An excerpt from the book “Famous Solos & Duets for the ‘Ukulele” edited and arranged by John King
THE ‘UKULELE
The ‘ukulele is not an indigenous Hawaiian instrument but was introduced into the Islands by the Portuguese at some date prior to the beginning of the 20th century. Most scholars fix the date of introduction at 1879, though it could have been earlier. It was in late August of that year that the three men most closely identified with the early history of the little four-stringed guitar arrived in Honolulu: Augusto Dias …

An excerpt of Mel Bay’s new “First Jams” Ukulele by Lee “Drew” Andrews

Roy Smeck was one of the truly great American popular musicians of the 20th century, one whose name would be as recognizable as Louis Armstrong’s or Les Paul’s if he hadn’t specialized in a “minor” instrument, the ukulele. As a boy, Smeck was obsessed with learning to play musical instruments, and he almost suffered a nervous breakdown from his relentless practicing. He eventually narrowed his focus down to the guitar, banjo, and harmonica, and somewhere around the time of America’s entry into World War One, he began performing on the …

An excerpt from the Mel Bay Hawaiian Uke Songbook by Ken Eidson and Ross Cherednik
A superb collection of 53 Hawaiian favorites arranged for uke solo. It includes instruction on chords, “vamping”, reading tablature and notation, note location on the fingerboard, scales and scale exercises, and rhythm, plus special uke techniques. Basic chords are summarized and “Rhythmic Strumming, Hawaiian Style” is taught. A section on advanced chords is also included. Although this book is written for the standard ukulele in C tuning, the authors also address how the baritone uke, ukulele-banjo, …