Tag: ukulele

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U kan help them too

by Marlen Rodriguez-Wolfe, M.M.

Part of the ‘Ukuleles for Ukraine campaign, the UKC seeks to help
children and teens impacted by the war.

The ‘Ukulele Kids Club (UKC), a music non-profit from the United States, has always believed in music’s ability to bring comfort and hope during difficult times. The recent events in Ukraine have motivated them to expand their mission to reach children impacted by the war. The UKC is rallying the music community around their ‘Ukulele. Ukraine. U Kan.’ campaign with the message that music can heal the wounds of war and an instrument for children to keep is a gift for wellness and for life.

Since February 2022, millions of people have crossed Ukraine’s borders seeking refuge from the war, in what the United Nations calls “the biggest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.” The majority of those seeking shelter are women and children. At the same time, some Ukrainian families who have remained in their homes also require psychosocial and emotional support. The Ukulele Kids Club has partnered with the World Federation of Music Therapy to identify music therapists working with refugee kids abroad and those still in Ukraine, with the idea that music and ukuleles can provide much-needed support.

“Children exposed to war and conflict are at heightened risk for mental health issues including depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD),” said Marlén Rodriguez-Wolfe, a music therapist and CEO of Ukulele Kids Club. “But as music therapists, we know that music can facilitate healthy coping strategies, help manage anxiety and provide a sense of comfort during difficult times.”

Music Therapy is the clinical use of music interventions that achieve physical and mental health goals delivered by a trained clinician. Music therapy is applied in migrant care in countries known for receiving a large influx of refugees, such as Colombia, Germany, Poland, and Turkey. In these settings, music therapists apply a combination of music-making activities and therapeutic interventions to help refugee children and adults experiencing health benefits from music and support their transition or acclimation to a new environment. But Ukrainian children are showing up in programs all across Europe, from hospitals to community settings, one of which is through the Grieg Academy in Bergen, Norway.

This music therapy program is held in a public school, where hundreds of Ukrainian refugee children receive their schooling. “All of them are newly arrived refugees. They have all come with their siblings and mothers, as their fathers are required in the military forces in Ukraine. The families experience quite large amounts of stress, both due to the war-experience, as well as resettlement stress.” said Kaja Enge, Music Therapist at the school. “Our experience so far is that the children really want to play music, and use the opportunity to express and experience support and community in music. Many want to bring instruments home after school, as they are lacking opportunities for musical engagement in their leisure time.”

For children and teens living with heightened stress and uncertainty related to the Ukraine war, the ‘ukulele becomes a way to gain a sense of control over their environment and wellbeing. Additionally, making music allows them to engage in an activity that promotes self-expression and connection to their community. “Thanks to the ukuleles, a group of students (or technically just one ‘ukulele star, Ylva!) was able to throw together a 2-week program open to Ukrainian & Norwegian students, aimed at integration through musicking. As far as I know, there haven’t been many other attempts to integrate students, as well as address therapeutic goals of mastery, empowerment, and community building.” said Julie Liisberg, Music Therapist.

For other families, resettling into a new country comes with its own sets of challenges. “We are getting reports from our partner hospitals in the UK that they are also working with Ukrainian families who have received medical diagnoses during their asylum period” said Rodriguez-Wolfe of UKC. The Ukulele Kids Club supports over 300 music therapy programs around the world, arond 90% of those are hospital-based. Therefore, they are adept at understanding how music makes a difference for medically fragile kids. “Fleeing a war-torn country is stressful enough. To then receive a diagnosis for your child while having to coordinate care, makes the situation for these families more complex and difficult. But we know music therapy helps, and the ‘ukulele is a perfect companion for these hard times”.

You may be thinking “Well, how can I help?” Join the U Kan Challenge! Helping get ukuleles to these Ukrainian kids in need. By making a donation on the campaign website and challenging others to do the same, you will be helping the UKC send the instrument we all love to kids and families who really need music right now. To learn more and support Ukrainian kids please visit www.ukulelesforukraine.com

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The Origins of Ukulele

by Abhay Koppar

Blue skies, shimmering sandy beaches, swaying palms, verdant green valleys, whispering waves and as the sun sets on the ocean, one hears the dulcet sound of Ukulele……. the tropical paradise in the middle of Pacific Ocean, the Hawaiian Islands.

