DAN SCANLAN: WHO REALLY MADE NATUREL’S JEWELRY- EXPLORE BLUES STYLES

4-STRING FIGHTER SUMMERS UKES? INSPIRED INSTRUMENTS WITH JUST ONE LICK

2024
NTER
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“ROCK THAT CRADLE LUCY”
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 CONTENTS

14
JAKE’S
BLUES BLAST
The virtuoso joins forces
with drummer Mick
Fleetwood on a new
instrumental album
BY BLAIR JACKSON

20
FOUR-STRING
REVOLUTIONARY
Dan Scanlan has spent
a lifetime fighting injustice
and uniting communities
through ukuleles
BY JIM D’VILLE

26
SWEET & LOW
Ginger Johnson’s
deep baritone sound
is a perfect fit in the
Hula Honeys
BY AUDREY COLEMAN

32
LOW-END
RUMBLE
A studio showdown
between five vintage
baritone ukes
BY SANDOR
NAGYSZALANCZY
JEREMY MCCAIN PHOTO

WINTER 2024
VOLUME 12, NO. 3,
ISSUE 47
ON THE COVER
JAKE SHIMABUKURO
SIENNA MORALES PHOTO

4 Winter 2024
 CONTENTS
UKE SCENE
12 SET SAIL
The SS Badger
unites ukesters
across Lake Michigan
BY JIM D’VILLE

SONGS
40 ROCK THAT
CRADLE LUCY
An old-time fingerpicking
tune for baritone
BY AARON KEIM

42 CHOPSTICKS
Learn Benny Chong’s
sophisticated jazz
arrangement for
reentrant baritone
BY NICOLAS GRIZZLE

LESSONS
44 BIG IDEAS
Drawing inspiration
from the baritone
uke’s larger sound and
deeper tuning
BY SARAH MAISEL

48 TWELVE BARS,
ONE RIFF
Exploring different blues
forms using the same
pentatonic lick
BY DANIEL WARD

GEAR
52 BARI BONANZA
A roundup of five newer
baritone ukuleles
BY BILL LEIGH

58 UKE MAKERS
The simple elegance
of Naturel’s jewelry-
inspired instruments
BY NICOLAS GRIZZLE

62 GREAT UKES
The Summers Brothers
sold quality ukes by
different makers in
fancy Waikiki hotels
BY SANDOR
NAGYSZALANCZY

MISC.
JOEY LUSTERMAN PHOTO

10 EDITOR’S NOTE
65 AD INDEX
66 THE BACK PAGE
The House of David uke
p. 52 bands were into long
hair way before the ’60s

6 Winter 2024
 CONTENTS VIDEO EXCLUSIVES UkuleleMag.com/U47

Benny Chong breaks down his arrangement of “Chopsticks.”

“Love this informative ukulele
magazine. I read it cover to cover
over and over for 3+ months.
Always learning something!”

store.ukulelemag.com

Bill Leigh demos five newer baritones (no, not at at once!).

Sarah Maisel shows how the baritone can inspire your playing.

Plus much more at UkuleleMag.com/U47 DAN SCANLAN:

4-STRING FIGHTER
WHO REALLY MADE
SUMMERS UKES?
NATUREL’S JEWELRY-
INSPIRED INSTRUMENTS
EXPLORE BLUES STYLES
WITH JUST ONE LICK

2024
NTER
WI

Download this magazine for free at STARR

POWE
store.UkuleleMag.com/digital-edition GOE S
JAK E
SUPERNOVA
WIT H MIC K
FLEETWOOD

Enter code 47WN89 at checkout to SPECIAL FOCUS

BARITONE
UKULELE

get a free PDF version of this issue! NEW & VINTAGE

INSTRUMENT
ROUNDUPS
GET INSPIRED WITH
A DIFFERENT TUNING
THE HULA HONEYS’
GINGER JOHNSON

SONGS

BENNY CHONG’S
JAZZY “CHOPSTICKS”
OLDTIME FIDDLE TUNE
“ROCK THAT CRADLE LUCY”

8 Winter 2024
 BY ARTISTS.
FOR ARTISTS.

Photo courtesy of Craig Chee, Sarah Maisel

Join us in honoring nearly a decade of
collaboration and friendship with two of the
most influential ukulele artists, Craig Chee and
Sarah Maisel. Discover the strings crafted
“by artists for artists.”
Elevate your music with GHS Strings.

STRINGS

T H E ST R I N G E X P E R TS ™
ghsstrings.com
 EDITOR'S NOTE Ukulele
CONTENT DEVELOPMENT
Editor Nick Grizzle
Managing Editor Kevin Owens
Music Editor Adam Perlmutter
Contributing Editors
Craig Chee, Jim D'Ville, Steven Espaniola,
Blair Jackson, Sarah Maisel,
Sandor Nagyszalanczy, Greg Olwell,
Eddie Scher, Fred Sokolow,
Heidi Swedberg, Daniel Ward

Creative Director Joey Lusterman

SALES & MARKETING

Group Sales Manger Amy-lynn Fischer
Sales Manager Ref Sanchez
Marketing Services Manager Tanya Gonzalez
Accounts Receivable Geneva Thompson
Customer Service Manager Gaby Garcia
Single Copy Sales Consultant Tom Ferruggia

like to think of planning a magazine That Cradle Lucy,” it feels like a nice little lul-
issue like planning a menu. It should laby, but turn up the tempo and this old-time
be memorable, satisfying, and leave you fiddle tune really starts to cook. And baritone
wanting to come back again. (I’m no chef, ukulele great Benny Chong has taken “Chop-
but I watch a lot of cooking shows and mov- sticks” and turned it into a lifelong learning Stringletter.com
ies, so I’m basically an expert.) That said, piece, with jazzy chords so satisfying you’ll Publisher Lyzy Lusterman
Editorial Director Adam Perlmutter
here is a description of the issue in front of want to keep coming back to this delicious
you today. arrangement for more. FINANCE & OPERATIONS
In this issue we take the low road, soni- Other lessons include a celebration of the Chief Operations Officer Anita Evans

cally speaking. Our special focus on baritone baritone ukulele with Sarah Maisel describ-
General Inquiries FrontDesk@Stringletter.com
ukulele shines the spotlight on the biggest ing ways to get inspired by the instrument Customer Service
and most acoustically rich member of the (or even a tenor uke in baritone tuning, both UkuleleService@Stringletter.com
Advertising Inquiries
ukulele family. linear and reentrant). And as a non-baritone
Sales@Stringletter.com
The tasty tones of Ginger Johnson sparkle option, Daniel Ward has prepared a “blues Send e-mail to individuals in this format:
in the Hula Honeys, a delightful duo whose three ways” lesson, using the same riff to ex- FirstName.LastName@Stringletter.com

live performances are a treat for the senses. plore multiple styles of the genre.
Front Desk (510) 215-0010
Johnson’s choice of baritone uke, combined You will find that our main course has Customer Service (800) 827-6837
with her partner’s tenor, fills out the group’s nothing to do with baritone, but a good menu General Fax (510) 231-5824
Secure Fax (510) 231-8964
sound beautifully. needs a little contrast to make things stand
A succulent studio showdown between out. (See? Basically an expert.) Our meaty Mail & Shipping
five vintage ukes from the 1950s and ’60s re- interview with Jake Shimabukuro centers on 330 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Suite C,
San Anselmo, CA 94960
flects on the baritone ukulele’s fledgling first his new blues album with the percussive
Printed in USA
years. Looks and sound are compared in con- powerhouse behind Fleetwood Mac, Mick
trolled conditions, so you can pick a winner Fleetwood. Jake describes the experience of Got a question or comment for Ukulele’s editors?
Please send an e-mail to Editors.Uke@Stringletter.com
for yourself (listen to the audio samples at working with such a legend of the music
or snail-mail Ukulele Editorial, 330 Sir Francis Drake
UkuleleMag.com/U47). world, his first introduction to the blues, and Blvd., Suite C, San Anselmo, CA 94960.

It took a little time for the baritone to find how his exploration with pedals in his early
Join us online at UkuleleMag.com to activate your
its wings, but it has blossomed into a versa- years helped spice up his sound on this free e-mail alerts and get uke content that entertains,
enlightens, and inspires, sent right to your inbox.
tile and beautiful instrument as you’ll see in album. His pairing with Fleetwood is truly a
Find us on Facebook (@ukulelemagazine), Instagram
our sampler platter of five newer bari ukes. match made in musical heaven. (@ukulelemag), and YouTube (@ukulelemag) and join
the conversation today!
These modern instruments have evolved to Other tasty morsels include a profile of
meet the specific needs of a wide variety of jeweler-turned-luthier Yoshiro Naoki and his To advertise in Ukulele, call Amy-lynn Fischer
at (510) 215-0016, or e-mail her at
players, and you may find that there’s more special instruments, a profile on the ukulele
Amy-lynn.Fischer@Stringletter.com
than one that suits your fancy. Renaissance man Dan Scanlan, a deep dive
Distribution—Music retailers please go to
How about playing those deep dishes? into the history of Waikiki uke merchants the
Stringletter.com/Retailers.
This issue’s song lessons will both get you Summers brothers, and much more.
Except where otherwise noted, all contents |©
started and keep you going. When you start What was your favorite bite in this issue?
2024 String Letter Publishing, Inc.,
learning Aaron Keim’s arrangement of “Rock Let me know at nick.grizzle@stringletter.com. Lyzy. Lusterman, Publisher.

10 Winter 2024
Moving on Up! WITH UKULENNY

Moving on Up!
WITH UKULENNY

A Guide to Getting
Better on Ukulele

12 lessons to help you master the

fretboard, play more musically,
and have good fun with your uke

These 12 lessons
are designed to
help you master
the fretboard,
play more
musically, and
have good fun
with your uke!

L e arn more a t st ore .U ku l e l e M a g .c o m

 UKE SCENE

Strumming Across State Lines

The SS Badger unites ukesters across Lake Michigan BY JIM D’VILLE

Sheri Ballard does her best Kate Winslet impression from Titanic with Chuck Deyo (far left), John Steven French
(far right, playing nose flute), and two friends playing “My Heart Will Go On” aboard the SS Badger.

PHOTOS COURTESY JIM D'VILLE

It was a sight reminiscent of Kate the last coal-fired passenger vessel oper- headed to Stearns Park on the Ludington
Winslet’s “flying” scene from ating in the United States. The ship shuttles waterfront for a sunset beach strum before
Titanic—Michigan ukulele queen Shari up to 620 passengers and 180 vehicles daily boarding the ferry early the following day.
Ballard was poised on the bow of the SS between Ludington and Manitowoc from The Badger streamed from the
Badger, ukulele in tow, as the first-ever May to October. The Badger follows an Ludington dock at 9am (Eastern Time)
interstate ukulele cruise steamed across imaginary line representing U.S. Highway under sunny skies and calm lake condi-
the waters of Lake Michigan. 10 across the lake. Highway 10 was one of tions. The Michigan ukulele contingent
The day-long cruise, organized by America’s original long-haul highways, settled into a small lounge mid-ship on the
Lansing Area Ukulele Group (LAUGH) originally stretching from Detroit to Seattle, port side. With ukuleles removed from
members John Steven French and Chuck but lost much of its length when interstate cases to the sidelong glances of the
Deyo, departed Ludington, Michigan on the highways replaced its right-of-way. In 2015, unsuspecting passengers, the lake-faring
morning of August 15 headed for the federal government designated the SS strummers began their musical journey to
Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The group of about Badger’s aquatic route as part of the Cheese Land.
20 ukulele enthusiasts sang and strummed highway. French created a 160-page songbook
for four solid hours as the Badger plied its The night before departure, voyagers especially for the day’s journey. As you
way across 62 miles of water to the from out of town reserved hotel rooms or would expect, it contained ship- and sea-
Wisconsin shoreline. camped at the beautiful Ludington State related songs, including “Baby Beluga,”
At 410 feet in length, the SS Badger is Park. After a meet-and-greet dinner, folks “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl),” “Ferry Cross

