The Rise Of The Ukulele

The ukulele, that four-stringed instrument that brings to mind kitschy Hawaiian grass-skirt performances and Tiny Tim, is suddenly hip, according to The NY Daily News.

Roger Greenawalt credits the ukulele’s increased following to something he has dubbed the “Aloha Zen” effect.

“It really transforms your mind,” says the 47-year-old, who first picked up the instrument shortly after 9/11. “I started playing it, and as soon as I did I felt happier,” he says. “It’s no joke – it’s better than yoga.”

“I was completely shocked to find there was a whole community of ukulele-ists,” says Dana McCoy, a singer-songwriter and ukulele player based in Manhattan. “I thought I was alone out there.”

McCoy, who was one of 26 performers at this past month’s six-hour ukulele cabaret at Banjo Jim’s in the East Village, also notes the happy-making effect of the instrument.

“There’s very little music by the ukulele that isn’t joyful and playful,” says McCoy. “I think that is part of the attraction.”

Jason Tagg, 35, and Ted Gottfried, 56, who make up the punk-rock ukulele band Sonic Uke, founded and co-host the ukulele cabaret.

“We used to be yelled at for playing ukulele and called things like Tiny Tim,” recalls Gottfried, who would jam out on the stoop of his W. 10th St. apartment.

“There was just a sea change where before it was ridiculed and then everyone loved it,” says Gottfried, a bookkeeper now based in Brooklyn.

Two years ago, Tagg recorded and posted on YouTube a video called “Ukulele Weeps” of ukulele-ist Jake Shimabukuro playing the Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” one of the many good ukulele songs to learn, in Central Park. The video went viral, and to date has been viewed more than 4 million times.

Photo by Daily News.

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