Hawaii and Ukulele are so synonymous, they are inseparable. But was the Ukulele invented in Hawaii? Let’s trace the origins of the Ukulele together.

The story of Ukulele begins on the rugged island, Madeira, known for Madeira wine. The wine industry and furniture making were the backbone of Madeira’s economy. Unfortunately, by the mid-1800s after the collapse of the wine industry, many unemployed Madeirans left the island for greener pastures elsewhere.

The sugar industry was booming in the late 1800s in the Kingdom of Hawaii and there was an unprecedented labor shortage to run the plantations and factories. The word spread all over the world and reached Madeira. Willing men and women signed short-term contracts to work in the fields. They were provided a sailing passage and freedom after the completion of contract by the plantation owners. The immigrants and their families set sail to the Hawaiian Islands on the British clipper ship, SS Ravenscrag. After a grueling 4 month long journey, the exhausted Madeiran immigrants arrived in Honolulu on a sunny Saturday in August of 1879. As soon as they set their feet on the sand, a passenger, an accomplished musician, broke into a rambunctious song and dance playing a four-string musical instrument called machête The instrument was also known as “braguinha” or the “Machéte de Braga” named after the city in northern Portugal from where it originated, but widely strummed on streets in Funchal, the capital of Madeira. The Hawaiians were so enamored by the sound of the musical instrument, that on September 3, 1879, the Hawaiian Gazette wrote: “…Madeira Islanders recently arrived here have been delighting the people with nightly street concerts. The musicians are fine performers on their strange instruments, which are a kind of cross between a guitar and a banjo, but which produce very sweet music in the hands of the Portuguese minstrels.”

On that ship was a cabinet maker Miguel Nunes from Funchal, who worked as an indentured worker on the sugarcane fields. He gained freedom after fulfilling his contractual obligations in 1883 and in 1884 he opened a small furniture shop in Honolulu. The shop manufactured furniture, as well as musical instruments. How Nunes turned into a talented luthier remains a mystery to this day! Did he invent the Ukulele no one knows! But a decade after their arrival, Nunes or the musicians from Madeira, first introduced an instrument that was a hybrid of the machête and small Portuguese instrument, the five-string rajão. The petite size and body outline of the machête, and its 17-fret fingerboard provided the basis for the ukuleles’ overall shape and configuration. Instead of the machete’s D-G-B-D tuning, the ukulele employed the tuning of the rajão’s top four strings: G-C-E-A, minus its fifth string (a low D)! Viola! Ukulele was born.

But how did the instrument get its name Ukulele? ‘Uku with the ‘okina (the punctuation mark that looks like a backwards apostrophe) means flea. Lele means to jump. Jumping fleas! Perhaps it comes from the fact that Ukulele players jump fast across the fretboard and it resembles jumping fleas!The other comes from Queen Lili’uokalani who interpreted ‘Uku poetically as “gift” and Ukulele as a “gift from far away”. The new musical instrument received patronage from the Hawaiian Royal family: King David Kalakaua, Hawaii’s last king, his Queen Emma, and the future Queen Lili’uokalani. They were all accomplished musicians and learned to play Ukulele themselves. In fact, Ukulele was the national instrument of the Kingdom of Hawaii and always featured in the royal events and traditional luas.

Miguel Nunes continued to thrive and taught the art of ukulele making to numerous craftsmen, including his son Leonardo. One of his well-known apprentices, Samuel Kamaka, started his own shop in 1916 in Honolulu. Nearly 100 years later, the Kamaka Ukulele and Guitar Works proudly carries on the legacy of Ukulele making, an instrument that changed the music in Hawaii. After a decline in interest to play Ukulele in mainstream music, it has once again regained popularity in the last decade, and it continues to grow.

Ukulele is truly a gift that keeps giving.

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Newbie perspective of GNUF (great Northern Ukulele Festival)

by Justilele

Like many, I set out on my ukulele journey during lockdown back in April 2020, which feels like a lifetime ago. Venturing out with my uke has been one of the best reasons to leave the enforced comfort of home and get back out there with the rest of the world. Where better to start than the Grand Northern Ukulele Festival (or GNUF to its friends), based in beautiful Yorkshire, UK?