12 Winter 2024
the Mersey,” “I Want to Marry a Lighthouse From top: Ukers from Michigan meet up for a strum with some new friends in Wisconsin before the Badger’s
Keeper,” “Gilligan’s Island,” and a crowd return journey; the author takes in the scenery of Lake Michigan from the Badger’s bow; the Ludington North
Breakwater Lighthouse shines the way for the journey back to Michigan.
favorite, the theme to the television show
The Love Boat.
The Badger steamed into the Manitowoc
Harbor at noon (Central Time). Upon
disembarking, the Michigan ukers met their
Wisconsin cohorts, including Manitowoc
resident Lynne Sellers, whom French and
Deyo had befriended at the popular
Midwest Ukulele and Harmonica Camp.
While the interstate pals stummed away,
the weather started to turn. Lake Michigan’s
previously serene, crystal-blue waters
turned an angry gray as the wind whipped
up a severe chop. As the rain began to fall,
the Michigan contingent bid farewell to their
newfound Manitowoc friends and reboarded
the Badger for the return to Michigan. Once
onboard, the seasick bags the crew had
placed throughout the vessel were a notice-
able addition. “I was a little nauseous
sometimes, but I noticed that I felt better if I
kept strumming and rocking to the beat and
rolling with the boat,” says French.
The ukulele cruise, however, was not
the first time the dulcet tones of the ukulele
had graced the decks of the SS Badger. On
most crossings, tucked away at the rear of
the ship’s starboard side, is Benjamin “The
Ukulele Guy,” who entertains passengers
with a beautiful voice, singing and strum-
ming through a wide array of musical
selections.
French and Deyo plan on booking more
ukulele adventures on the high “seas.” Says
French, “We have heard from a number of
folks interested in making the Badger Sail
an annual event. Also, the other passengers
and crew saw this as an entertaining addi-
tion to the summer sailings.” They hope it
will someday become an official event with
the folks that operate the Badger.
Ballard also hopes the Michigan-
Wisconsin interstate cruise becomes a
yearly sojourn, and not just to recreate
more famous ship-movie scenes. “We made
new friends in Ludington, Manitowoc, and
even on the Badger, who we need to see
again next year,” she says. “This experience
was beyond all expectations!” U

UkuleleMag.com 13
 JAK E’S
Blu e s
Bl a s t
THE UKULELE
VIRTUOSO
joins forces er
with drummood
Mick Fleetw nal
for A sensatio
instrumental
outing 
SON
By BLAIR JACK
PHOTO © 2024 SIENNA MORALES

14 Winter
Winter 2024
2024
J
ake Shimabukuro never stops. Or
at least it seems that way. When he
and I caught up by phone in
August, he was a about to complete a
ten-day Midwest tour with a benefit con-
cert in Chicago with cellist Meena Cho to
raise more funds to aid the recovery of
Lahaina, Maui—still a wasteland since
most of the town was destroyed by fire in
2023. In the spring of 2024 he had hit
Southern California and the Southwest,
and still on the horizon a couple of weeks
after Chicago were shows in the South,
Northeast, and Midwest, then a big swing in
the West and Hawaii that takes him all the
way through mid-December, ending
the touring year in Nashville.
And suddenly there is also a new re-
cording to promote! On the heels of two of
the finest albums he’s ever made—the
highly eclectic all-star album Jake &
Friends and his 2023 project playing with
some of his favorite Hawaiian musicians,
Grateful—comes the all-instrumental
Blues Experience, featuring Fleetwood
Mac drum monster Mick Fleetwood, and
two of Jake’s regular favorites to play
with, bassist Jackson Waldhoff and key-
boardist Michael Grande. It’s a spellbinding
blues tour de force that spans everything
from the much-covered classic “Rollin’
and Tumblin’,” Albert King’s “I Wanna Get
Funky,” and Gary Moore’s “Still Got the
Blues” to unexpected treasures such as
Stevie Wonder’s “Cause We’ve Ended as
Lovers” (featuring Sonny Landreth on
slide guitar), a raging take on Neil Young’s
“Rockin’ in the Free World,” a brilliant,
jammed out interpretation of Procol
Harum’s 1967 hit “A Whiter Shade of Pale,”
and perhaps most affecting of all, a mov-
ing version of the late Christine McVie’s
Fleetwood Mac classic, “Songbird.”
Jake digs deep throughout on his cus-
tom Kamaka uke, finding dozens of shades
of “blue” (and other tonal colors) in the
process. For a guy who has one of the most
upbeat personalities of anyone I’ve ever
interviewed and who is clearly living some-
thing of a dream life, he sure “gets” the
blues. Which will come as a surprise to
exactly . . . no one!

UkuleleMag.com 15
JAKE’s Blues BLAST

I’d love to hear a little about your own his- guitars—lots of cool stuff. I worked there mainland and were influenced by Black mu-
tory as a blues fan. Who were the people for five years and I was so fortunate be- sicians, who, of course, adapted Hawaiian
you listened to, and, as you were develop- cause it gave me the opportunity to slide guitar for their own purposes. What
ing your own style on the ukulele, who experiment. There was a lot of downtime are your thoughts on that confluence of
influenced you; who did you sit around because a lot of people didn’t even know Black music and Hawaiian artists?
your room emulating? there was a musical instrument depart- Well, from talking to historians, it seems
For me growing up, I didn’t really know or ment upstairs! Downstairs we sold CDs, that Uncle Joseph K [Kekuku] invented
think about the genres of music, but there sheet music, and all that; that’s what they the Hawaiian lap steel guitar and came up
were always musicians I loved hearing. I were known for. So I had a lot of time to with the innovation of using the steel bar
remember in Hawaii, when I was maybe in practice on all these effects and pedals. to put over the strings to slide and give
my last year or just out of high school, one And actually, it was part of my job to learn the instrument that chromatic sound. A
of my favorite musicians was Bobby about all the different things that were lot of Hawaiian musicians learned that
Ingano. He’s a master lap steel/slide guitar coming out. technique from Uncle Joseph when they
player, and one day I went to a jam session Most of the time growing up, from the started traveling over to the U.S. With
where he and some of his musician friends time I picked up the ukulele up until high their darker-colored skin, they would
got together and played a whole blues school, I mainly just played acoustically. I often stay in African American communi-
set—everything from B.B. King to Clapton. think I was in high school before I bought ties, and I heard they would have these
One song that really caught my attention my first pickup for the ukulele, and it was jam sessions [with Black musicians] and
was an old Muddy Waters tune—I can’t made by a company called DeArmond. they would bring their steel bars and they
think of the name. But that was really my You would put them on the soundboard would play. And I think that influenced a
first taste of hearing some serious blues and then there were these hooks on them— lot of the American players.
music. Most of them were songs that I had you would use a big rubber band to put
heard but never quite identified. around the hooks and to wrap around the Have you ever played slide ukulele?
I think we talked about this before [see body of the ukulele, and that would hold Not really, no. There was one track that I
Jake’s interview in the Winter 2021 issue], the pickup against the body and then you did a few years ago where I got into an
that I listened a lot to Jeff Beck and Eddie would plug it in. I guess you would call open tuning and used a glass slide on it for
Van Halen and Jimi Hendrix; all those guys. that a transducer style. That was the way a certain effect. It’s called “When the
The first time I heard Jimi Hendrix’s “Red to amplify your instrument back then. It Masks Come Down” [on the album Trio,
House” . . . I was so blown away. I had al- was tough. When you cranked it too loud from 2020]. But not a serious solo or any-
ways loved his playing, but I had heard it would just feed back. thing. It’s more like just sliding into the IV
mostly the popular rock stuff, like “Foxy chord or V chord to get that sound. I like
Lady.” But then digging deeper into his That’s the good part, Jake! it, but for me, I feel like you have to raise
music, when I heard [the heavy blues tune] Well, yeah, sometimes. But you had to be the action a little bit more on the instru-
“Red House,” I’d never heard anyone play careful, too, when you put the rubber ment. When I was doing it on that one
guitar like that. band on and you didn’t secure it well, if it track I remember when I’d try to slide, you
slipped it could swing back and hit you in could hear the slide hitting the frets. If
Is it fair to say that this was at a time before the face! You almost needed two people to you had an instrument specifically made
you had plugged in or were using effects on set it up properly. So that was the begin- for that, I think that would be ideal. But I
the ukulele? Was it frustrating to hear ning of trying to amplify my instrument. always just travel with my one uke.
Hendrix and then go plink around on your
little acoustic ukulele trying to play blues? As both a blues fan for decades and a Let’s talk about the record. Tell me how this
[Laughs.] Actually that’s around the time Hawaiian music history buff, I’ve been in- project with Mick Fleetwood came about.
[plugging in] started for me. When I was terested in the intersection of those two You guys had known each other for quite a
17, I started working at a music store styles of music. In the 1920s and ’30s you while, right?
called the House of Music in the Ala find quite a lot of Hawaiian music artists, Yeah. Of course I’ve always been a huge
Moana shopping center [in Honolulu]. such as “King” Bennie Nawahi, Jim and fan, but I first met him years ago at the Na
They had an instrument department up- Bob, Sol Hoopii, and others playing both Hoku Hanohano Awards [Hawaiian music
stairs, which is where I was stationed. So traditional and newly written blues tunes awards]. There was one year where they
when I was up there, I had access to along with their Hawaiian repertoire. But introduced a Hawaiian Music award to the
all sorts of pedals and amplifiers, they are all artists who thrived on the Grammys, and Mick, along with Kenny

16 Winter 2024
JAKE PHOTO © 2024 SIENNA MORALES. MICK FLEETWOOD, DANIEL SULLIVAN PHOTO

Loggins, was there. There were a few big art- mentioned, “You know, someday we should
ists who came to kick off that first year. I got do something together.” Then, a year later,
to meet Mick, and Kenny as well. Actually, after the Fleetwood Mac tour, we did a show
Mick and Barry Flanagan from the group on Maui and Mick and his family came back-
Hapa were good friends, so he introduced stage and that’s when we discussed more
me to them real quickly backstage and then seriously doing a collaboration. [Fleetwood
said, “Hey come up onstage and play with us,” has lived on Maui for many years and even
so I got to play with them. If I remember cor- had a popular namesake restaurant in La-
rectly, we did [Loggins’] “Footloose.” It was haina that was, alas, destroyed in the 2023
cool. I was so starstruck! wildfires there.]
Fast-forward probably 20 years, I got to It started with booking a week: “Just
see Mick after a Fleetwood Mac reunion con- come out to Maui and let’s just jam and see
cert. I got to reconnect with him backstage what happens.” So we went to Mick’s studio
and I think that’s the first time he on his property and we had a couple of

