Post #570540 by tikiwinebear on Wed, Dec 29, 2010 8:27 AM

The ukulele is such a happy sounding instrument, once I got into Tiki / Hawaiiana, I was drawn to self teach myself some chords and strums. I first purchased an inexpensive soprano uke from eBay, and soon discovered the sound just wasn't rich enough for me. One Christmas a few years ago, I got my best work bonus ever, so I invested in a Tiki Fluke (concert sized), which also doubles as a work of art. (Tiki King, Santa Cruz, painted the image of a Tiki on the soundboard of the uke; the Tiki's mouth is the sound hole of the uke.) Jumping more into the Hawaiian culture, I joined a local hula class (not full halau) and we soon wanted to take our music and dance out to the local retirement homes as free entertainment for those house bound. So we formed a small Hawaiian music and dance group, and I started learning all kinds of Hawaiian and Hapa Haole mele (songs). When my Mom passed away in 2009, I invested in a Pono spalted curly mango uke, concert sized. She's a beaute!! I replaced the regular G string with a low G string, and the sound is much fuller when playing in a group. My eye is now roving on a 6 or 8 string tenor uke... the sound is so much fuller, but I think you lose a little of the "fun" of the uke. My life has taken another turn just recently, and I find myself playing my uke more and more for my own sanity... and my two Cairn terriers love to sit and listen to me!!

Check out our website where you can download some song sheets... (click on Musician's mele/songsheets on the left side of the screen) http://home.comcast.net/~friendsoftheislands

Aloha! Keep up the music!
Myke