Fellow Ukelandian Bethany (@guardianioftheuke) first brought GNUF to my attention. I instantly thought this must be quite a festival if it is known by this wonderful Ukulele lady in America. GNUF did not disappoint!

We arrived on Thursday, ready for Friday morning’s workshops. When I say we, I’m part of the Ukulele Project (running the South East division), so I was at GNUF meeting the other project founders face to face for the first time since Tara (London Ukulele Project) brought us all together. But that’s a whole other story!

I hadn’t booked any workshops as I didn’t want to be restricted with being anywhere for a certain time for my first experience. So, while my Ukulele Project friends attended some awesome workshops, I wandered the streets of Huddersfield seeking fellow ukulele folk. All seemed quiet, so I went to the pub (a safe bet). The Head of Steam by the railway station was where I found them! There were pockets of people around the pub, jamming and chatting. I met a lady called Jennifer who had come alone from America just for GNUF, so come on, Bethany! Whether you were by yourself or part of a group, if you had a ukulele with you, you were not alone and everyone was very welcoming.

Things seemed to really kick off later in the day as people poured into the pub and the jams got louder. (It might have had something to do with the pub offering a discount if you showed them your uke!) Later I was stunned to realise I had been casually jamming with some of the main stage acts. How friendly and down to earth are these awesome ukulele people? I noticed how well they engaged the room, shouting out the chords etc. and then the penny dropped when I saw them performing on the main stage at the theatre the next day! At GNUF you can be chatting and jamming with people one moment, and the next watching them shred it on stage supporting Jake or Taimane.

GNUF is spread out across around five intimate venues, so as a first-timer it took a while to get my bearings, but simply finding a person with a ukulele never failed me! One of the things I love about GNUF is the fact you can only buy a weekend ticket, meaning you could completely indulge in everything ukulele to your heart’s content. GNUF is volunteer led, with many performers giving their time at the merch stand or running jams and open mics, which contributes to the lovely ethos of the weekend.

GNUF has big names, but also offers opportunities to join impromptu jams or open mics. There was a more formal Open Mic stage outside in a courtyard by the theatre (which you had to sign up to in advance) which was fantastic to see new acts perform and also paved the way for newbies like me. So, on the Sunday I did some songs there with the Ukulele Project team, which was a terrifying delight!

I particularly enjoyed meeting players outside of the Instagram and Facebook communities (which is where I’ve spent nearly all my time). It was great to make those connections beyond the social media world, and to hear songs more than sixty seconds long!

On Sunday, the Ukulele Projects (London, Scotland, Wales, East Midlands, South East) were lucky to have a stand right by the main stage promoting our not-for-profit, where we use music to tackle loneliness and promote well-being. Through this, I got the chance to chat to Jake Shimabukuro and also Taimane (yes, I said chat, not just selfies!). All the acts at GNUF welcome fans to come and meet them throughout the weekend, but without even meeting both ukulele virtuosos, my first time at GNUF would have been incredible with the amazing array of talented performers and friendly ukulele lovers from around the world. This combined with fabulously intimate venues and plenty of audience participation throughout, ticked all the ukulele festival boxes that I didn’t know I had!

Obviously, I am biased with limited ukulele festival experience and I haven’t (yet!) visited any ukulele festivals abroad, but in the meantime I can’t wait to get back to GNUF for a second time. I wonder what next year’s GNUF will have in store for us, and whether I’ll get to jam with any of you?

Despite many of us learning in lockdown or only ever playing alone at home, the ukulele is a sociable instrument. Connecting via online forums such as our awesome Ukelandia, seeing performances and having real life ukulele strum-alongs such as those at GNUF, I’ve always felt part of something bigger. Attending my first uke festival has shown me what I already knew, which is that the ukulele community really is the friendliest and best in the world!

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A small blip of encouragement

by Monica Raye

When I was eight years old, I was standing on a raft tied to a tree on the side of a lake. My step father was driving a boat and pulling a water skier. As he approached the shore to allow the skier off, he missed the raft by a foot. The loose ski rope somehow grabbed my arm and the next thing I knew, I was in the water yelling can’t move my arm!

I spent three weeks in the hospital with a broken collar bone and broken arm with nerve damage. To this day, part of my left arm is still numb and two fingers do not always cooperate when needed- my pinky and ring finger.