UkuleleMag.com 17
JAKE’s Blues BLAST

tunes we thought we’d try, and we ended different than the other tracks. It was How many takes of a given song would you
up recording four or five songs. Every- such a special moment. You could just tell typically do?
thing was live. And after that we booked that Mick was in another world when we Usually two or three. We’d run it down to
another session and did another four or did that. I remember after we finished, he get a feel, figure out the form, and go from
five songs. was telling us that he could feel Chris- there. “Songbird” was one take. “Whiter
tine’s presence with us in the studio. That Shade of Pale” I think was a second take.
How did you determine the repertoire? I’m was incredibly powerful; we all had The one that kind of sticks out to me is
old enough to remember when Fleetwood chicken skin [goosebumps]. “Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers”—that’s the
Mac was mostly a blues band, with Peter The way “Rockin’ in the Free World” only one that wasn’t totally live, because
Green on guitar. He was right up there with came about is we were in the studio and we wanted Sonny Landreth on there. Sonny
Clapton and Jeff Beck among the guitar there was an organization producing a and I had actually talked about doing a
gods of the UK in the ’60s. And even later, tribute recording for Neil Young, and they duet record, and months before this op-
when Fleetwood Mac became a commer- were contacting different artists to be portunity with Mick came up, Sonny and I
cial juggernaut in the late ’70s and early part of it. And they contacted Van and recorded a version of “Cause We’ve Ended
’80s, Lindsey Buckingham could unleash suggested “Rockin’ in the Free World,” As Lovers,” just the two of us. And we
some amazing blues licks. So they always and Van said, “Actually he’s in the studio thought, “Wouldn’t it be great to get Mick
had a blues core. with Mick Fleetwood; maybe Mick could on this record?” But it would be hard to
That’s true. They always had great play on it, too.” And they were like, overdub drums, right? So when we got
guitarists. “Whaaat?” [laughs]. We asked Mick and around to doing this album, Sonny wasn’t
he was fine with it, so we did it and really able to come to the sessions, so what we
What was your familiarity with the Peter had a lot of fun with it. did was leave some space for him and sent
Green era Fleetwood Mac? him the track when we were done. And
Before we started recording, I got to go What did you think when you heard what he sent back on it was just amazing!
back and revisit the Peter Green record- they thought that was the song Jake He’s so gifted. He’s not just one of my fa-
ings. I’ve always known the name but to Shimabukuro should do on a Neil Young vorite guitar players; he’s one of my
really go back and listen to him you can tribute? It’s not one that would have favorite musicians. Everything he does is
see why he influenced Clapton and Beck jumped out at me. so musical, his phrasing. He has this rub-
and so many others. [Laughs.] Yeah I don’t know if they were ber-band elasticity to his playing.
envisioning a more acoustic laid-back ver-
Did Mick suggest “Need Your Love So sion, but when you’ve got Mick Fleetwood When you’re working out an arrangement
Bad” [a Little Willie John song from the in the studio . . . . The energy he plays in the studio, like on “Whiter Shade of
mid-’50s that the Peter Green–led Fleet- with is so inspiring. He’s the kind of musi- Pale,” for instance, the first time through
wood Mac recorded as a single in 1968]? cian who, when he steps into a band when you’re picking out the melody, it’s es-
It was either Mick or my manager, situation, makes everyone play better. sentially clean and un-effected. Then for
Van Fletcher. We’d all have these discus- the second verse you’ve added some dis-
sions about songs we might play. We’d I couldn’t tell you why exactly, but you in- tortion and changed the picking style, and
talked about Jeff Beck’s “Cause We’ve stantly know it’s Mick Fleetwood. so on. Is that something you map out in
Ended as Lovers.” And then there was He has this style of playing that’s advance or do you do it on the fly?
“Whiter Shade of Pale,” which I think Mick unique. His feel. There’s a song on there It was more of a feel thing. I did know that
mentioned first. He was saying to me, called the “Kula Blues” [written by Jake] I wanted to have at least one or a couple
“Next time you go to play in the UK, that where he kicks into this shuffle and . . . of verses clean for some contrast. Be-
would be a great song for you. It’s like an oh, my goodness, I didn’t want that cause I think at that point there wasn’t
anthem when you play that there.” And song to end! It was so much fun to play. any clean ukulele sound. The song or two
I’ve always loved that tune. And just watching him is such a joy. we did before probably had a lot of heavy
The reason we did “Songbird” is we He’s so interactive and into it. He goes distortion and wah-wah stuff, so I wanted
were in the studio, and Christine’s birth- with you and he’ll also take you other to maybe take a step back and go more
day was coming up and we wanted to do places you might not be expecting. It’s to the clean sound. I think I wanted to
something. We didn’t know if it was going such a big sound and such a huge pres- maybe go back to the clean sound for the
to be for the album or not, or if it was ence. It was such an honor to play with outro, but I just forgot [laughs]. You
going to be a one-off, but we wanted to do him. I feel like I grew so much from the know, I just kind of go with the flow, and
something special. Even though it’s so experience. playing with Mick . . . He takes you into

18 Winter 2024
 Jake and Mick in the studio recording Blues Experience.

“ It was
such an
honor
shot(s) of Jake and Mick F in the recording studio TK TK

to play
with MICK.
I grew
so much
from the
experiencoe. ukur
”
—JAKE Shimab

his zone and at that point you just try to be fun!” He was very encouraging. But drums going through my pedalboard, so
keep up with him! Every take we did, he when I listen to that track I can tell it was whatever delays I’m using, or overdrives
was brilliant. before we all felt totally comfortable. or wah or whatever I’m using, there’s an-
There’s a different vibe from the rest of the other subtle layer of his drums that are
Has anyone else mentioned that Albert King tracks. Not like it’s good or bad or anything going through all those effects, too.
song, “I Want to Get Funky,” sounds a lot like that. It’s like we’re testing the waters. I thought it created this extra special
like the riff of Tom Petty’s “Breakdown”? It’s got a slightly different groove and feel. magic. It’s subtle but it’s very cool. I think
I haven’t heard that, but now that I think But I like that contrast with the other it makes it feel more live and real versus
about it, I can see that. That was the first tracks we recorded. complete isolation of every instrument. It
track we recorded the first day. I was so The two projects we had come off of— gels them together.
nervous! At that point, the Fleetwood Mac F r i e n d s a n d G r a t e f u l — w e re b o t h
concert and the Maui concert were the collaborative projects—and we wanted Might we see a tour with Mick?
only times Mick and I had really been face that spontaneity, so we wanted the best Oh, I wish Mick could come out and do
to face, other than the Hokus. So I was ner- takes rather than going back and overdub- some shows with us! That would be—oh,
vous about how the sessions were going to bing things and all that. Let’s go for the my gosh! But realistically I think that will
go. I was afraid that during the first song he take; one that we’re all happy with. never happen. Hopefully we can put to-
might say, “Nah, I don’t think I want to do One of the things I loved about this gether a three- or four-piece and do a lot
this!” My bassist, Jackson, was super ner- project is we were recording in the same of songs from the record. Obviously no
vous, and so was my buddy [keyboardist] room, just the four of us facing each one can fill Mick’s shoes, but at least we
Michael Grande. I think we had sort of other, and we just played. I remember can play the arrangements and the tunes
psyched each other out and we were all when we were first mixing, the engineer and have some fun with it.
stiff when we met Mick’s team. But then he isolated the ukulele track, especially For me personally, to be able to have
was so nice and down to earth. When we when I’m cranking the distortion, and you this opportunity to play with this icon, this
came in he gave us all hugs and was saying, can hear Mick’s drums going into the legend, was very, very special—and some-
“Thanks so much for coming in; this should pickup of the ukulele! You can hear his thing none of us will ever forget. U

UkuleleMag.com 19
FOUR-STRING RE
DAN SCANLAN HAS SPENT A
LIFETIME FIGHTING INJUSTICE
AND UNITING COMMUNITIES
THROUGH UKULELES
BY JIM D’VILLE | JEREMY McCAIN PHOTOS

20 Winter 2024
EVOLUTIONARY
E
arl Daniel (Dan) Scanlan, Jr. has been playing
the ukulele for longer than most—70 years,
to be exact. Who knew that a childhood gift
of a ukulele would eventually turn him into a
ukulele revolutionary who would fight political
and social injustices his entire adult life? You could
also call Scanlan a ukulele jack-of-all-trades—an
accomplished songwriter, educator, author, luthier,
and wandering minstrel. He has certainly crammed
a lot of ukulele experiences into his eight decades
on planet Earth. >>

UkuleleMag.com 21
L.A. STORY conversation we haven’t finished yet. He started writing songs focusing on critical
Scanlan was born and raised in Los knows all my songs, and I know his.” social issues like the Vietnam War, L.A.
Angeles. His four-string journey began the Scanlan continued playing the ukulele smog, and plastics. And like some musical
Christmas of 1954 with the gift of a plastic during college but also had musical flings Nostradamus, Scanlan predicted the
Maccaferri Islander ukulele. “My mother with the bongos, tenor banjo, and guitar. current scourge of worldwide plastic
showed me the my-dog-has-fleas tuning, However, it was a vintage Wendall Hall- pollution in a song.
and I was on my way,” Scanlan remembers. Ludwig banjo ukulele that would become “My friends and I were English majors
“The first song I picked out was ‘Red River his lifelong musical partner. “In 1973, I and always messed around with verses,”
Valley.’” bought a 1930s Gibson archtop guitar from he says. “The song ‘Plastic Will Eat You
After high school, he attended Loyola John Dopyera [the founder of both the Alive’ came from those poetry exercises:
University (now Loyola-Marymount) on a National and Dobro instrument compa- ‘You can drink your coffee from a
full-ride scholarship, graduating in 1965 nies] for $100,” he says. “The next summer, Styrofoam cup/ but you’ll also disrupt
with a bachelor’s degree in English and I worked as a Volkswagen mechanic in how the fish take their sup.’ That might be
communications. On his first day of college Sacramento. I walked into a music store on my oldest song and probably the most
he met Pat Sauer standing in front of him in K Street and saw a 1920s Wendall Hall relevant today. We’ve got islands of plastic
an alphabetically arranged line, waiting to Professional Model. It was the first time I waste floating around in the oceans, yet
sign up for his English classes. The two had seen anything like it. I offered the we still want to drink our water from a
students struck up a conversation. That Gibson in trade, and they took it. It began a plastic bottle.”
chance meeting led to a musical partner- 50-year musical relationship.” The Vietnam War also profoundly
ship that lasts to this day. Just a couple of impacted Scanlan’s early songwriting. One
groups they have played in together over FINDING PURPOSE IN THE FOLK SCARE image that had a significant effect on him
the years include a quartet in college called In the mid-’60s, Scanlan stopped listening was the Pulitzer Prize–winning photo of a
What the Hell Four and a project called to the radio. To him, pop songs seemed young Vietnamese girl running naked
Flathead in the 1970s. “Pat and I started a inconsequential. So, during college, he down a road in South Vietnam after being

WHAT HE PLAYS
Dan Scanlan’s main
instrument is his 1925
Wendell Hall Professional
Model banjo ukulele by
Ludwig. In smaller solo
performances, he often
plays his 1920s Martin 5K,
1940s Kamaka, or 1920s
Makini mahogany soprano.
As for strings, Scanlan says,
“Although I’ve tried most
strings, I tend to put Martins
on my Martins, and I
sometimes use D’Addarios.
But the truth is, I don’t
particularly pay a lot of
attention to strings—action
and intonation are far more
important for playability.”
—JD

22 Winter 2024
 burned by napalm in 1972. Seeing that
photo led Scanlan to write “Marshlands
Void of Green,” a song about the devas-
tating effects of napalm. He says, “I saw
the ukulele as a way to express what I felt
was going on in the world.”

LIKE MINDS ONLINE

From the early 1950s to the 1990s, you
could count the number of other ukulele
players Scanlan encountered on your
strumming hand. But as computer
communication evolved in the 1990s,
Scanlan discovered there were indeed
other ukulele players out there.
He first stumbled upon a newsgroup
dedicated to the instrument. “When I found
this newsgroup, they were having a heated
discussion about whether or not one
should use a strap. One of the participants,
a fellow named R. Bruce, wrote a poem
about the controversy. I thought it was
spot on, so I wrote to him and asked if I
could set the poem to music. He told me to
go for it. It’s called ‘10,000 Ukuleles’—I
think it had to be the first time two people
who had never met before wrote a song
together over the internet.”
Around the same time, Scanlan created
one of the first ukulele-centric websites—
Cool Hand Uke’s Ukulele Lava Tube
(coolhanduke.com), which is still online
28 years later as a virtual cornucopia of
resources for the instrument. “In 1989, I
did a gig on the Big Island with two ukulele
players who called themselves Hoopele.
From them, I learned that local musicians
sought lava tubes—huge underground
holes in recent lava flows—to use as
recording studios, thus the name of my
website,” says Scanlan. “A high school kid
in a computer store in Reno showed me
how to build my site around 1995, and I
was on my way.”

TO MADEIRA AND BEYOND

In 1989, Scanlan was contacted by João
Mauricio Marques of Funchal, Madeira
Island, Portugal. Marques had an idea to
reunite the ukulele with its predecessors
from Portugal, the four-string braguinha
and five-string rajão. Almost a decade
later, in September 1998, the braguinha
This three-neck Scanlan creation outlines the ukulele’s historical lineage, and the rajão met the ukulele in person for
with necks for a re-entrant ukulele, a five-string rajão, and a braguinha. the first time when ukulele players from the
United States performed concerts in

