Re: Ukulele movement
We've recently set up an initiative to raise the awarenss of the ukulele in Singapore. There is an ukulele craze in US, Europe and Japan, but nothing yet in Singapore. So we're also organising activities, events, workshops to create an ukulele community here in Singapore and hopefully around the region.
Check out our website (address below) for our events and activities and join our facebook group! If you're on facebook, just search UKULELE MOVEMENT and you should be able to find us.
Hey! Fancy seeing y'all here, I bought 2 Ukuleles for my sister and girlfriend from your store! Great service and nice place too!
To me, music is always a 'habit', an 'addiction'. It can be good, or bad. It can even be a trend. Like in secondary school when some of the people pick up guitars so that they can hang out in school and play, or the other bunch of guys who pick it up to pick up girls, and also for those who came from a family of musician and may have already picked up the instrument prior to other people wanting to pick it up.
But as all habit, you have control over it. Some people compare it to bad habits, things which you should stop doing but didn't. Or good habits, things you should pick up but didn't. I think it became a trend for a short time, people started picking it up no thanks to Jason Mraz. It became a trend when people were exposed to Jake Shimaburuko. But from this trend, it started spreading to "hey, I saw this guy with this small guitar..." and a ukulele or ex-ukulele player who will reply with "that's not a guitar, that's a ukulele".
There are serious ukulele players, if there isn't then there's no market and shops selling ukulele wouldn't do so well. There are also casual ukulele players, and like every other instruments, there is also a group of people who "pick up just to try" type.
I think, ukulele, like all instruments, started off as a trend. From this trend, it will evolve or devolution. Ukulele is evolving because to be honest, it sounds nice and looks innocent. "Small and cute, 4 strings, sounds nice too!" While "Wah guitar 6 strings, frets so long, how to stretch your fingers!?"
Ukulele is a fun instrument, prior to giving it to my sister and girlfriend, I had to first pick it up myself first in order to teach them. And as usual, the first song I taught them was Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" because it had easy progression and the finger pattern is not complicated (no barre chords and etc).
Eventually they each started learning their respective songs that they like. It evolved from there. Whereas my 2 army mates whom I was teaching the guitar to, they gave up shortly after because they didn't have enough time and had other activities they were involved in.
Trend? Yes. Are there hardcore ukulele players? Yes. Will this business do well? Yes. Ultimately, music will always keep going.
That's just my opinion though.
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