In my twenties, I really wanted to play guitar, so at age 24, my hubby bought me a guitar. I tried it but it was impossible! At age 50, it was suggested that I try the ukulele as it only had four strings. I got one from my son as a gift and I fell in love with it.

I started taking lessons on YouTube (Thanks Bernadette!) during the Covid lockdown and I found I could do most of the chords which made many songs easy. C G D F were easy chords but there was that dreaded E. My fingers would not cooperate.

It felt great to play and I was hooked…hooked really bad! Bernadette’s YouTube class was LIVE!! You could ask questions!!! It was absolutely perfect. I felt like I had won the ukulele lottery!! It blew me away when my comments were read out and my questions were answered.

Some songs I couldn’t finish because of that dreaded E. We started learning chord melodies. A turning point for me was when we practiced Pink Panther. It was then I noticed my E problem and the nerve damage in my hand was improving. I truly believe that placing my fingers in the position repeatedly and switching from chord to chord, stretched my tendons and developed muscles in my hand. There were days it hurt and I was uncomfortable but persistent practice provided improvement. My pinky still needs a bit more work. I keep hearing Bernadette saying pinky power… I must persist. I encourage everyone to push through and not to give up.

I really wish I was given ukulele lessons as a teenager. Learning the ukulele has definitely been a game changer for me.

If you have finger pain issues, try picking up the ukulele during commercials and strum a few chords. Get online and take Bernadette’s challenges and see if it works for you.

The best decision I have ever made was to join the ukulele community, Ukelandia.

Guitar lessons are a possibility now. Right Bernadette? I’m currently

looking for a smaller guitar.

You got to love the healing power of music!

Uku can do it!!

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Community Artist – Karl Jackson

by Dave Thorpe

Any regular Ukelandia Facebook followers cannot fail to have been intrigued, impressed and inspired by the playing of our own Karl Jackson. Karl has been a member of Ukelandia since December 2021 and is a regular, and valued poster of videos. Karl has a unique personally developed playing style necessitated by the fact that he has one arm. In this interview I discuss with him his ukuleles, the development of his playing and his ambitions. 

Hi Karl – an obvious starter – what got you into playing ukulele and how did you come across the Ukelandia community?

I first took an interest in the ukulele after my youngest daughter said she wanted to learn to play in 2019. Helping her get started watching tutorials online made me realize that I wanted to learn as well, though I had been told by music instructors in the past that playing more than hammer-ons on a stringed instrument would be impossible. 

What scale lengths do you use (soprano/concert/tenor/baritone) – are some more suited to your style than others?

My preferred scale length is concert, though I can play any of the differing sizes of ukulele. I found that the concert size fits best for my playing style as it best matched the length of my forearm. The longer scales require me to reach for the first few frets, that’s why I play the longer scales with the ukulele resting on my lap still.

Obviously, you have to do the job of two hands – strumming and fretting the notes – with one. For anyone who has not seen you play can you describe the mechanics of what you do?

To learn to play I had to train my fingers to do specific jobs on the fret board. I started with my ukulele lying on my lap face up like a dulcimer or lap steel guitar, fretting one string at a time with my index finger and picking the string with my pinky. As I built up the muscles needed to do this, I was able to start using my middle and ring fingers for fretting as well. So, my pinky is in essence doing the work of my strumming hand, and the other three fingers are doing all the fretwork. My thumb is usually supporting the back of the neck to keep the ukulele from moving around too much, that or I use it to pluck the open G string.

Those of us that follow you on FB have watched you develop as a player. We’ve seen you move from playing melody only to playing chords as well, and from playing the uke horizontally while sitting down to playing standing up. What do you consider to be the major developments in your style and what has driven those developments?

Every day I learn something new about the ukulele, my playing style, and the impact sharing my playing style has on others. The most recent developments in my play style have been learning to play with the ukulele strapped up off my lap, singing along to my own strumming, and playing my harmonica and the uke simultaneously. 

One of the biggest drivers in these developments has been my increasing confidence in my abilities.

Sharing my videos on Facebook (Ukelandia especially), lead to an outpouring of support from the ukulele community. The support and encouragement that I saw, made me honestly appraise my playing style, not for the one-handed aspect, but for the actual music I was making.

Away from the uke and playing, what is the music you listen to – are there particular musicians (uke or otherwise) that you admire?