UkuleleMag.com 23
Madeira and Lisbon, Portugal, at various James Hill, and many others. Scanlan’s first Under Scanlan’s direction, the Strum
venues, including the World Expo in trip to the Ceilidh started an annual fall Bums played the Hawaii International
Lisbon. tradition of a cross-country ukulele tour in Ukulele Festival (twice), the New York
“The project, ‘A Father and Son his Toyota camper van. “The first year I Ukulele Festival, and appeared in the
Reunion: The Braguinha Meets the Ukulele,’ went, it cost me a thousand dollars to get widely popular documentary, The Mighty
was a significant historical event in the there. The second time, I drove back and Uke. They perform at numerous county
history of the ukulele, a cultural and broke even. The third time, I made a thou- fairs, convalescent and retirement homes,
musical exchange between the Hawaiian sand dollars. After that, I stopped schools, and special events.
and Madeiran peoples,” says Scanlan, who counting.” After performing in Hawaii in 2010,
served as “American coordinator,” as he Scanlan recalls, “A couple of weeks later I
puts it, finding ukulele players and financial COMMUNITY SPIRIT gave a workshop in Dun Laoghaire, County
support for the project. While living in the Sierra Nevada foothills Dublin, Ireland, to about 17 players. At the
The American participants that trav- of Northern California, Scanlan discovered end of the daylong workshop, I urged
eled to Maderia included Scanlan on a group of a dozen women ukuleleists in them give their group a name. I suggested
ukulele, braguinha, and vocals; Fred Fallin, their 80s at a senior home in nearby that since the Hawaiians use the word huli
a player and historian from Chicago; Chico. They called themselves the for revolution, and since the Irish are fond
Alfredo Canopin, a player and teacher Vokuleles and had been playing together of revolution and hoolie in Ireland means
from Honolulu, Hawaii; and Leslie Nunes for three decades. Scanlan says, “I went a jam session, they should call themselves
of Honolulu, a great-grandson of Manuel up to play with them one day, and we did Ukuhooley.” The Ukulele Hooley by the
Nunes, one of the three Madeiran wood- the song ‘I Can’t Give You Anything But Sea is now an annual event in Dun
workers credited with creating the ukulele. Love.’ When it ended, a 90-year-old woman Laoghaire and is Europe’s longest running
The Madeiran participants were Danilo with a twinkle in her eye came up to me ukulele festival.
Fernandes, lead braguinha and ukulele; and said, ‘I can’t give you anything but
Mario Andre, rajão and vocals; and Carlos love—I’m on social security.’” THE MAD LUTHIER
and Noberto Cruz. “Carlos and Noberto are He led the group for seven years after Back home in the alchemistic recesses of
wonderful mandolin players who learned the Vokuleles’ leader died in 1996. Later, his tiny workshop, Scanlan is free to
the ukulele for the project,” Scanlan says. Scanlan began his own group—the Strum create whatever goofy, odd, or unique
“They are talented ukulele players now.” Bums—in his adopted home of Grass instrument that comes to mind. He began
Scanlan extended his ukulele travels in Valley, California. “Seventeen people building instruments about a decade ago
2003 after receiving an invitation to the showed up for our first meeting, most of after moving to his current home in the
International Ukulele Ceilidh in Nova whom had never played an instrument. gold country foothills of Nevada County,
Scotia, Canada. The Ceilidh is a semi- We took second place in the Fourth of July California. “A local luthier, Luke Wilson,
annual festival that has featured ukulele parade six months later, playing ‘The Stars gave me a rough-cut maple body and neck
luminaries such as J. Chalmers Doane, & Stripes Forever.’” as a housewarming gift. It was really just
two clumps of wood,” says Scanlan. “Well,
that sat around for years until I finally got
out the rasps, files, and some sandpaper
and turned what was supposed to be a
mandolin into a solid-body electric bragu-
inha. That was my first build.”
Not trained as a professional luthier, he
collected his knowledge of instrument
construction from some very curious
sources, including a former brewmaster for
Anheuser-Busch. “After retiring from
Budweiser, Thomas Merkal began building
ukuleles. He was the one who taught me
how to bend wood using nothing more
than a light bulb and a piece of metal,” says
Scanlan, whose current wood-bending tool
for making ukulele sides is a curling iron he
purchased from a thrift store.
Scanlan is sound-curious. He once built
a ukulele using two wooden dinner plates

24 Winter 2024
facing each other to reflect the sound
waves, inspired by a conversation with
Dopyera, the inventor of the resonator
ukulele. “He once told me he tried to
improve the sound of his instruments by
arranging two cones that would face each
other,” he says. “So I thought I would try
that.” Scanlan’s current project is a banjo
ukulele where the resonator is suspended
From carbon fiber hammers to nylon strings.
from the instrument’s body to increase
the airflow. Subscribe to Dulcimer Players News to keep up with the
By far, his most ambitious project is a latest innovations. If you think dulcimers aren’t for you,
copper ukulele. “My neighbor and daily then maybe you don’t know dulcimers.
walking partner was artist Richard Gill. He
recently passed away at age 94. His family
gave me his torches, tools, an anvil, and
two big sheets of copper. I decided to
make a copper-body ukulele.” The one
thing Scanlan didn’t plan on, however, was
the unpredictability of copper when

the Ukulele
heated. “I cut all the body pieces like I
would for a wooden ukulele, but the
pieces began warping once I heated
the copper. Nothing would fit together.

owner’s manual
Well, Richard had given me a copper statue
of a guitar player. When I studied how he
created the guitar, I saw that he had
hammered the pieces together. It was no
jeweler’s job; it was a blacksmith’s job!”
Another of Scanlan’s unique creations New cars come with an
is a three-neck instrument that outlines owner’s manual, so why
the ukulele’s historical lineage. All not musical instruments?
attached on one big soundbox are necks The Ukulele Owner’s
for a re-entrant ukulele, a five-string rajão, Manual is the book
and a braguinha. that belongs in every
ukulele player’s
instrument case.
SPREADING THE UKE GOSPEL
Each chapter was the
In addition to expanding and connecting
written by the experts
ukulele communities around the world,
and performers at Ukulele
THE UKULELE OWNER’S MANUAL

Scanlan is a tireless teacher. Nearly 4,000

Ukulele Magazine,
students have taken his online ukulele with topics ranging owner’s
course at Udemy.com. He has also written from common sense
multiple ukulele instruction books, instrument care to fixing manual
including a songbook of 131 original songs rattles and buzzes know your instrument
called The World as I Uke It (self- to a pictorial history protect your investment

of the instrument.
sound your best
published), and the comprehensive How
to Play the Ukulele: A Complete Guide for Book owners can
Beginners (Simon and Schuster). The also download how-
latter is, in his words, about “getting at to videos with step-
one’s own music by exploring how the by-step guidance on
ukulele eases the journey with its many common set-up and VIDEO
DOWNLOADS

never-ending paths.” If there’s anyone that maintenance topics. INCLUDED

knows about the ukulele’s never-ending

paths, Scanlan certainly fits the bill. U
AVAILABLE IN PRINT AND DIGITAL FORMATS AT

store.UkuleleMag.com

UkuleleMag.com 25
Ginger Johnson’s T
he first time Ginger Johnson Johnson has played baritone
played a baritone ukulele, she ukulele in the award-winning

deep baritone
knew it was a good fit—literally. Hula Honeys duo with Robyn
As she puts it, “I’m six feet tall and I have Kneubuhl for some 20 years. In

sound is a big hands, so I feel cramped playing

other ukuleles.” But it was not just the
the ukulele community, she has
also become a sought-after bari-

perfect fit in size that felt right. “It’s a wonderful in- tone ukulele instructor as the

the Hula Honeys

strument and I’m able to do so much Hula Honeys have gained renown.
more with it than I can with other ukule- But without the duo she co-
les,” she says from her home on Maui’s nurtured with talent and creativ-
By Audrey Coleman north shore. “It’s got a soft, deeper ity, Johnson might never have
sound with a little more resonance.” played the baritone ukulele at all.

26 Winter 2024
 PHOTO COURTESY GINGER JOHNSON

UkuleleMag.com 27
SWEET & LOW

The Hula Honeys: Ginger Johnson and Robyn Kneubuhl

PHOTO COURTESY ASHLEY BATZ

Musical Beginnings formed as a headliner at the Royal A music lover with eclectic tastes,
On a FaceTime interview, Johnson sat in Hawaiian Hotel and at venues on the main- Johnson’s father gave his daughter any
the center of a comfy looking couch, land and in Europe. instrument she yearned to play, including
framed by light brown plantation shutters. Johnson and Kneubuhl discovered a flute, banjo, and violin. While Johnson
Through the picture window behind her, common affinity for vintage hula and hapa enjoyed the musical dabbling, she retains
giant heliconia leaves waved in the breeze. haole music as well as songs from Tin Pan a painful memory of being kicked out of
We focused on events in her musical life Alley, vintage jazz, and the Great American seventh grade orchestra because she
that affected her later career and choice Songbook. Soon they were having a blast couldn’t read the music and was playing
of instrument. Weaving through our con- playing their tenor ukuleles while singing by ear. Years later, she acquired enough
versation was the story of the Hula material that would become the hallmark proficiency to follow song sheets and in-
Honeys. of the Hula Honeys. strumental arrangements.
After over a decade working as a In fact, the two women had more in Elementary school programs fueled
backup singer in Los Angeles, Johnson re- common than they initially knew. Both Johnson’s interest in the ukulele. “When
turned to Hawaii around 1992, settling on had grown up in East Honolulu within a we were little kids, the teachers would tell
Maui. She joined a hula class that Kneu- mile of each other. On the radio, Johnson everybody to bring a ukulele for May Day.
buhl was holding at her home in heard music from Hawaii’s pre-statehood And I never saw a house that didn’t have
upcountry Pukalani. A vocalist, hula golden age, performed by singers such as one. If you didn’t have one at your house,
dancer, and hula instructor, Kneubuhl had Genoa Keawe. She even heard the voice of your uncle or auntie did.”
grown up hearing Hawaiian and hapa Kneubuhl’s mother on albums in her fa- Another musical influence was
haole songs her mother, Emma Veary, per- ther’s collection. the swank Hawaiian Village Hotel (later the

28 Winter 2024
Hilton Hawaiian Village) where her photog- Hula Honeys and Tin Pan Alley hits. Eventually, the duo
rapher father had his portrait studio. (He Back to Johnson and Kneubuhl having a began composing original songs.
once did a portrait of Emma Veary.) “I was a blast singing and accompanying them- By using hapa haole songs, they were
precocious little girl and I felt like this was selves on ukulele. After about three taking a risk. “In 1970, when I was getting
my hotel. In my little pigtails, I would wan- months, Johnson reminded Kneubuhl that out of high school, hapa haole music was
der around everywhere I didn’t belong.” they both had families. “I said, ‘You know, really frowned upon,” says Johnson. “We
During these wanderings, she met per- we’re going to have to get a gig to justify had the Hawaiian renaissance. This was
formers such as the Ali’is, backup all this time we’re spending on the couch [considered] the music that had mer-
musicians for Don Ho, who based his playing music.’ She nodded. There’s a say- chandised [Hawaiian culture], so it was
show at the Hawaiian Village. Most vividly ing, ‘Three chords and a job.’ So we got a absolutely shunned.”
she recalls a female trio “in the open air little gig in Paia.” Forty years later, traditional arts and
lobby, wearing beautiful Hawaiian gowns She clearly recalls that first gig. “Every- language programs had taken root, and the
. . . (they played) upright bass, guitar, and body in town showed up and had a great resentment was starting to dissipate.
ukulele. I could see these ladies walking time. Even the bartender was happy.” “Now people . . . realize that some of
around, talking to each other, having a Johnson and Kneubuhl were in tears, how- these songs are terrific. We (Hula Honeys)
good time (between gigs), having fun play- ever, because nobody had really listened. didn’t have any competition doing hapa
ing music, and I thought, I like this.” We’re not going to do this anymore, they haole music when we started—which was
By the time she was a teenager, John- blubbered to each other. great.”
son had replaced her ukulele with a But they did do it again. And again, and In addition to honing their repertoire,
Martin guitar to accompany the folk songs again, finding their niche as a unique mu- Johnson wanted to improve the sound of
she performed “on Saturday nights at a sical hybrid. In each show, Kneubuhl their accompaniment. That’s when the
coffee house around the corner.” Later, performed at least one hula number. They baritone ukulele came into the picture.
she spent about ten years as a backup drew setlists from old-time Hawaiian/hapa “We were both playing tenor ukuleles—the
singer for vocalists in Los Angeles. haole ditties, vintage jazz compositions, same instrument and the same notes. We

