Ukulele

We think of guitar as "feminine" because womanly curves beckon, substitute for a lover's body when desire lies out of reach. Or out of town. Perhaps that is why the skilled touch of a woman playing acoustic guitar is so erotic, resonating with implied bisexual overtones.

Ah, those upper register harmonics. Zing!

But guitar is restless, inventive, wandering the seas barefoot on teak decks beneath creaking hemp lines and the equatorial sun. Sunburnt and swollen, spewing progeny in fertile climes, inextricably linked and traceable through DNA decryption to a common ancestor in the south of Spain. So, in that sense, guitar pretends masculine.

But we know her contralto whisper inhabits earth to seduce men.

One of guitar's offspring is a diminutive four stringed nymph born in Hawaii. Beguiling, uncomplicated, inviting casual dalliance and evoking tropical stars winking through atmospheric haze. We are talking of course about ukulele — which translated literally from Hawaiian means "jumping flea" — a name that should give pause due the implied bite.

If you haven't taken ukulele seriously, it's because of unfamiliarity with her capabilities. I'll bet you've never solicited her affection, instead ignored her in the moonlight, at the dance. Here to make you feel inadequate is Jake Shimabukuro...

While capable of endowing sublime ecstasy, ukulele can induce giggles like gaggles of infatuated Japanese school girls strung out on pop-culture. U900 is based one island chain to the left of Hawaii.

Careful...this one's infectious.

Comments

[Kerry Kruger]

Those are great! And yes, if I didn't already know I suck at playing, that top character shrank the ol' willie a ways.
I have no patience for that kind of thing-- but can appreciate it when someone else does it.
The sock puppet guys are impossibly cute too.

[Alexander Lopez]

Here's a treat for you: a bigger sister of the Ukulele who lives in Venezuela.

The "Cuatro" (spanish for "four") is a direct descendant of the medieval guitars brought by the Spaniards to their colonies. Its fast attack and thick midrange makes it a very powerful rhythm instrument; a single Cuatro can sound as loud as three flamenco guitars played very hard.

It's played mostly with chords, using a technique where the thumb strums in the upstroke while the rest of the fingers do the downstrokes, adding "charrasqueados" to produce muted accents within the bright rhythms.

Listen and enjoy a typical Venezuelan "Pajarillo" (Litte bird) where the player emulates the fast wing movements of the hummingbird:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUxFmt9hMmk