I am a big fan of the blues, jazz, and especially ragtime music, which reflects itself in the music I play on ukulele. Some of my favourite past artists include Tom Lehrer, Robert Johnson, Frank Sinatra, and Larry Addler.

I am often enjoying the styling of Keb Mo, Thomas Benjamin Wild Esq, and Hugh Laurie, just to name a few.

You have come a long way since you joined us in 2021, what’s next?

Moving forward, the ukulele is becoming a predominant part of my life goals. I am working with music therapy groups out of New York and Hawaii to get established doing workshops at events and to help inspire others.
Additionally, I am working on a one-handed ukulele primer, so that others with limitations can break out of the “That’s Impossible” mindset.
Beyond that, I am excited to see where my ukulele takes me next!

Karl, many thanks for your time here and telling us about your musical journey. It’s been fascinating to hear your story. Thanks also for all your inspiring videos. I look forward to many more!! 

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Learner to Luthier

by Peter Bos

The Ukelandia Facebook and Telegram groups have conversations about new and special ukuleles which is always a fruitful topic. Next to the well known Ukulele brands there is a market for custom ukuleles. These ukuleles are created by luthiers.

Whilst creating the Ukelandia Magazine, I came in contact with luthier, Kawai Carvalho from Coast Ukuleles. He is a very kind human being and he shared his emotional and heartwarming story of how he became a luthier with me.

Kawai was born in Hawaii, but left the Islands when he was 18 years old. He grew up around ukulele music, but he didn’t really catch the uke virus growing up. This didn’t happen until he and his partner EB had their first child and went to Hawaii for a vacation. During the holiday, he bought a Makala and fell in love with this instrument. It connected him to his Portuguese heritage and his roots back to the Island.

He brought the Makala back to California and UAS quickly struck Kawai, as his uke family expanded while he was still learning how to play it. He went to meet-ups and met a lot of native Hawaiian people who used the ukulele as a gateway back to their heritage. After acquiring about six ukuleles, Kawai became interested in a custom ukulele.

The 2020 pandemic gave him more time to get acquainted with building a custom ukulele for his collection. Custom ukuleles are priced high and as a true uke DIY’er, he decided on a simple ‘build your own’ uke kit, which has a lot of pre-made materials. Constructing this ukulele inspired him to make more. He started building his custom ukulele in his large garage only this time from scratch. I couldn’t imagine where to begin building a uke, but Kawai told me there is a lot of information online. Especially the “Ukulele Underground” which is a very supportive and helpful community with a lot of guides and approachable luthiers.


A lot of passion went to his ukulele and after he was done with his first uke, he already had new ideas for his next project. This inspired him, gave him joy and connected him to his heritage. This felt like the missing link in his life and Kawai wanted to keep building ukuleles. His partner EB supported him and gave him all the room to follow his new passion. Kawai and EB had two children, Kaipo and Nahele. EB watched the children during the pandemic, so Kawai could follow his newly found passion.

In early 2020, disaster struck as his life partner, EB suddenly passed away while pregnant with their third child. Now Kawai was on his own with his two kids and shortly after, his employer terminated his employment.. A lot of grief and stress followed, however the local and worldwide ukulele community lent him a lot of support. For instance, he had just ordered a supply of very expensive Hawaiian wood but in order to pay the rent and the bills, he reached out to return the wood to the supplier. Once they understood the reason for the return, they reimbursed him and told him to keep the wood to create a ukulele and share it with the people around him. The first ukuleles Kawai built were from his passion project and eventually gifts for friends and family.


Without his partner and a job, he wanted to keep building ukuleles and as he learned a lot from the first dozen ukuleles he built, he could now start doing it professionally.

During the interview he showed me his garage with the basic tools he used to construct his first ukuleles. These were still there next to the new heavy machinery he bought over time to work efficiently and professionally. Currently he has created about 50 ukuleles and is working on ten of them simultaneously.

All his ukes are custom made in negotiation with his clients. Some have specific wishes, others leave the design to Kawai. At the time of this interview, he was working on multiple ukuleles with the same neck, inspired by the Hawaiian islands. After a ukulele is finished and it gets played by Kawai; he tells me it truly is a magical moment as his eyes shine describing the moment. When constructing a ukulele he never knows how it will sound finished.