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UkuleleMag.com 29
SWEET & LOW

really canceled each other out . . . we just sitting on the airplane for. When they Solo Work
didn’t have enough going on musically. So I find out that they can take this finger- Johnson doesn’t seek out solo gigs. Occasion-
shifted to this other instrument that’s ing and move it up here and on and on ally, however, opportunities find her. For
tuned differently, and it made the chords . . . Everything’s changed.” example, Craig Chee and Sarah Maisel asked
bigger.” At ukulele festivals from Bethesda, her to perform at the Meals for Maui livestream
Grammy-winning folk musicians Cathy Maryland, to Kahului, Maui, Johnson is fundraiser they organized in 2023. And during
Fink and Marcy Marxer caught a Hula Hon- often the only faculty member teaching the pandemic, Johnson initiated her own solo
eys gig at a club in Haiku on Maui’s North baritone. She teaches her “string the- gig on Facebook. She posted videos of herself
Shore. Impressed, they invited the duo to ory” system for mastering chords, performing songs that could help people
perform at events such as the Kennedy Cen- coaxes student fingers up and down the through the stress and feelings of isolation.
ter (2010) and Philadelphia Folk Festival fretboard, and reveals the baritone’s ex- The pandemic posts are still there. Johnson
(2013). pressive potential. sits on her couch, strumming and singing,
The Hula Honeys have recorded three She believes intermediate-level bari- framed by the plantation shutters. Behind her,
albums to date. Life Just Got Sweeter was tone players stand to gain much more the waving heliconia leaves are visible through
produced in 2004. Five years later came Girl from workshops than beginners. “You the picture window. Most of the songs come
Talk, which won the 2010 Na Hoku Hanoh- don’t really need a person to teach you from the first few decades of the 20th century.
ano award for Jazz Album of the Year. Their until you can make a few chords on Some are upbeat, others wistful. One reflects
2013 album, A Hui Hou (Until We Meet your own,” she says. “My job is to get on love, another evokes a season. In one video,
Again), produced by Marxer and Fink, won you up the neck. You start off with a a sound like white noise competes with the
another Na Hoku for Jazz Album of the Year bunch of chords way down at the nut, song’s concluding moments. After her final
in 2014. That third album also includes sev- but you’ve got all this marvelous po- chord, Johnson whirls around towards the win-
eral original songs. tential on the baritone because it has dow and back again with a smile. “It’s raining!
more frets than the tenor, concert, or After so much time alone during the pan-
Teaching Baritone soprano.” Grabbing a uke, Johnson demic, Johnson is grateful to be back at it with
Although performing music remains John- demonstrates her inventive system for the Hula Honeys playing at ukulele festivals,
son’s career priority, she reaps rewards learning chords by shape. She speaks music venues, and private parties. “It’s always
when students make progress in her work- and sings explanations almost gleefully, nice to have a couple of gigs coming up so you
shops. “Sometimes you see the ball drop punctuating them with strums and the have a reason to get together and rehearse,”
and somebody goes, ‘Ohhh!’ That’s worth occasional pluck. she says.  U

Johnson’s first baritone ukulele was all headstock. The instrument is part of John-
mahogany, a wood which, to her, gives the uke son’s growing family of baritones, each
“a very mellow, warm sound that suits the endowed with special qualities, including a
baritone nicely.” It came from Oahu-based Kamaka, a Gibson, a Martin, and a couple of
Ko’olau Ukulele. “They have fancy, expensive, Ponos.
beautiful instruments and also not-so-expen- She favors two kinds of string sets. Her
sive ones sold under the name of Pono and main performance baritone has Aquila Lava
run by John Kitakis . . . I’ve had quite a few Nylgut strings. Playing them feels good, she
ukuleles from him.” says, plus they have visual appeal with the
For performing and teaching, she plays a two top strings being black. On a different uku-
custom baritone crafted by Steve Grimes, a lele, she uses strings from Aquila’s Red series.
well-known luthier on Maui. He made the body “These are a lot softer and very, very easy to
from koa, which, to her ear, has a brighter play. But I have to watch out—if I put the reds
sound than the cedar and maple instrument on another ukulele, it sounds terrible because
she plays at home. “I also wanted koa because they’re just not tough enough and they buzz.”
it’s a local wood and because it’s pretty.” She How would she advise people shopping for
requested “a round neck, like on Gibsons. a baritone ukulele? “It’s the same for baritone
Most ukuleles have a flat neck.” Additionally, or a concert—you want an instrument that
she asked Grimes to inlay a bumblebee on the suits you, that fits well in your hands, has a
fifth fret and a white ginger flower on the nice low action, and stays in tune.”  —AC

30 Winter 2024
FREE LESSONS
 LOW-END
RUMBLE

W D OW N B E T W E E N
I O S H O

5
A STUD
BA
V
R
I
I
N
TO
TA
N U
G
KES
E
E
STORY AND PHOTOS BY
SANDOR NAGYSZALANCZY
I started playing baritone ukulele in a band called the
UkeAholics back in the early 2000s. Because one of my
Over the years, I acquired four other vintage baritone
ukes made by American manufacturers Favilla, Vega, Har-
bandmates played a tenor uke and the other a soprano, I mony, and Mastro. Recently, I wondered how these baris
Listen to Sandor’s reasoned that adding a bari would help give our sound a stacked up against my Martin. Hence, I decided to do a little
baritone comparison
recordings at little more “heft.” I was lucky enough to own a 1950s-era face-off of these five instruments, comparing not only their
UkuleleMag.com/U47 Martin baritone, which was a great instrument to play. sonic qualities, but their construction and playability as well.

32 Winter 2024
MARTIN
B51
First produced in 1960 (selling for $75),
Martin’s style 51 baritone uke wasn’t
the first baritone to come to market,
but it did set the standard for these in-
struments. The construction and finish
of this all-mahogany instrument is stel-
lar. It features a solid mahogany body
and neck, with a rosewood fingerboard
and bridge. The B51 has a 20-inch
scale, with 14 frets clear of its Spanish-
style body. The body is bound both
front and back with the same kind of
dark celluloid binding found on Mar-
tin’s Style 1 ukuleles. Besides the stock
B51 model, Martin also produced small
numbers of fancier baritones on cus-
tom order, some with mahogany bodies
and spruce tops; some with koa bodies.
After 1977, the B51 was only available
as a special-order instrument until it
was discontinued in 1994.

UkuleleMag.com 33
LOW-END
RUMBLE

FAVILLA
B-2
Over the course of its nearly 90-
year history, New York City’s
Favilla Bros. Musical Instrument
Company not only built fine qual-
ity guitars, but several different
sizes and styles of ukuleles as
well. Sometime in the late 1940s,
founding brother John Favilla’s
son Hercules (nicknamed Herk), a
former vaudeville performer, gui-
tar player, and teacher, created
what many consider to be the
world’s first baritone ukulele
(also see the following section on
Vega). Herk designed the baritone
with the goal of simplifying guitar
study for beginners by making a
four-stringed instrument tuned
the same as the first four strings
of a guitar. He made the baritone
a member of the ukulele family
both to distinguish it from the
tenor guitar (which uses a differ-
ent tuning), and because of
Favilla’s long history of manufac-
turing ukes.
All Favilla baritone ukuleles,
including the model B-2 featured
here, sported solid mahogany
bodies and necks, with rosewood
tie-style bridges and rosewood
fretboards with a relatively short
19-inch scale. Appearance-wise,
the B-2 is rather plain, with no
body bindings or headstock in-
lays; just a simple soundhole
rosette, small pearloid fret marker
dots, and a gold “Favilla” com-
pany crest emblazoned on the
headstock.

34 Winter 2024
 VEGA
SOLO-LUTE
Sometime around 1950, the Vega Company of
Boston, Massachusetts, a firm primarily known
as a guitar, mandolin, and banjo manufacturer,
began making baritone ukes at the request of TV
and radio personality and ukulele aficionado
Arthur Godfrey. Evidently Godfrey had asked a
friend, CBS musician Eddie Connors, to design
a larger-bodied, lower-pitched ukulele, with a
body based on the shape of a Martin tenor uke.
Given the similar timeframe of production of
Vega and Favilla baris, it’s possible that Con-
nors, and not Herk Favilla, actually created the
first baritone ukulele.
Vega produced three different Arthur God-
frey baritone models: the Standard; the DeLuxe;
and the oddly named Solo-Lute, featured here.
The latter was their fanciest model, with a body
and neck fashioned from solid mahogany with a
sunburst finish and white plastic binding around
both the front and back of the body. The Solo-
Lute’s neck features a rosewood fretboard
adorned with a series of pearloid fret marker
inlays, both dots and rectangles. At 21 inches,
its scale length is the longest in this group and
is more typical of a tenor guitar or tenor banjo
than it is of a baritone uke. What’s even more
unique is that the Solo-Lute’s neck joins the
body at the 16th fret, which makes it ideal for
playing leads or melodies far up the neck
(Vega’s DeLuxe model shares this feature, as
well as the sunburst finish).

A 1950s advertisement for the Vega Solo-Lute model

UkuleleMag.com 35
LOW-END
RUMBLE

HARMONY
NO. 695
When the Harmony Guitar Company
of Chicago first launched its model
695 baritone uke in the mid/late 1950s,
it was described as, “a super-size in-
strument with warmth of tone and
ease of response that will delight the
exacting player.” Although the quality
of construction doesn’t quite hold up
to the baris made by Martin, Favilla,
or Vega, the No. 695 is quite a decent
instrument with an all-mahogany
body and neck, with a rosewood
bridge and fingerboard. The scale
length is 19-1/4 inches and the width
of the fingerboard at the nut is just
under 1-5/16 inches, the narrowest of
any in this group.
The top of the body is bound with
dark celluloid and the soundhole is
surrounded by a simple three-band
rosette. It’s said that the Harmony
baritones from the 1950s are built a
bit lighter than the ones produced in
the 1960s, some of which have bodies
made from mahogany plywood. It’s
unknown when the model 695 went
out of production, but it was likely
well before Harmony went out of busi-
ness in the mid-1970s.

36 Winter 2024
MASTRO
ISLANDER
#147
I’m sure you’re wondering, why on
earth would I include a plastic instru-
ment in this comparison?
Well, first of all, it was designed by
Mastro Industries founder and master
luthier Mario Maccaferri, whose instru-
ments were always intended for
serious players (with the exception of
Masto’s smallest toy ukes). Mastro
introduced its first baritone uke,
the model 610 TV Pal, in 1964, and then the
model B-1 Islander, featured here, just
a year later. Both were molded from
Dupont Styrene plastic. The Islander’s
neck and cutaway body are a single
piece molded from multi-colored plas-
tics, primarily dark grey with streaks of
red and white. The soundhole is ac-
cented by a thin brown plastic rosette
depicting vines and flowers.
The Islander’s 17-fret neck has an
18-5/16-inch scale, the shortest in this
group. The separately molded finger-
board has pearly marker dots and 12
metal frets clear of the body. There’s
also a “zero fret” next to the nut; a fea-
ture found on all of Maccaferri’s
instruments. The Islander’s bridge is
molded directly into its ivory-colored
plastic top, with a separate plastic
strip serving as the saddle. The silk-
screened headstock features the
Maccaferri shield as well as U.S. patent
numbers granted for the Mastro uke’s
design features.

UkuleleMag.com 37
LOW-END
RUMBLE

WHY CHOOSE A

BARITONE?
Why play a baritone uke
instead of a regular so-
prano, concert, or tenor?
For starters, if you’re a
guitar player, the transi-
tion to a bari can be
relatively easy, as a bari-
tone uke is tuned exactly
the same as the four high-
[KEY PHOTO #BARI10 ] est-pitched strings of a
guitar. Hence, you can
The author’s recording setup
was kept consistent to ensurepac-
lay regular guitar
curate sound comparisons. chords, albeit that some,
such as a “G” in the open
position, will only be part
of the same chord as
played on a six-string
guitar.
Another good reason
to choose a bari uke is
The author’s recording setup was kept consistent to
ensure accurate sound comparisons. that when playing with
higher-pitched ukes the
baritone adds a nice bit of
variety and low end to the
HOW DO THEY SOUND? sound of the ensemble.
In order to make this a fair comparison of the Martin B51 edged out all the others. It Also, if your voice is in
sound quality, I re-strung all five ukuleles has a satisfying “woodiness” without the soprano or alto range,
with the same D’Addario EJ87 titanium sounding boomy or muddy in the lower the lower pitch of a bari-
baritone strings, which are described as frequencies. The Martin was also my fa- tone uke can also help
having a “warm, bright tone.” I was imme- vorite bari for fingerpicking, as it sounded your vocals stand out.
diately impressed as to how much better the most natural to my ears with good While you may opt to
all five sounded with these new strings. (I balance between the strings and a great buy a brand new baritone
think the strings on the Mastro and Favilla nylon guitar–like sound. uke, older instruments
might have been original!) Compared to the Martin, the Favilla have a sound and a cool
After playing the instruments, I de- has a much deeper, warmer sound with vintage vibe that new in-
cided that the best way to get an accurate decent treble, but lacks the Martin’s clar- struments lack. By the
head-to-head comparison was to record ity and presence. The Favilla’s low-mid way, the five companies
myself playing each one in my home stu- tones are dominant and get a bit muddy represented in this article
dio, both strumming and fingerpicking. I when playing certain chords. Finger- aren’t the only ones who
used a metronome to assure that I kept picked, the Favilla is a mixed bag: its produced baritone ukule-
the same tempo for each recording. I then trebles are clear and present, but its lower les in past decades:
aligned the audio files in my computer’s mid tones sound a bit dark. Hence, it’s not Gibson and Regal made
digital audio workstation. This allowed a great uke for this style of playing. some nice quality baris
me to solo any of the baritone tracks and Next in ranking, sound-wise, was the which are scarce today.
switch rapidly between them, listening Vega. It had decent string balance when There are also dozens of
carefully to directly compare their vol- strummed, although it sounded a bit thin other vintage brands out
ume, timbre, and string balance. The first compared to the Martin and Vega, with there, including Mara-
thing I noticed is that each of these bari- less low end and lots of middle-high and thon, Stadium, Lyle,
tones has an overall sound that’s quite treble that often sounded a bit tinny. Giannini, Crestline, and
distinct; no two sound completely alike. There’s a bit of a trebly sheen that Bobby Henshaw, just to
In terms of balance and overall clarity, surmounts the overall sound of the name a few.—SN

