Ukulele
The ukulele is commonly associated with music from Hawaii where the name roughly translates as "jumping flea," perhaps because of the movement of the player's fingers. Developed in the 1880s, the ukulele is based on several small guitar-like instruments of Portuguese origin, the machete, the braguinha and the rajão. Common types of ukuleles include concert, soprano (standard size ukulele), tenor, baritone. Less common are the sopranino (also called piccolo, bambino, or "pocket uke") and bass ukulele. The soprano, often called "standard" in Hawaii, is the second-smallest and was the original size. The concert size was developed in the 1920s as an enhanced soprano, slightly larger and louder with a deeper tone. Shortly thereafter, the tenor was created, having more volume and deeper bass tone. The baritone was created in the 1940s, and the bass is a very recent innovation from 2009 with traditional bass guitar tuning. There are various ukulele tunings. The most popular tuning for the standard or soprano ukulele is C6-tuning: G4 C4 E4 A4. The G string is tuned an octave higher than might be expected. People can find ukulele in the music of many performers and guitarists as a special tone or part of a mood. Besides the professional musicians we sincerely recommend ukulele also for small children as a first instrument starting to learn.