His favorite combination of woods is mango and spruce, but the Hawaiian Koa is a very popular wood. To all the UAS’ers reading this, Kawai has some advice: if you’re interested in custom ukuleles, you should buy one! Creating your own is costly and time consuming. The asking price of a Kawai custom build is currently around $1800 and his wait list is about a year long.Through Instagram, Kawai has shared his creations and has developed a strong following of about 2000 followers with a wonderful clientele, notwithstanding, the well known Southern Ukulele Store ordered a couple of ukuleles for their store.

In the future Kawai wants to keep making custom ukuleles for his brand Coast Ukulele. It’s his new home profession while watching the kids and homeschooling them. He isn’t looking to expand any further or hiring a lot of people to create a company. He wants to continue doing what he loves, building custom ukuleles with his heart, love and passion born during his life partnership with EB.

Follow Kawai’s journey and his creations on @coastukulele or coastukulele.com

Play It Forward

by Madeleine Roy

My ukulele journey seems very similar to many of yours in that the 2020 lockdowns pushed me to a dark lonely place and I was searching for a focus. I had just retired from my career in February and I was lost!

One day in May 2020, I noticed a small inexpensive soprano ukulele (Diamond Head) that my sons had purchased for me a number of years earlier when I was living in Ottawa, Canada. It was completely neglected as I just kept moving it with me wherever I relocated and I never even tried to play it.

There it sat, just staring back at me, like it was saying…”If not now, when?”

I have never played a stringed instrument so this was going to be a challenge. Just what I needed!

Like so many of you, I combed YouTube looking for tutorials to learn this tiny little “guitar.” I learned bits and pieces from many artists, but it wasn’t until I discovered Bernadette, did my journey really begin and my love for this 4-string wonder evolved.

It was a matter of weeks and I started my UAS journey. I moved from a soprano to a tenor with a low g. Clearly I really didn’t know what I was doing.

I truly learned to play on the tenor as it took almost a year before I got Bernadette’s Signature Enya concert, which is my go-to most of the time. Shortly thereafter, I purchased 2 more concert ukuleles. I now have 7 ukuleles, a guitar and a guitarelele. (Small collection compared to some of you—Peg!)

I’m always looking for something new to add to my collection. Trouble is, the ones I want are so very expensive!

I joined Bernadette’s Patreon classes in late August 2020. This is when my sister came to visit me. She picked up the soprano and just started playing “Cucaracha” by ear! What? She’s never played a stringed instrument either but here she was shaming me in an instant.

Obviously, I encouraged her and “played it forward” by giving her the Diamond Head soprano on her birthday in October. Last count, she now owns 3 ukuleles and

jams, with her husband when he plays the guitar. For Christmas, she and her husband played and sang me a Christmas carol as a recognition gift of starting their music journey together!

She has since bought her 6-year granddaughter a pink ukulele for her birthday. She’s “playing it forward” too!

I recently bought my 4-year old grandson (who lives with me) a soprano ukulele. He has shown an interest especially when I’m playing. He tells me I need to practice and so he can show me how to play. He then plucks at the strings to demonstrate. It’s adorable!

As I consider what I’ve shared so far, I realize I’ve been playing for 2 years now and still consider myself a beginner! It’s funny as both my son, Chad (a musician) and Bernadette always say, “Don’t compare yourself to others” and that is what I usually do and then want to quit or hide in the shadows.

Chad said to me, “Mom why are you doing this? Aren’t you having fun?”

I realized I love it, and yes I’m having fun! Most of all, I’m doing it for me and that’s what really matters. The very best part of all of this is my Ukelandia family!

I am blessed as I have friends from all over the world and I love you all!

You are my family!

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How ‘’My Battle’’ saved my life

by Pauline van de Haar

Once upon a time… I was depressed. It took me several years (I think more than 15 years) to recover from my chronic depression. Yes, I understand the confusion: ‘’chronic means not curable’’, right? You could say that, but luckily, I was able to recover with a lot of help from the mental health care services, my parents, my friends, and… myself.

What does this intro have to do with ukuleles, or music in general?
First of all, music is kind of a therapy on its own. We all know that, don’t we? Second of all, it’s amazing that there are people on this planet trained to use music in a therapeutic way for clients or patients who are having a hard time and dealing with all kinds of problems.