38 Winter 2024
 Listen to Sandor’s baritone comparison
recordings at UkuleleMag.com/U47

instrument, giving it a more airy and less good volume and presence, and clear tre- in good tune and I found it quite easy to
woody quality than the Martin. The Vega ble. It lacks just a bit of the low midrange play chords at least up to the fifth fret on
didn’t sound as well balanced as the Mar- that helps the Martin sound so good. If this all five models. Surprisingly, I least pre-
tin when fingerpicked, with the lower instrument were included in a full recorded ferred the feel of the Martin’s neck, which
pitched strings sounding muddier. song (with vocals, bass, etc.) I don’t think felt just a little too thin for my big hands.
I’d characterize the Harmony’s sound anyone would guess that it’s a plastic in- I also had issues with the narrowness of
as abundant in bass and relatively weak in strument. The Mastro also sounded quite the Harmony’s neck, which made my fin-
treble. It probably has the worst sound good when fingerpicked, aside from a cer- gers feel cramped when playing chords
in terms of the balance of strings, espe- tain edgy quality in the initial string attack near the nut.
cially when fingerpicked, with certain (I used my fingernails). Not a deal breaker, Tuning-wise, four of the five baris came
notes jumping out louder than others. but not as natural-sounding as the wood- stock with friction-style ukulele tuners;
However, the Harmony has a bit more vol- bodied baris. only the Vega Solo-Lute had geared-type
ume than any of the other baris. Overall, tuners, which definitely made it easier to
it’s not a terrible choice, especially given fine tune than the others. At some point,
its affordable price on the vintage market. PLAYABILITY someone replaced my Favilla’s friction tun-
If I needed a uke to take outdoors and play Comparing the playability of these five ers with Gotoh UPT 4:1 planetary-geared
around a campfire, it would be a fine pick. baritones was admittedly a bit uneven, as tuners, which also made tuning a breeze.
The biggest surprise of my listening ses- the particular instruments I have were Unless you are concerned with a vintage
sion was the plastic Mastro Islander. While played “as is” without any attempt to op- instrument’s originality, I strongly suggest
it sounded different than any of the other timize their setups, including string height you replace friction tuners with these light-
baris, it’s surprisingly well-balanced, with and intonation. That said, all five played weight planetary gear style units. U

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UkuleleMag.com 39
 SONGS

Rock That Cradle Lucy This old-time fingerpicking tune for baritone ukulele works
as a sweet lullaby or a challenging barn burner
BY AARON KEIM

he baritone ukulele has become my alternate between playing the solo version so use the left-hand chord shapes here as
favorite instrument since I started here as the instrumental break and strum- a starting point. For instance, in the first
playing in a duo with my wife, Nicole. Its ming the chords while I sing. I typically measure, the first two melody notes are
lower pitch and deeper tone are great for use my thumb to play alternating bass already held down by forming the D chord
accompanying singing, and my solos cut patterns on the two lowest strings, which shape. The third note is created by simply
through her strumming patterns on the suits American folk music, while my lifting the finger off the first string. The
tenor ukulele. This baritone arrangement index and middle fingers mainly play the last melody note is on string 2 at the third
of “Rock That Cradle Lucy” uses the second and first strings, respectively. fret, which is already fingered when
thumb and fingers to play the melody and Most of the piece features a picking making the D chord.
accompaniment simultaneously. I learned technique called a pinch, where the thumb Old-time string band music often has
this piece from a 1929 recording by Gid and one of the fingers play simultaneously. a fast tempo because it originates from a
Tanner and His Skillet Lickers. Tanner These are generally quarter notes, dance music tradition. It can take a lot of
(1885–1960) was a fiddler from Georgia although there are some eighth notes in practice to play a piece up to square dance
who interpreted many popular standards certain sections. Note the hammer-on tempo cleanly, so I encourage you to start
of American folk music, including “Old Joe in measure 15, where the right hand picks slow and gradually work up to speed. In
Clark,” “John Henry,” “Soldier’s Joy,” and string 2 before the fretting finger forcefully this case, we are lucky that “Rock That
“Cotton-Eyed Joe.” drops onto the second fret. This causes Cradle Lucy,” when played slowly, seems to
“Rock That Cradle Lucy” is a fiddle two notes to sound from one pluck, a work as a lullaby! U
breakdown but also includes vocals. If handy technique that helps keep up with
you’d like to learn the lyrics, I suggest the fiddlers. For more arrangements like this, check out Aaron’s
listening to the source recording on The melody often comes directly from book 10 Old Time Tunes for Baritone Ukulele,
YouTube. When I perform this song, I the chord shape or a slight alteration of it, available at quietamericanmusic.com.

40 Winter 2024
 Watch Aaron teach and play this song
at UkuleleMag.com/U47

ROCK THAT CRADLE LUCY TRADITIONAL, ARR. AARON KEIM

Baritone tuning (D G B E)

D A7 j D
j
# 4 œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ. œ
& # 4 .. œ œ œ
œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

.2 2 0 0 0 0 2 0

.0
3 2 2 3 3
2 2 0 0 0 0 2 2
B 0 2 2 2 2 0 0

# œ œ
A7 j j G
œ œ
A7 D
j
œ œœ œ œ œ. ˙ œ œ. œ
& # œ œ œ. œ œ œ ..
5

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

2 2 0 0 3 3 .
.
3 2 2 0 2 3 3
2 2 0 0 0 2 2
B 0 0 2 2 0 0 2 0 0

j j
D A7
# œ œ. œ ˙ œ œ. œ ˙
& # œœ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ
9

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙

2 2 2 2 0 0 0 0
3 3 2 2
2 2 2 2 0 0 0 0
B 0 0 0 2 2 2

#
D
œ œ. j œ ˙
A7
œ
D
j
& # œœ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ. œ
13

œ œ œ œ

2 2 2 2 0 2 0
3 2 0 2 3 3
2 2 2 2 2 2 2
B 0 0 0 0 0

UkuleleMag.com 41
 SONGS

Chopsticks
Learn efficient chord
movement with
Benny Chong’s
sophisticated jazz
arrangement for
reentrant baritone
BY NICOLAS GRIZZLE

om Hanks, Hoagy Carmichael, Liz both in a style and on an instrument that this piece. His students learn efficiency of
Phair, Liberace, and thousands hadn’t been invented yet. movement by trial and error. The reward
of others have recorded a version of Chong, known for his efficiency of here is gaining muscle memory, getting
“Chopsticks.” If you’ve ever plunked on a movement and smooth playing, uses his better at forming chords, and, of course,
piano, you’ve probably played it too. But baritone ukulele in reentrant tuning making beautiful music.
even if your main instrument is a reentrant because it allows him to make tight chords The melody is simple, allowing you to
baritone ukulele, odds are you haven’t and keep things jazzy. In contrast, linear focus on the chords and transitions. Chong
played this version arranged by Benny tuning, with a low D string, would result in suggests taking it chord by chord, getting
Chong. more spread-out chord shapes. comfortable with each transition, and
Euphemia Allen (pen name Arthur de There’s no getting around the fact that determining your preferred fingering before
Lulli) couldn’t have predicted the tune’s this is an advanced arrangement. The moving on to the next one.
tremendous staying power when she chords are sophisticated, and you will This is a piece you can keep coming
composed “The Celebrated Chop Waltz” in have to figure out fingerings that work for back to as your ukulele skills progress,
1877. And she certainly wouldn’t have you to play through it. But that’s exactly using it as a benchmark to see how far
predicted Chong’s jazzy ukulele version, what Chong says he likes about teaching you’ve come. U

CHOPSTICKS

Baritone reentrant tuning (d G B E)

Baritone reentrant tuning (d G B E)
A
A
1.
D G 7 D*m11 G7 C
D m11 G7 C G7
6 . j G7 D
C
& 68 .. œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ # œœ&n œœ8 . œœœ œœœœ œœœœ œœœ #œœœ ..œœ œœ
*

. 36 . 36 8 3 3 3 3
.36 3

. 5
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 7 7 7 7 5 7 6 8 68 67 65
. .
5
6 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 7 6 5 5 6 7
B B
*Music notated at pitch.
*Music notated at pitch.
Copyright © 2024 Benny Chong. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Copyright © 2024 Benny Chong. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
42 Winter 2024
 Watch Benny play and teach this song
at UkuleleMag.com/U47
2.

j œ
C G7 C G Am G G9 C G9 C G7 C G7
œœ œœ j j j
& œœ œ œœ œœ œœ œœ
5

nœ œ J J œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ
8 7 8 12 10 8 7 5 3 3 3 5 3 1 1 1 3 1
5 6 5 13 12 10 8 6 5 5 5 6 5 3 3 3 5 3
B

C G Am G G9 C G9 C G7 D G7 C G7 C
œœ œœ œœ œœ j j œ j
œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ # œœ n œœ œœ œ ‰
9

& œœ œœ œœ œœ J J œ œ
0 0 0 0 12 10 8 7 5 3 3 3 5 3 7 7 7 7 5 7 8 7 8
1 1 1 1 13 12 10 8 6 5 5 5 6 5 6 6 6 6 7 6 5 6 5
B

F 9 b 5 F #m6
B
D m11 G7# 5 E m7 E b7 G7 G9 G7 C6

œn œœœ ... œ œ œœœœ œœœ œœœœ œœœœ ‰ œ œœœ œœœ # œœ

14

& œœœ . œ œ # œœœ .. œ œ œœœœ ... œ bœb b œœœœ ... œ œ œ b œ # # œœ

œ .. œ. œ J Œ
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 7 7 7 7 5 7 8 8 8 7 5
1 4 3 2 6 6 3 6 8 8 8 4
2 4 4 3 7 7 4 7 9 9 8 6
B 0 3 2 1 5 5 3 5 7 7 7 4

D m11 G7# 5 E m7 E b7 G7 G9 G7 C6 G7 C6
œ
n œ œ œ œœœ œœ œœœ œœœœ ‰ œœœœ œœœœ ‰ œœœ
18

& n œœœ . œ œ # œ œœ .. œ œ œœœœ .. œ œ b bb œœœœ ... œ œ œœœ ... œ œœ œ

œ .. œ. . ‰ ‰
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 7 7 7 7 5 7 8 7 8 12
1 4 3 2 6 6 3 6 8 6 8 10
2 4 4 3 7 7 4 7 9 7 9 12
B 0 3 2 1 5 5 3 5 7 5 7 10

G7# 5 E b7
j
D m7 G7 E m7 D m7 G9 C maj7 Am C6
œœœ œœ œœœ j j j ‰ œœœ
œ œ b b œœœ . œ
22

& œ œœ œ # œœœ n œœœœ .. œ œœœœ ... œ œœ . œ œ œ

. b œ .. n œœ .. œœœ .. œ œ œœ
œ
10 8 7 5 3 3 3 5 3 1 1 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 12
10 6 6 4 3 2 1 0 1 1 10
10 7 7 4 4 3 2 2 4 2 12
B 10 7 5 3 2 1 0 0 10

G 7F #m11
1.
7 b C
B 9 D EGm7 Aj9 G7 D
j j
D m7 G7 G9 G7 C6 G7 C6
n œœ œ œ œj œœ œ œ œœ œ# œœ .. nœœœ . œ œ œœœ
œœ œœœ œœ œœœœ œœœ œœ œœj # œœ œ œ œ
5

œœ œœ & œœ œœœ œœœœ ‰ œœœœ œ

œœ Œ
œ
26

œ œœ # # œœœ # œœœ
b n œœœ ... n # œœœ ... œ .. œ œœ œ ‰ J
3 3 3 3 3 7 7 7 7 5 7 8 8 8 7 5 . 7 7 7 7
. 67
10 8 7 5 3 3 3 5 3 5 7 8 7 8
5 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 7 6 5 5 5 6 7
10 6 5 4 3 2 6 3 6 8 6 8
10 7 6 6 3 4 7 4 7 9 7 9
B 10 7 4 4 2 2 5 5 3 5 7 5 7

