About the Ukulele
(About the ukulele)
History of the ukulele
Hawaii accepted immigrants in the 19th century to fill the labor shortage. It is said that in 1879, a musician on a Portuguese immigrant ship brought a small stringed instrument called a machete, which was used to accompany songs, to Hawaii.
After daytime farming, they strummed the instrument and sang. When the three-year employment contract expired, they were free to choose their profession. Among them was a furniture craftsman who created a machete in Hawaii, which became the source of the ukulele.
It became a little smaller, adopted a simple bridge, and the metal strings that were stretched became gut strings.
Most of the current ukulele strings are made of nylon or fluorocarbon.
Ukulele type
There are four types of ukulele:
1. Standard (soprano)
It is a general size. The most ukulele-like sound comes out.
2. It is a little larger than the concert soprano, and the neck is about 2 frets long.
3, tenor
It's even bigger than the concert, and the neck is about 4 frets longer than the soprano.
Easy to play treble on the 5th fret and above.
4, baritone
It's even bigger than the tenor.
Ukulele tuning
From the bottom string, call it the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th strings, and tune them to A, E, C, and G, respectively. The G on the 4th string is often the G that is one note below the 1st string, but sometimes it is a thicker string that is one octave lower than that.
string
The materials of the strings are as follows.
1, nylon
It is made by various manufacturers with the most popular materials. There are black ones and transparent ones, which are the cheapest to get. There is a soft sound.
2, catgut
Although it is nylon, its specific weight is closer to that of gut. It is white (or milky white) and sounds like a catgut. This is becoming more popular these days, but the price is a bit higher.
is.
3, fluorocarbon
It is a so-called fishing line. It is characterized by being harder than nylon, and you can choose thinner strings.
The sound is hard.
4, gut
It is a twist of sheep intestines. Until the beginning of the 20th century, this material was the mainstream.
It's expensive and hard to come by, but it has a warm sound like a stringed instrument.