Ukulele Research Paper

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

The southern United States in the early 1900's was a breeding ground for new music. Much of this much of this music was influenced by African-American spirituals, European notation, and other Caribbean influences (Waldo 5). This music, as we know it today, is ragtime, the first original written music of the United States. But what exactly is ragtime?

Once you come to the beautiful land of Hawaii and see delightful sights, there’s no doubt you’ll also hear Hawaiian songs with the great and elegant ukulele. The ukulele is a small, four-stringed guitar of the Hawaiian origin. Many people love to hear the unique sounds that the ukulele makes when being played. Also, it’s really entertaining to watch people play this one of a kind instrument, as it’s either played calmly or fast. The ukulele is greatly well known for making people all over the world smile and significantly bond with their friends and family.

The only stringed instrument is the high pitched cavaquinho (ukulele). Together these instruments fuse to create polyrhythyms that align and cross, reinforce and contrast with each other in a lively style less formal than maxixe or marcha. Couples often dance to samba in physically close, tight movements similar to the lundu and lambada, employing voluptuous movements, gyrating hips, and heel and leg movements often said to imitate the act of lovemaking.

The music of Hawaii is an impression of what Hawaii is - a blend of various societies. Present day Hawaiian melodies are really a jumble of antiquated and current impacts. Hawaiian melodies are simply one more work of art through which the general population of Hawaii love nature. The verses of the nearby tunes are by and large about the spots of Hawaii and different things identified with the Hawaiian method for living. The early music of Hawaii is religious in nature. Fundamentally, it is made out of serenades joined by musical instruments. Since Hawaii needs metals and minerals aside from magma, individuals made utilization of the plentiful materials around them. This is the reason the early musical instruments of the Hawaiians were generally

Former African American slaves began creating Ragtime music to express their creativity and feelings. In African American communities Ragtime was started. It was difficult for African American musicians to maintain a career because the instruments needed were very expensive. The piano was the main instrument of Ragtime music. Ragtime was eventually adopted by minstrel shows and brass bands. Ragtime was available to the public at live performances by both nonprofessional and professional pianist.

Between 1878 and 1913, more than 20,000 Portuguese people undertook the dangerous voyage from Madeira, the Azores, and mainland Portugal to start a life in the Hawaiian Islands. The ukulele arrived to hawaii in 1879. The instrument was called the Braguinha,to Braga in Portugal. The Rajao, a similar 5-string instrument was converted to a Braguinha, the name that Manuel Nunes brought to Hawaii. Nicknamed the ukulele by the Hawaiians.Loved by the Hawaiians

Heathers the musical was somewhat shocking to me because I typically associate musicals with happy-go-lucky upbeat themes instead of the darker twisted Heathers theme. I have played in pit orchestra in the past and the performance made me really miss participating in the orchestra. The pit did a great job of cueing off the actors and adjusting their tempo when the actors got ahead or behind. The orchestra also did a great job of playing at the appropriate volume. From my time in Pit orchestra, the hardest aspect of the role was to play out enough so that the audience and actors could hear you ( especially for cueing actors in), but not too loud that the vocals or dialogue get drowned out.

Lend Me a Tenor was a great production! After reading it in class I was very excited to see it and believe me, it did not disappoint. There was a lot going on in the play, but all of the aspects were put together very well. I can imagine that it might have been a little challenging trying to get everything together and make it semi-perfect, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell. The show was just absolutely amazing.

In the late nineteenth century, African American musicians introduced this syncopated, up tempo music with a steady beat to small, unpopular venues; this style of piano music was called ragtime because of the how ragged their arrangements were. Ragtime was like marches and it has a European harmony with African rhythm. This style of music became known as it was used for actors to do their cakewalk, which is a high stepping dance, at the end of the minstrel shows. An African American, Scott Joplin was named the “King of Ragtime”. After World War I, ragtime music was overshadowed by the Tin Pan Alley, which was a street of publishing house with pianos playing simultaneously (Ferris, 2014).

Kala is a young company that has quickly risen to greatness. Established in 2005 by Mike Upton, a former employee of Hohner that played a significant role in the early development of their Lanikai line of ukuleles. Unfortunately, as business goes, Mike was unexpectedly relieved of his position at Hohner. Where others would find misfortune, Mike found opportunity. Taking his knowledge and passion for the instrument into his own hands, Mike founded Kala in Petaluma, California. Quickly after its inception, Kala not only made quality instruments, but started to make new and innovative ones as well, most notably the U-Bass. The U-Bass is a quirky, but effective instrument that emulates the sound of an upright bass and is fitted with rubber strings.

It’s not easy braving the world’s wicked ends, and yet it’s natural for me. Being a small rodent doesn’t make it easy but I manage. And yet I cant manage the fact that I went out to collect acorns and ended up here, in all places. As a squirrel it only ever got to go one of two ways: you either shake the tree or the tree shakes you. And somehow, I’m doing both at the same time.

The Ragtime is a musical era that we sort of consider that a starting about 1875 and extending to 1918 when the term Jazz become more prominent in American popular music, but for that twenty years that would be the Rock and Roll over the day. Ragtime music was the essence of popular music and it was considered what America had to offer to world music. There was something very special about Ragtime music. It was different from everything that had preceded and that almost every all kinds of music that have been played before. Basically, we’re on the beat and didn’t have that essence of syncopation that was at the heart of Ragtime music.

In past, the oud had only two strings, then it had four and it ended with five and six. Lebanon musician Far hat Hasher put seven strings and this helped us to have both the low and the high levels. The strings that were used on the past were made of gut and the plectrum (key) was made of cherry tree cortex or horn of animals. Today they are replaced by plastic. Today Oud is popular to almost all over the world. Since 9th century the musical tradition of the Mediterranean Sea was based oud practically. At Medieval times, the Crusaders brought this instrument from the Holy Lands to Europe, where it became the Renaissance Lute and Lute in Minor Asia, where it remains like this. The strings that were used in the past were made of gut and the plectrum was made of cherry tree cortex or horn of animals. Today they are replaced by plastic. Oud is one of the few instruments of the East and the only one for Arabs, which played and transformed the music levels, which are known as makams. A makam is composed out of a four-stringed "4 notes" and from a five-stringed 5 notes where they alternate from makam to makam. The number of makams is extensive and different from country to country. For example, in Turkey - Egypt it differs mostly to the style and less to the musical scales. Many times the musical scales are the same but they are played with different style and it seems they change makam, while in reality it remains the same. I believe that the bloom of music makam was around 1850 because at these times there was composed and played a big number of makams. Nowadays the musicians do not compose such amounts of makams and the basic reason for this is that a musician of 1850 had a brighter mind than from a musician of nowadays. The depth of the makam is so big that you need to live twice in order to say that you have learnt or played or understood all

This was meant to protect the animals. This instrument looks similar to guitar, but it is much smaller than that. It has 5 strings with different sizes - skinny/thick. The left hand makes the chords. The right hand plucks the 5 strings. The strings are plastic nylon. It has G, C, E and A cords. It’s a bit harder than a normal guitar for those professional players. It is similar to harp but with the brightness of Ukulele. It is soft. The speed depends on how you play it.