UkuleleMag.com 43
 LESSONS

Big Ideas Drawing inspiration from

the baritone uke’s larger sound
and deeper tuning
BY SARAH MAISEL

aritone ukulele rarely gets an oppor- within the frets. If you find that you have ukulele. However, I feel that in the end
tunity to shine. For example, most larger hands, this size might be easier for the baritone uke is its own instrument
festivals and workshops are geared you to play. More space requires a bit and should be treated as such. When you
toward the standard-tuned soprano, more stretching to reach some of your pair a standard uke with a baritone, the
concert, and tenor instruments. But it’s notes, but that usually gets easier with harmonies and timbre really shine
becoming more popular, and having a practice over time. together. I feel you have to be a lot more
baritone or bari-tuned uke in your musical Baritone tuning is different than stan- careful when pairing an ukulele with a
toolbox can give you inspiration. In this dard tuning. Traditional baritone is linear guitar, as the guitar can really take over
lesson, I’ll explore what makes this versa- D-G-B-E (the G on the baritone is the in volume.
tile instrument so special and give some same found in low-G standard tuning). Reentrant baritone tuning is also
examples of what you can do with it both These deeper notes give the baritone gaining popularity. This is the same
as a solo instrument and in a duet or that rich sound, and the larger body D-G-B-E tuning, but with a high D string.
group setting. gives substantially more sustain than (Keep in mind that you will need a
even a tenor size uke. different string for the high D. You can’t
SIZE AND TUNING Some will write off the baritone as just just tune up your low D string, as this
The baritone is the largest member of the a guitar missing two strings, but I disagree. could damage your instrument.)
ukulele family. The scale of the neck is Yes, it has the same tuning as the first four This tuning may seem new, but it was
usually 19–20 inches. This is approxi- strings of a guitar, and you can use some actually around in the 1950s and ’60s. At
mately three inches longer than a guitar techniques, obviously. Those who that time, it was sometimes referred to as
standard tenor neck. One benefit to this started with guitar will also often have an tenor tuning, since many tenor ukuleles
larger scale is more space for your fingers easier time transitioning to baritone were tuned this way. If you listen to the

44 Winter 2024
 Watch Sarah teach this lesson
at UkuleleMag.com/U47

Lyle Ritz jazz album How Bout Uke, you’ll on your tenor. On the other side, there are To get that Hawaiian sound, as
hear that reentrant baritone tuning. The also string sets out there that will allow mentioned, we can take a lick commonly
beautiful thing about this tuning is that it you to tune your baritone to standard used as a Hawaiian vamp and try it out on
still has that Hawaiian sound, and you can tuning. Those should also be sized reentrant baritone. This can almost produce
utilize the high D string in the same way appropriately. a slack-key effect, as it sounds similar to
you would a high G. guitar. Example 1 shows two vamps, one
Recently, more options have been SAME BUT DIFFERENT for reentrant baritone and the other for
coming out for string sets that allow you The number system is a great way to get linear, with a similar feel. Remember that
to tune a tenor ukulele to reentrant bari- a better understanding of chords, how you are now in the key of G in these exam-
tone tuning. This is a lovely way to reset progressions are made, and more. If ples, instead of C.
your musical palate and give you a you’ve ever been nervous about trying When Craig and I first started playing
moment to rethink ideas musically. When another tuning, baritone tuning (either reentrant baritone, we would think in
my partner, Craig Chee, and I first started high- or low-D) works great with the numbers. He would be playing standard-
using reentrant baritone tuning on our number system. tuned ukulele thinking in the key of C,
tenor ukuleles, we discovered that it Let’s say you have a I–vi–IV–V progres- whereas I would play the reentrant bari-
inspired song ideas we might not have sion for your standard-tuned ukulele in tone, thinking in the key of G (Example 2).
thought of in standard tuning. Even the key of C. If you were to play this This meant that I did not need to re-learn
playing songs we already knew and loved p ro g re s s i o n w i t h t h e e x a c t s a m e my chords, since I could think in my stan-
in a new tuning brought out a different fingering, but different tuning, it would dard shapes and just use the Roman
sound and take on those songs. still sound lovely. Because baritone numeral system. This approach may make
Make sure when purchasing these tuning is a fifth away from standard, transitioning over to baritone easy at first,
strings that they are baritone (or reen- instead of playing in the key of C you but you will inevitably want to really learn
trant baritone) for a tenor size instrument, would actually be playing in the key of G the fretboard in that tuning to make the
as standard baritone strings will be floppy with your new tuning. most of it.

Example 1
3

q q =q e

œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œœ
Linear baritone tuning Reentrant baritone tuning

#4
& 4 #œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ œœ
œ
Û Û œœ Û Û
3 3 3 3

Û Û Û Û
2 3 3 2 3 3
2 3 3 2 3 3 1 3 0 2 3 2 3 1 0
0 0
B 0 0 0 0 0

Example 2
Chords in standard reentrant tuning Chords in baritone tuning

G Em Am D7 G Em Am D7
0132 0321 2000 1112 0003 2 000 2310 0213

# œœœ œ œœ œœ œœ
& œœœœ œœœœ œœ
œœ œ
œœ
œ œœ œœ œœ
I vi ii V I vi ii V
2 2 0 3 3 0 0 2
3 3 0 2 0 0 1 1
2 4 0 2 0 0 2 2
0 0 2 2 0 2 2 0

Example 3 Example 4
UkuleleMag.com 45
C F G7 C G7 C F C G7 C
 Watch Sarah teach this lesson
LESSONS
Example 1 at UkuleleMag.com/U47
3

q q =q e

œ œ œ œ Û Û #œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œœ
Linear baritone tuning Reentrant baritone tuning

#
&If you44are# œlucky
œ enough
œ œ œ toœhave
n œ aœ chords œœ
œ
to help solidify the changes. œœ Û Û
playing partner, have
3 one of
3 you play If you don’t have someone to play 3 FOR 3
YOUR LISTENING PLEASURE
baritone for a few songs. Even with with, these examples are still great to Looking for inspiring baritone players? Take some
the same standard chords played try out and add to your own baritone time to check out some folks that both Craig and I

Û Û Û Û
2 3 3 2 3 3
together on both
2 3 instruments,
3 2 3 3 you’ll1 3 playing. 0 2 3 admire
2 3 (playlist 1 available at UkuleleMag.com/U47).
0
hear a richer sound. You can take 0 Many of them also teach or have 0 resources
created
B 0 0 0 0 0
that a step further and try harmo- TRY IT OUT for baritone ukulele, so make sure to visit their
nizing lines or arpeggiations, as Even if you don’t have a traditional websites for more information. Also note that this is
Example 2
shown in Examples 3–4, similar to baritone size uke, allowing yourself a super short list, and there are many more baritone
Chords in standard reentrant tuning Chords in baritone tuning
what Craig and I do when we perform. to try out baritone tuning on an old players out there.
With Gthe linear baritone,
Em don’t A mtenor you may Dhave
7 lying aroundG can E m CHONG, “THE A
BENNY
m D7
0132 0321 2000 1112 0003 2 000 2NEARNESS
310 OF YOU”0213
discount adding in a bass line when be a great way to re-inspire your JAMES HILL, “IT HAD TO BE YOU”
GINGER JOHNSON, “SILHOUETTE HULA”

œ
playing solo or with a standard-tuned playing. And vocalists might discover
# œœ œœœ œœ
MARCY MARXER, “MORGAN MEGAN”

& œœœœ œœœœ œœ œœœ œœ œœ

ukulele. It can be fun to add this in a they prefer the baritone sound under
œœ
GERALD ROSS, “IN A MELLOW TONE”

œœ œ œ œ
simple doo-wop progression as it their voices. If you’ve ever been bari- HALEHAKU SEABURY, “A OIA”
adds some fullness to your arrange- curious, I highly recommend giving it LIL REV, “CAROLINE”
PHIL DOLEMAN, “8 MORE MILES TO LOUISVILLE”
ment. In IExample 5, notice
vi how we iia try. You never V know how thisI new AARONvi KEIM, “DUCK RIVER/SAIL
ii AWAY LADIES”
V
2 around with2single notes 0tuning might inspire
are moving 3 your ear. 3 KAHAUANU
0 LAKE, “KAHAKULOA”
0 2
3 D string, but3 playing full 0
on our low 2 0 U 0 1 1
2 4 0 2 0 0 2 2
0 0 2 2 0 2 2 0

Example 3 Example 4

C F G7 C G7 C F C G7 C

œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœœ œ œœœœ œ ˙˙˙ œœœ œ œ œ œœœ œ œœœ œ œ ˙

standard reentrant

& œœ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œœœ œ œœœœ ˙˙˙

3 2 0 0 2 3 2 0 2 3 0 3 2 3
0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0
0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 2 2 0
B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ ˙
baritone linear

& œœœ œ ˙˙˙ œœ

œ œœ œœ ˙˙

0 3 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 3 0 1 0
1 3 0 1 0 3 1 3 1 1 3 0 1
0 0 0 0 0 0
2 2 0 2 2 2

Example 5
3

q q =q e
G Em Am D7 G Em Am D7
3211 2 000 2310 0213 3211 2 000 2310 0213

# œœ œœ œ œœ œœ œœ œ œœ
& .. œ œœ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œœœ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œœœ œ œ œ œœ œ œ ..

. 3 0 0 2 3 0 0 2 .
.5 .
3 0 1 1 1 1 3 0 1 1 1 1
4 0 0 2 2 4 0 0 2 2
5 5 4 2 2 2 2 2 0 0 0 4 5 5 5 4 2 2 2 2 2 0 0 0 4

46 Winter 2024
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AMY KUCHARIK’S
SONGWRITING MAGIC
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 LESSONS

12 Bars, 1 Riff
Exploring different blues forms using the same pentatonic lick BY DANIEL WARD

lues has shaped the sound- you are just a beginner. The simplicity
scape of modern music and has of the chord changes, combined with
roots that stretch deep into American the pentatonic (five-note) scale,
history. Evolving over a long period in makes the blues an ideal way to
the U.S., the blues originated as a explore your musical creativity.
Black American art form. Today, its In this lesson, we’ll look at specific
modern version blends elements from elements key to the sound of three
over 100 years of various musical different styles and use a simple
traditions. pentatonic melody lick that fits over
There are so many styles of blues the harmonies in each example. The
today that it can be overwhelming to magic comes from hearing how
know where to start a musical journey the same melody changes as the
in this style, let alone figuring out how chords shift underneath. This is a basic
it works on the ukulele. But playing music theory lesson and an ear-training
blues on any instrument is a joy, and exercise at the same time, but without
it’s not hard to jump in right away the usual hard work! All you need to do
and make some great sounds even if is play through it and listen. Figure 1

48 Winter 2024
 Watch Daniel teach this lesson
at UkuleleMag.com/U47

THE BASIC FORM

Let’s jump right in with Example 1—a to loop it over and over before landing on starts on beat 3 in the third measure of each
Chicago-style 12-bar blues that uses all the final A7 chord. This type of blues cycles line and lands on the next chord change. It
dominant seventh chords. It’s one of the between dominant sevenths, which pull may seem strange to use a minor scale over
most popular and familiar blues styles. toward the next chord change. The result is chords that aren’t all minor, but that’s the
Everyone from B.B. King to Stevie Ray a very twangy sound that comes from the magic of the five-note scale—it skips over
Vaughan has recorded songs based on this constant key changes, but it always lands notes that wouldn’t work as well.
structure. I’ll keep the 12-bar (plus one back at the beginning. It’s a form and sound The melody comes in the same place
measure) format for each example so that that gets into your head quickly, and you every time and uses the same notes for
the harmonic changes are as clear as soon can just feel where the chords change. each example. This could get repetitive, but
possible. Once you’re comfortable with the play through and listen to how the chord
Start by just playing the chords—don’t chords, try adding the melody lick. Based changes enhance the simple pentatonic
worry about the melody yet. Only three on the A minor pentatonic scale (A C D E G) scale, and how the melody pulls toward
chords make up the entire form, so feel free as shown in open position in Figure 1, it each chord change.

