nations determined attitude to set my mind on something and to not stop until I reach my goals. Being a musician also has also made me hyper-aware in relation to anything musical.I tend to pick up things that the average person doesn’t. You can hear the subtle nuances that might blow over many people. Most people might only hear the different emotions, but I can tell you what made it so sad and what instruments were used at what time to convey such emotion. I love playing the violin, I look at it as an opportunity to express my true emotions. Each piece of music that I play is an uncolored painting that I paint with emotions. I have to take every piece of music, interpreted it and make it my

The double bass, or upright bass has many different names. My favorite is the doghouse bass. This bass is often used in jazz. People play this by plucking or slapping the bass. Another common use is in orchestras. People play this style with bows. This bass is the largest and lowest pitched instrument of the viol family. The viol family contain the viola, violin, fiddle, and many others. The upright bass was the inspiration of all basses. I was the first bass and probably most important because of the sparks it caused for new invention. All basses are in my opinion the most important instruments because they hold everyone together. Learning to play the bass was my pleasure and I feel its something I will use for the rest of my life.

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Ukuleles, Hawaiian for “jumping flea”, were first built in Hawaii by three Madeiran immigrants: Augusto Dias, Manuel Nunes, and Jose do Espirito Santo in 1879. The ukuleles are in the guitar family, and are a combination of two Portuguese instruments, the machetes and rajãoes, that the trio were building. The number of strings on the instrument is taken from the machete while the tuning comes from the first four strings of the rajãoes. Ukuleles became popular in Hawaii after gaining the favor of Hawaiian royalty and later it would be common to see these accompany hula dances. In the early 1900s, ukuleles gained popularity in the rest of the states through a number of key performances and plays such as Bird of Paradise that introduced them to

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Like any stringed instrument the player must be able to easily adjust the height of the strings, tune their instrument for pitch, and know how to check and adjust the pegs. They must also know how to change the bridge of the instrument and what the effects of changing the bridge will have on the music quality and tone.

I’d lived in Florida my entire life up until I was nine years old, so moving to a new state was a big change for me. In fact, moving to Ohio was the biggest change in my life so far. It was because of my grandparents’ visit that mom realized living in Florida isolated us from the rest of our family. For this reason, my parents came to the conclusion that we should move to Ohio. I didn’t want to go at first, but I didn’t have much of a choice.

Whenever I hear and see the ukulele I adore its great features it has when compared to other instruments. It makes me feel relaxed, happy, and peaceful when I hear its unique tunes. I also find it entertaining when I see my teacher and family play this guitar because it looks easy to play and they have a good time playing it. I also like some songs with the ukulele featured in it like “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, “Drop Baby Drop”, and some other

The people of Hawai’i have enjoyed a longtime tradition of producing distinctive and beautiful music. In fact, this is often one of the major attractions when travelers visit Oahu or any of the Hawai’ian Islands. The music of this magnificent land has been shaped by various cultures and ethnic groups, from Polynesians to Europeans. No matter what kind of music you might listen to when you visit, you can be sure that it will be unique and wonderful to hear.

most if not all of my family members play some type of instrument due to music being such a

There were plenty of coffee shops and farms, along with a decently rated school which I was to be attending. But the school was a different story, at first it seemed like it would be fine. This though, I found to be horribly wrong. When I started it was obvious that the schools were behind on academics, and not to help the fact that they had budget cuts so we had things such as “early release Wednesdays” and “ Furlough Fridays”. This wasn’t the only issue either, almost everyday kids would call me ha’ole, which at first I was confused to as of what it meant. But I soon learned through my father that it was purely derogatory towards non locals’. This went on for years along with a couple minor altercations, and casual death threats. I learned to get used to and not take any criticism too seriously, and to not take offense to pretty much anything. I believe this molded me into a stronger person, and gave me a sense of humor that I believe will help me get through life. With all of this said and done I moved back to texas after about 4 years and everything went back to normal, and it felt like I just took a very, very long

Ukuleles, what makes them so special? Why devote an entire paper to them? Obvious questions for everyone who are not familiar with the instrument, however those who know they instrument as well as someone who plays them know they have a vibrant history, are perfect for entertaining and creating, and more so than the average stringed instrument like the more popular big brother, the acoustic guitar, are warmly unique.