Post #763136 by Doc Aikane on Sat, Apr 30, 2016 7:16 PM

Tahitian Ukulele anyone? I just got back from a cruise in French Polynesia and brought one of the Tahitian 8-string banjo-like ukuleles home with me. I'd love to learn more about the strumming rhythms used in Tahiti. If you're not familiar with Tahitian Ukulele, they are 8 string version of the ukulele with the sound hole on the back side and the bridge sits on a thin round wooden sound board. The rest of the ukulele is solid, and often made from just one piece of wood. The playing style is fast - VERY FAST. Tuning is the traditional GCEA, but the E is the highest pitch string (pair) on the instrument with the A dropping back down an octave. The E string, being the highest pitched, is often used to play a melody during the strumming. Speaking of the strings - they are made of fishing line (easy to replace!). Take a look at the following video for a strum - master doing his thing (skip to 40 seconds in). This is the type of music you hear everywhere you go in the islands. Anyone here familiar with the playing style? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZkE5m_W5kA