Let’s talk about musical therapy and how it was a life-saver for me.

The first time I got into musical therapy was in 2008. I was admitted to a psychiatric clinic for adolescents and every week we made music. We talked about the music we played, whether it sounded okay or less okay. At that time, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing: ‘’I play the recorder, guitar and I sing, why make music with people who don’t know anything about music?’’, is what I thought. Well, the whole point of musical therapy is that you don’t have to be ‘’good’’ with music. Music, or making sounds is a way to deal with your emotions etc. In 2008, my experience with musical therapy wasn’t so great. All I wanted, was to be happy again and be able to take my lessons at the music school.

It took me quite some time to make a giant climb in recovery. I will not ‘’bore you’’ with details in my recover-story. Some people talk a lot about stuff, for some people this helps and is enough to recover. Some people need a different kind of treatment, besides talking therapy. They need to do something with their hands or body. Making sounds and using your voice to make something that speaks for you is so beautiful.

In 2019, I was treated with musical therapy again. But this time not in a group; Just myself, my therapist and all these instruments. It was like a candy shop! I was allowed to try out every instrument in the room, feel what the vibrations and sounds did to me. The first session, I cried. I knew music meant everything to me, but the thing that changed is that I finally got the hope I could live again.

With my therapist, whom I saw once a week, I tried out several things and instruments. After a few sessions she thought that it could be nice for me to write music myself. At that time, I was already playing ukulele for about 6 years, but only songs written by other people. She helped me write my thoughts on paper, where I would want to go with my recovery journey. She gave me homework: play some chords and feel what’s good for your song. Two weeks later, I went to the session with a song. Not just chords, but also lyrics. ‘’My Battle’’ was born.

We worked on the song, recorded it with ukulele (me), voice (me) and piano (therapist). I kept listening to my own words over and over again. Later that year, I said farewell to my therapist, finally I lived again! I learned to use music to cope with the demons in my head.

A whole bunch of songs were written in the last two years. Most of them about self-compassion. Recently I started writing about other stuff as well. Grief, love, and being good enough.

This is my story, this is my battle. But now I can say: ‘’This was my battle’’.

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Destination Aloha: in Search of the Perfect Uke

by Melinda Palacio

Would you plan the perfect vacation only to leave your uke behind (cue sad music in any minor key)? I guessed right; you would not. Last May, I took a girls’ trip to Maui. It was my friend’s birthday and she had planned the whole trip. All I had to do was show up. How could I resist such a fabulous invitation?

Before I left, I made sure my budget included a new uke. I’ve been devoting all my free time to studying the little instrument that brings me so much joy. When I realized I would be traveling to the birthplace of ukulele music, I knew I would be bringing one back. Although I knew I had every intention of finding a ukulele store in Maui, I didn’t take any chances of being without one and packed my black soprano Enya Nova. In the case, it fit snuggly at the bottom of my duffel bag with wheels, which I planned to stow overhead, having measured my bag back in California. On the plane, I fantasized that someone would see my Ukelandia t-shirt and whisk me away to the best ukulele shop on the island or that I would find a Hawaiian luthier under a shady palm tree, who would tell me they had the perfect uke for me. True, when I daydream, I don’t hold back.

Back to reality. My flight on Hawaiian Airlines landed on time and my friend had no trouble securing a rental car. I didn’t have to worry about my carry-on luggage or the soprano Enya Nova stuffed in my duffel bag. The Enya Nova is a great travel companion because it is made of carbon fiber so you don’t have to worry about heat or water, which made for fun photo opportunities by the pool and beach. In hindsight, it was smart of me to travel with my Enya, even though I would be bringing back a second ukulele. There’s only one drawback of the travel Enya and I bet you can’t guess what that is?

The one drawback is that it’s so great you may not return with it because you might give it away. When a friend asked me how many ukuleles I owned and I had a hard time counting them in my head, I realized I had a problem with UAS (ukulele acquisition syndrome). Let’s not get started on my guitar collection, a story for another time. I thought giving away a ukulele would be the best thing to do because I’d return with one instrument, instead of two. Not to mention the blue Enya Nova concert ukulele that waited for me in my car back in California. Although I miss the black Enya Nova soprano I named Johnny Cash, I brought home a souvenir from Hawaii and a locally made ukulele.

