Ukulele: ticket to ride

Little did I know that buying my first ukulele and learning to play it would change the direction of my life.

The ukulele opened a new world for me. It gave me access to music communities in Maui, London, Amsterdam, Dun Laoghaire and Boston. The ukulele clubs welcomed and accepted me without question. They treated me like a local resident, not a foreigner or invisible passerby. All I had to do was show up with my ukulele and play the chords written on the lyrics. If I knew the song, I’d sing along. If not, I’d just play along and learn it eventually.

My first ukulele was my ticket to ride that gravy train of group sing alongs down memory lane. Songs from my childhood in Taiwan and Okinawa. Songs my parents sang. Songs I’ve forgotten in high school and college. The train also took me to new territories: the nostalgia of others. Hawaiian songs in Hawaiian. Songs of British singers and bands. Songs I’ve never heard of.

Luckily, music is formulaic. There are common chord progressions. Song forms are predictable. Motifs are repetitive. I learned from playing in groups. I did not have to study the repertoire. I did not have to read the notes to learn the melody. I learned by listening to others and playing with them.

On this journey, I became curious why I was so taken by this little instrument. My friends were surprised.

“What about the piano? Aren’t you a pianist?”

“What about classical music? Don’t you have a duo?”

“Have you chosen the ukulele over the piano?”

I began my MA in Music in October 2016 determined to find a subject close to my heart, one which I’d research and write for my final assignment two years later: the dissertation. I vacillated between updating and extending my research on sight-reading (for my piano teaching diploma) and writing about the ukulele.

Something about the ukulele, that is.

In the end, I chose both.

I wanted to know why ukulele players can sight read so easily and quickly.  Sight reading is one of the musical skills that requires years of training. Yet, novice ukulele players can quickly join advanced players in music making. It’s a paradox. I entitled my dissertation:

Paradox of Simplicity: Song Sheets for Participative Music Making in Ukulele Groups

For my research, I interviewed the pioneers of ukulele song sheets, i.e. those individuals who determined (or identified) the (most suitable) chords to place them with lyrics of songs and made these song sheets available for others to use. There are many decisions involved in such an activity. The availability of these song sheets makes it possible for ukulele players to play as individuals or together in a group.

I posed 15 questions, as follows. I will now share my results with the world.

1. How do ukulele players learn and improve their skills?
2. How are all the other details to successfully execute a piece of music communicated to the performers, if they are not written down?
3. Is the ukulele song sheet sufficient for group playing or is the presence of a leader necessary to ensure the group plays in sync?
4. Where does the practice of singing and accompanying oneself on the ukulele in a group fit in the academic literature? Is it a vocal ensemble? How does it compare with choir? How does it compare with rock bands?
5. What are the prerequisites and assumptions in using ukulele song sheets in participative music making?
6. What are the musical skills one develops from participating in ukulele jam sessions?
7. How do the pioneers create or transcribe ukulele song sheets?
8. What motivates them to create song sheets?
9. Why do they make their song sheets available freely?
10. What are the skills one develops from leading ukulele jam sessions?
11. Are there differences between song sheets created for a group and those for an individual?
12. What are the pros and cons of using different formats for ukulele song sheets?
13. How do creators of song sheets decide on the choice of key for the song for group use?
14. What information is necessary to make ukulele song sheets self-explanatory and useful for playing and singing in groups?
15. How important are the following skills in using ukulele song sheets?
    1. Sight reading
    2. Sight singing
    3. Play by ear
    4. Ear training
    5. Aural skills
    6. Listening to each other; mimicry

Download my dissertation: MA in Music, “Paradox of Simplicity: Song Sheets for Participative Music Making in Ukulele Groups” dissertation, December 2018.