So, the answer is “yes.” You need to use some form of the My-Dog-Has-Fleas method if you want to tune your ukulele like a Hawaiian. He then goes on to say, “‘Uku’ (in an elementary school context) meant ‘Lice’ though just as likely was synonymous with ‘Flea,’ as ‘Lele’ is ‘to jump.’ It’s said earlier Polynesians and Hawaiians thought the plucked strings sounded like fleas jumping!” Maui elementary schools definitely used the ‘my dog has fleas’ method.” In addition, on the Facebook Xenharmonic Alliance group Richie Greene – who went to King Kekaulike High School in Makawao, Hawaii – made this comment on the post you’re reading: “… this is very real. However, he did not sing “my dog has fleas,” or “Do, Mi, Sol, Do.” (When I did my test tuning, I basically did the same thing he did.) You can see that Kamakawiwo’ole checked the ukulele using essentially a cross between the “my dog has fleas” and Bailey’s tuning methods. Then, he makes a final check by strumming a C chord. ![]() ![]() So that begs the question, do Hawaiians really tune the ukulele this way? The first video below shows Israel Kamakawiwo’ole singing “Ahi Wela” while playing ukulele.Īt the beginning of the video, you can see he plucks each adjacent open string. Yet, this is the secret to tuning the ukulele like a Hawaiian. I had tuned the guitar using frets, and also using the 5 th and 7 th fret harmonics, but I had never before seen anyone tune the open strings of a fretted instrument without using fret references or harmonics. (Notice the similarity to Bailey’s Do, Mi, Sol, Do way of tuning the ukulele.) He let the open strings ring as he tuned the instrument with his left hand, and he didn’t fret any notes while tuning. He picked up the instrument and played the strings in reverse order from four to one while singing, “My dog has fleas.” My got sung to the note G, Dog to the note C, Has to the note E, and Fleas to the note A. In other words, I expected it to be tuned in the same manner as the guitar.Īnd I said, “No, seriously, how do you tune it.” I expected him to show me which frets I’d use to tune the ukulele. A friend had a party, and he had a ukulele, so I asked him how to tune it. I had been playing guitar for a number of years at that point. I recall my first exposure to the ukulele back in the mid 1980’s. In one university alone there are over one thousand of these charming little instruments” (4). “From to the Ukulele has reigned supreme in Hawaii and has invaded the Pacific coast states to such an extent that one is sure to hear its soft tones wherever young people congregate. ![]() He talks about the popularity of the ukulele on the west coast of the United Sates in 1914. in just a year after the method’s publication. The book came out just before the ukulele fad that would sweep the U.S. Bailey introduced his ukulele method book A Practical Method for Self Instruction on the Ukulele and Banjo Ukulele. The ‘ukulele and the Hawaiian-guitar fads sparked publication of instructional books in Honolulu, New York, San Francisco, and even Cleveland” ( “East Polynesia” 922). “Composers in New York’s Tin Pan Alley churned out pseudo-Hawaiian songs, whose influence was felt as far away as Australia. Stillman talks about the widespread effect of the fad, “After the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, a Hawaiian-music fad swept the mainland… The international popularity of Hawaiian music after 1915 contributed to an explosion of publication. Likewise, many piano arrangements of popular songs from the 1920’s and 1930’s had ukulele chord frames printed in the scores. ![]() Open a song book and you’ll find that guitar chord frames often get inserted into the piano arrangements of today’s popular songs. Also, at the beginning of the 20 th century, Hawaiian music had become a fad, and the ukulele had become a fad instrument. Before we talk about how to tune the ukulele like a Hawaiian, you have to understand that the ukulele has been popular in both Hawaii and on the mainland.
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