After choosing our rental car, we stopped at the first ukulele shop we spotted, Mele Ukulele, a modest building not far from the airport in Kihei. I chose my first pineapple mango: a pineapple shaped spalted mango concert ukulele. The matte finish shows off the natural beauty of the mango wood and the back is a little curly (a wave that is part of the design of the mango’s natural grain). Some ukulele experts argue that a matte finish allows for a better tone than a glossy finish. It’s a personal choice. While I love anything sparkly and shiny, the natural finish and rope binding of the Mele Ukulele spoke to me. The handmade uke has a tone that makes me return to it again and again. I also purchased a backpack style gig bag because I was sure there was no way I would check the uke on the plane. Also, my new mango pineapple ukulele was a tad bigger being a concert size, rather than the soprano Enya Nova that fit inside my duffel bag. I wasn’t about to stuff my new mango-pineapple into a bag or suitcase. If worse came to worse, I would check my duffel bag and purse and stuff important items such as my wallet and ticket into the pineapple gig bag.

Luckily, I didn’t have to check any baggage and everyone on Hawaiian Airlines respected my ukulele. The stewardess even had an overhead bin she reserved for travelers taking home a uke; there were three of us, which was surprising. I thought there would be more travelers taking home a new uke. After all, what better souvenir of the islands and the spirit of aloha than a handmade ukulele from Hawaii?

Follow my ukulele travel journeys on IG at ukenmermaid.

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Gig Review – Jake Shimabukuro and Andy Eastwood – Kings Place London 27th June 2022

by Dave Thorpe

Last night I ventured out into the social world for the first time in well over two years. My health vulnerabilities have meant I have had to be extremely cautious about the risk of Covid, so other than my treatment in hospital three times a week I have been at home with my wife, my ukes and you lovely people online. 

But last night was the final night of Jake Shimabukuro’s UK tour. He was joined by one of the UK’s most respected uke players and the guy who has been teaching me Formby style Banjolele – Andy Eastwood. I couldn’t really resist going so I masked up heavily and called an Uber.

Kings Place is a beautifully spacious and well-ventilated concert venue near King’s Cross Station on the Grand Union Canal in London. When I had phoned to book my ticket, I explained my need for an aisle seat to minimise social contact as much as possible. To this the extremely helpful lady in the box office told me that they have a policy that people with disabilities – including invisible ones like mine get free tickets so attendance cost me nothing. 

It was an absolute privilege to hear two such great and very different players in one evening. Andy played everything from Chopin to Glen Milker to Formby on uke, Banjolele and fiddle. He’s a great singer and entertainer too, so very much more than just a warmup for the main man.

But Jake is truly a master of the instrument. In truth it doesn’t seem like an instrument – more a part of him and the voice with which he chooses to express his musicality. He was accompanied by his friend Jackson Waldhoff on bass, who is another great musician and a perfect complement to Jake’s playing. 

For me the highlights of the evening were the tunes which showcased Jake’s intricate picking and beautiful chord voicings. These included a stunning Japanese solo piece with which he kicked off his first set and a beautiful tune of his own – ‘Blue Roses Falling’. There were a few Beatles numbers – ‘Eleanor Rigby’, ‘Something’, ‘Here Comes the Sun’ with Andy coming on stage to sing and of course ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ 

There were plenty of instrumentals where Jake encouraged the audience to sing along – ‘Don’t Go Changing’ and to close the show ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. 

For those who like things a bit rockier Jake obviously is not averse to using his pedals to loop rhythm tracks and then hitting the distortion pedal to solo over the top often throwing in musical quotes – including the inevitable ‘Smoke On the Water’ and ‘Stairway to Heaven’.  Not my cup of tea to be honest but they are crowd pleasers I guess!! 

It was a superb, superb evening. So nice to hear live music again in such a lovely venue. Inspiring and so uplifting. 

I’m including some pictures here – a few of my own but some from Jake’s FB page and one from Andy’s with Jake holding George Formby’s Gibson UB3 Banjolele. On Jake’s page you can also find some live footage of gigs he’s done on his UK tour. Worth browsing through for sure. 

I’m writing this in bed with a morning cup of tea. When I get up, I am going to get a Hawaiian shirt and the Kamaka out and see what I can do….