The Alternative Ukulele--From the Ridiculous to the Sublime

What I have called "the Alternative Ukulele Movement" I look at as one thing (a unified phenomenon, so to speak) because the impetus for making any sort of "different" type of ukulele comes out of the same one thing--the particular personality of the ukulele, and its basic appeal to masses of people,  as a non-serious, "fun" instrument.  I think builders have felt free, all through the uke's history, to be creative with the form of the ukulele, and players receptive to variant shapes, because the instrument has been regarded in this way.

When you look at examples of Alt Ukes, though, they usually fall into two categories--the Artful Type or the Novelty Type.  Both types differ from the norm (the norm being a ukulele that looks a miniature guitar), but in different ways.

The Artful Type tries to be different in an aesthetically pleasing, artful way, competing with the guitar shape on its own ground--because the guitar shape is certainly a lovely thing, refined over centuries, a sort of a compendium of the "greatest hits" that many creative luthiers have come up with over time.  It is a beautiful thing, like so many products of a long tradition.

By contrast,  the NoveltyType of alt uke tries to be different mainly for the fun of it, like a "novelty song" on the pop charts.

The Aero Uke , replica

The Aero Uke, introduced in the 1920s, when commercial aviation was the coolest new thing, is a great example of the Novelty Type of alt uke.  It's deliberately and extremely weird--I guess you could call it "surrealistic" in the art history sense of that term, juxtaposing two different realities:  it's a ukulele and an airplane.

A good example of the Artful Type of alt uke is the Bell Ukulele, which also came out in the 1920s.  It's not a completely original shape. I once came across a picture of a stringed instrument centuries old, with this same basic shape.  Too bad I lost track that picture.  I don't remember the number of strings or what it was called, but the basic shape of the body was the same.

An Oscar Schmidt Bell Ukulele

Texalele, special Eyes of Texas version

Just for the heck of it I'm going to throw in another example of a Novelty Type, one of my own wacky creations, the Texalele.

It's important to point out these two categories are not mutually exclusive.   For example, novelty aspects can be present in a uke that is  mainly of the Artful Type,--like in the case of the classic Pineapple Ukulele: the shape is elegant, with a simple organic feel, while at the same time the name (given to it only after it was made) is fanciful, and details applied to certain versions of it can be fanciful too (like painting the top to look like a pineapple).

Also, a ukulele can be a Novelty Type in it main conception, but executed in a restrained way with an eye toward making it aesthetically pleasing--like the Cat's Eye Ukulele I came up with as the very  first instrument I ever made.  The body is a cat's eye and  the headstock a cat's head--anatomically incorrect, but oh so clever. ;-)


This post TO BE CONTINUED. . . .

Do You Own an Alt Uke? Call for Nominations to The Alt-Uke Hall of Fame

When I started getting interested in alternative ukulele types, I made up this graphic, "Alt-Ukulele Hall of Fame," including the most popular ukes, past and present, that do not look like miniature guitars.

(The Aero Uke wasn't all that popular, but I included it just because it was so zany, showing how far "alt" the Alt Ukulele Movement has gone at times.)

Anyhow, this collection of pictures is not all-inclusive by any means.  Any suggestions about other ukes that you think belong in the Hall?--let me know.

Do you own and play any type of Alt Uke?  Maybe you collect them.  Maybe you have come across a crazy sort of uke like the Aero. What do you think of the sound and "feel" of your uke as compared to a more conventional instrument?  I'd like to hear from you.

Genesis of the Pineapple

I'd like to do a longer post soon on the Pineapple Ukulele, which was the first breakthrough alternative ukulele--the first non-guitar-shaped uke to gain a degree of acceptance with uke players, and over time became something like a secondary standard type of uke.  Right now Id like to share an excellent video of a talk by old Mr. Kamaka, the son of the founder of the Kamaka ukulele firm, telling about his father came up with the Pineapple design.  It's a great story in the annals of ukule innovation.  Here's the link (with the part about the Pineapple starting at about minute 6):

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_mbj_2jLX4

I hope you enjoy it!

NOTE:  The picture above is not an original Kamaka, but one of many copies of the Kamaka design.  I don't think Kamaka ever put the pineappe-ish decoration on their ukulele.

What's Your Story?

I had a contact via FB from a maker of alt ukes, and invited him to share his story.  I invite others, too, right here--also  players  who have an alt uke tale to tell.