My Little Grass Shack

What I’m playing on my ukulele right now:

My Little Grass Shack by Bill Cogswell, Tommy Harrison and Johnny Noble

Well it has been awhile since I’ve posted—my apologies! My wife and I have been preparing for our long-delayed honeymoon to Hawaii and there was a lot to finish up before we left.

And here we are on the island of Maui!

As I sit here being kissed by tropical breezes on the lanai overlooking Lanai and Molokai, I am happy to report that I have now completed my collection of ukuleles with my new toy—a Hawaiian koa-wood pineapple concert ukulele. It makes my little Aspie heart leap.

I was hoping to find a ukulele made here in the islands, but due to the labor-intensiveness of hand-making a uke, the costs are way out of my reach. Still, I was able to find one at the Mele Ukulele Company here on Maui. Although it’s made in the Philippines, it’s to Mele’s design and is made from koa from the Big Island.

What was interesting is that almost all the ukuleles at Mele were strung with a low G-string, so that the ukulele’s peculiar second low string was abolished in favor of a more guitar-like tuning, going low to high. While tuning the uke with a low G makes for a richer sound (baritone ukes are tuned this way), it loses that great ukulele sonority, sounding more like a high-pitched guitar. It makes me wonder whether this tuning is popular because of the large number of guitar players who have ventured into the ukulele. Maybe it’s more comfortable for them than to have to deal with the low C string in the middle of the instrument.

I love my new ukulele! It’s been great fun to strum, mai tai in hand (between chord changes), and watch the sun set over the island of Lanai.