ukulele. an integral part of my identity
I try not to mess up the chords. So on a calm Thursday night, I carefully place my hands in specific patterns as I strum a tune on the ukulele I've been practicing for weeks. The sound echos throughout my house. My brother shoots me a quizzical look as we both sit next to each other in our study room. "Shouldn't you be studying for a test?" he says with a scowl, and I reply "Ok, fine." He looks down and gets back to his homework, " You practice the ukelele more than you practice the violin, right?" He never got back an answer; I'd already started strumming away.
My only experience I had with a ukelele beforehand was that I knew it was a instrument originating from Hawaii and that it looked like a small guitar. That all changed when I found a video on YouTube of a man playing on of my favorite songs "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" on the ukulele. And just like that, I was pulled into a world of tutorials and How-To videos. My hunger to learn more about the ukulele pushed me to eventually buy one and start playing the instrument myself. Just the fact of how many songs I could play on this instrument with just a few chords made the ukelele more alluring than anything else in the world.
Just like any other instrument, to become skilled one must put in countless hours of practice. A few months went into learning the basics. I searched and watched countless tutorials daily. Numerous hours were spent in the privacy of my room just to nail down a specific tune. Throughout the process, many songs came and went, usually due to my music taste. I would pick up a melody from a song I liked, add a few notes, change the rhythm, and a new song was born.
Doing this by myself was entertaining, but I soon realized I could make my ukulele experience so much more fulfilling if I was with those who shared the same enthusiasm I shared about the ukulele. I was determined to form a group of people, not just my friends, who I could play and learn more about the ukelele with. This proved to be a daunting task. I only knew of one friend who played the ukulele. I scoured the internet looking for groups or clubs pertaining to the ukulele, but sadly I found none. I realized it was up to me to form this so called "Ukulele Group" I was looking for. I posted fliers for the group around my neighborhood and even posted about the group on a community facebook group I was in. At first, it was just me and a friend who would meet up and enrich each other with our knowledge but soon people started to show up. It was just one or two new people every few weeks but that was enough. Word spread, and the ukulele group kicked off. With more people showing it offered me and everyone there more knowledge to learn about the ukulele and its wonderful sounds. It drew people who have little to no experience with the ukulele and other who have been playing for years. I was taught new techniques and strumming patterns and I in turn taught techniques that I had nurtured myself.
The ukulele has become an integral part of my identity. The ukulele has changed how I myself am making me more confident around others and has also allowed me to become a leader. The journey that I have undergone to learn the ukulele has changed me and I hope I will be able to do that same with the group I formed. The sun is out and shining in a clear blue sky, this perfect weather could only mean one thing. It was time to go out and play the ukulele.