Example 1: Chicago-Style Blues

A7 D7 A7
0 1 00 2030 0 1 00

& 44 À À À À À À À À À À œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

3 0 3 0
3 0 3
2 0 4 2 0
B
D7 A7
2030 0 1 00

&À À À À À À À À À À œ œ œ œ
5

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

3 0 3 0
3 0 3
2 0 4 2 0
B
E7 D7 A7 E7 A7
13 0 4 2030 0 1 00 13 0 4 0 1 00


&À À À À À À À À À À œ œ œ œ œ œ |
9

œ œ œ œ œ œ

3 0 3 0
3 0 3
2 0 4 2 0
B

UkuleleMag.com 49
Example 2: Minor Blues
 2 0 4 2 0
B
D7 A7
2030 0 1 00

LESSONS

&À À À À À À À À À À œ œ œ œ
5

œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ
THE MINOR VARIATION
Example 2 is the same 12-bar form but
3 0 3 0
D minor
uses minor chords. Minor blues has a
3 0 3
special sound that pulls at the heartstrings. 2 0 4 2 0
B notice that the E chord is still a domi-
You’ll
nant seventh. This is quite common in a
E7 D7 A7 E7 A7
minor
13 0 4 key and adds some2 0 3spice,
0 but you 0 1 00 13 0 4 0 1 00


can alternatively play it as a minor chord.
Once again, get used to playing through

&À À À À À À À À À À œ œ œ œ œ œ |
9

œ
the chords first, then add the melody lick.
It’s the same notes and rhythm, but notice
how different the sound is when you land
œ œ œ œ œ
on the next chord. It takes a little time to
start using the scale to improvise your own 3 0 3 0
melodies, but it’s easy to sound good when 3 0 3
2 0 4 2 0
B use your ear and explore.
you

Example 2: Minor Blues

Am Dm Am
2000 2310 2000

& 44 À À À À À À À À À À œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

3 0 3 0
3 0 3
2 0 4 2 0
B
Dm Am
2310 2000

&À À À À À À À À À À œ œ œ œ
5

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

3 0 3 0
3 0 3
2 0 4 2 0
B

E7
13 0 4
D m
2310
A m
2000
A m
2000


&À À À À À À À À À À œ œ œ œ œ œ |
9

œ œ œ œ œ œ
3 0 3 0
3 0 3
2 0 4 2 0
B

Example 3: Western Swing–Style Blues

C F C
0003 2010 0003
50 Winter 2024
 Watch Daniel teach this lesson
at UkuleleMag.com/U47

WESTERN SWING BLUES In this case, we have a new blues using progressions without hitting any sour
Now let’s look at what’s called a major just C, F, and G7. The chords are in notes. There’s a lot of music theory
blues (Example 3). This sound is really the same places as before, but we’re in the behind why it works so well, but for now,
different from the two previous examples. relative major key. The notes of the penta- just use it and listen. You can, of course,
It’s very popular with country swing tonic scale are the same for A minor (A C D use the scale to improvise your own melo-
styles but can be used in any format that E G) and C major (C D E G A). Play through dies, and I encourage you to do so, using
follows this chord progression. I made the the whole form, then add the melody lick. this lesson as a template. The blues is a
E 7 to this sound inD
connection
13 0 4
college
m
2310
when A
It’s exactly
m
2000
the same again, in the same A
fantastic way to explore
m your own musical
2000
I learned a few songs by Bob Wills & His place in the form, but the sound here is so abilities. It’s a forgiving style, and you


Texas Playboys. My ears nearly popped different! don’t have to be an amazing player to

&À À À À À À À À À À œ œ œ œ œ œ |
when
9 I heard the same scale played over The magic of the pentatonic scale is sound great and find rich music in its
all major chords!
œ œ œ œ œ œ
that it works over several different chord simple melodies. U

3 0 3 0
3 0 3
2 0 4 2 0
B

Example 3: Western Swing–Style Blues

C F C
0003 2010 0003

& 44 À À À À À À À À À À œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ
3 0 3 0
3 0 3
2 0 4 2 0
B
F C
2010 0003

&À À À À À À À À À À œ œ œ œ
5

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

3 0 3 0
3 0 3
2 0 4 2 0
B

G7 F C G7 C
0213 2010 0003 0213 0003


&À À À À À À À À À À œ œ œ œ œ œ |
9

œ œ œ œ œ œ
3 0 3 0
3 0 3
2 0 4 2 0
B

UkuleleMag.com 51
 NEW GEAR

BARI
BONANZA
A roundup of 5 newer baritone ukuleles BY BILL LEIGH

eady to try a ukulele that’s bigger and

boomier? Grab a baritone, the big boy
of the ukulele family. These instruments proj-
ect deep, toasty tones from their bigger,
heftier bodies. Indeed, it’s that big body that
puts the “tone” in baritone.
We are fully entering the baritone zone
with this roundup of five newer bari ukes. Our
selection includes four instruments in the
$400–$500 range from Kala, Lanikai, Magic
Fluke, and Ohana, plus one newsworthy out-
lier: the KLOS Full Carbon Baritone, which is
available for $1,399.
Even though many of these instruments
have a similar price point, each has a unique
sound all its own. Each has individual quali-
ties that make it stand out as well. Every
instrument we reviewed was quite beautiful in
its own way, both physically and sonically,
with distinct aesthetic touches and its own
signature sonic thumbprint.
Since these are baritone ukes, there are a
couple of notable construction differences
from standard ukes to consider. First, because
these instruments have longer necks, some
have truss rods, which make for easy neck ad-
justments. And if stage-ready, amplified
performance is important to you, be sure to
look for instruments with electronics and
strap buttons.
Now, without further ado, let’s dive into
the deep end of the ukulele pool.

Special thanks to Paul Sloan for his help, and to Helen Parker Leigh
for enduring a living room buried in baritones.

52 Winter 2024
 Watch Bill demo these ukes
at UkuleleMag.com/U47

KALA CONTOUR ALL SOLID

GLOSS ACACIA (KA-CT-SA-BG)
Kala has made baritones for quite a while,
and always includes a baritone model in its
higher-end ukulele series. The Contour series
is no exception. On the lower bout, these
SPECS
ukes have a contoured edge for arm comfort
BODY Solid acacia top, back,
and a more curvaceous, rounded look than
and sides; rosewood binding; other Kala instruments. The body wood, aca-
maple and rosewood “eclipse”
rosette; gloss finish cia, is related to koa, and has a similar sound
NECK Mahogany with satin and figuring. Inside the neck is a truss rod for
finish; 19-fret ebony fingerboard
(14 frets to the body); slotted easy adjustments.
headstock
OTHER Ox bone nut and
saddle; Aquila Super Nylgut
LOOKS
strings with wound D and G; This Kala baritone showcases its primary
Contour series deluxe gig bag
included; electronics and strap tonewood’s natural beauty, with shimmering
buttons can be custom ordered
figuring on the top and graceful lines of grain
MADE IN China
on the back and sides (it’s also available in
PRICE $499 street
mahogany and spruce/rosewood). Contrast-
kalabrand.com
ing dark rosewood completes the visual
package, both in the binding and the two-
tone maple and rosewood rosette. Atop the
satin finished mahogany neck, the ebony fin-
gerboard has a smoky appearance that’s
punctuated with oval pearloid position mark-
ers. The gloss-finished mahogany headstock,
topped with an ebony plate, is slotted and
has stylish tri-color open tuning machines.

FEEL
The Kala felt solidly built. With its rounded
body shape and bulbous lower bout, the instru-
ment fit comfortably resting on either thigh or
held to my chest when standing. The natural-
feeling satin finish on the back of the neck
made for comfortable position shifting. Its ex-
pert fret finishing made traversing the 14 frets
to the neck joint a smooth operation.

SOUND
Strummed, the Kala sounded rich, with pro-
nounced low-mids, sparkling highs, and
lovely overtones. It has a beautiful voice
overall, with excellent sustain. Fingerpicked
parts sounded inspirational and inviting, and
single-note lines were punchy and true.

CONCLUSION
A gorgeous instrument with a sturdy build
and a rich acoustic sound.

UkuleleMag.com 53
 NEW GEAR

KLOS FULL CARBON

Carbon fiber is an incredibly strong, light-
weight material combining a durable woven
fabric with a powerful epoxy. It’s used to
build tennis rackets, golf clubs, airplane
and car parts, and occasionally, ukuleles.
The KLOS full carbon baritone ukulele is
SPECS
made entirely of this rugged composite. BODY One-piece black
bilateral carbon fiber weave
body and neck
LOOKS NECK Carbon fiber; 20-fret
Over the decades, I admit I’ve developed a composite ebony fingerboard
(15 frets to the body)
clear aesthetic bias towards instruments
OTHER GraphTech NuBone
made of beautiful wood. But this carbon fiber XB nut and saddle; D’Addario
creation from KLOS looks unreal. The body EJ88B Nyltech strings with
wound D and G; gig bag;
and neck are made of a single piece of carbon KLOS electronics with preamp
and tuner
fiber weave, which is made in China (the in-
MADE IN USA, using
struments are assembled in the U.S.). It not international parts
only has a cool tweed appearance but also PRICE $1,539 ($1,399 without
electronics)
resists damage and isn’t affected by weather,
klosguitars.com
so it won’t bend or warp. Right away, I was
impressed with the Full Carbon’s looks and
construction.

FEEL
The next impression I got was of an instru-
ment that’s incredibly solid and dependable.
Two opposing ideas existed at once as I
reconciled the instrument’s fancy build and
higher price tag with the fact that it’s much
more resistant to damage and probably re-
quires less precious handling than wood
instruments that don’t cost as much. The
strings have a little tension to them and,
together with the body and neck reso-
nance, deliver a feeling of connection to the
music.

SOUND
Acoustically, the KLOS blooms with a rich,
broad sound. Strummed and fingerpicked
chords blossomed into lush overtones with
ample sustain. It’s consistent throughout
the fingerboard; every fret sings true.
Plugged in, the KLOS amplified well with a
balanced sound, but the electronics came
just short of capturing the instrument’s
lush acoustic richness and boom. The pre-
amp comes with a single knob for tone
adjustments and a nifty, easy-to-read tuner.

CONCLUSION
A standout instrument that really stands
out, especially acoustically.

54 Winter 2024
 Watch Bill demo these ukes
at UkuleleMag.com/U47

LANIKAI QUILTED MAPLE

Lanikai has been making baritone ukuleles
since the brand’s beginning over 20 years ago.
This year the company added baritones to its
Quilted Maple series, which comes in red,
blue, or black stain. Designed to be reliable,
stage-ready, and appealing to guitarists, these
SPECS
instruments include truss rods for easy ad-
BODY Quilted maple top, back,
justment, wider string spacing at the nut for
and sides; venetian cutaway; fretting hand comfort, strap buttons, a Graph-
walnut bridge; black multi-ply
binding; abalone rosette Tech NuBone nut and saddle for a brighter
NECK Mahogany; 18-fret sound, and a Fishman Kula preamp and tuner
rosewood fingerboard (14 frets
to the body); slotted headstock; with a 3-band EQ.
Grover nickel open-geared
tuners; adjustable truss rod
OTHER GraphTech NuBone
LOOKS
XB nut and saddle; D’Addario Simultaneously flashy and conservative, the
EJ88B strings with wound D
and G; Lanikai soft-shell case; Lanikai’s quilted maple body features velvety
Fishman Kula preamp and tuner;
two chrome strap buttons figuring on the top, back, and sides. The body
MADE IN China is trimmed in black multi-ply binding and
PRICE $459 street topped with an abalone rosette around the
lanikaiukuleles.com soundhole. Our review instrument, with its
red stain and dynamic grain pattern, looked
like wine-colored satin sheets. A rosewood
bridge and a rosewood fingerboard atop a ma-
hogany neck keep things aesthetically
grounded. The Lanikai is equipped with strap
buttons and a pickup with a built-in tuner.

FEEL
The D’Addario strings are supple and lend
themselves to both strumming and fingerstyle
techniques. Single lines plucked with the fleshy
part of the thumb had a plush, bottom-y tone.

SOUND
Fingerstyle playing on the Lanikai sounded
both pretty and full, with rounded lows and
warm over tones. Strumming sounded
luscious and even across the strings. Though
it has ample oomph, it’s not super big and
boomy acoustically. Plugged in, however, it
sounded even better, courtesy of the Fishman
pickup. The 3-band EQ really brings out the
boom when you boost the lows and offers
truly flexible tone shaping options.

CONCLUSION
A versatile, robust baritone uke with a quality
pickup that’s an all-around great value.

UkuleleMag.com 55
 NEW GEAR

MAGIC FLUKE BARITONE

Magic Fluke takes an uncommon approach to ukulele
construction. Its goal is to offer an affordable U.S.-made
instrument, employing local people and using local ma-
terials. To achieve that, the company bypasses the
extensive and expensive labor involved in forming, glu-
ing, sanding, and finishing wooden instrument bodies.
Instead, it creates compact instruments that combine
locally sourced wood tops and necks with resonant
injection-molded thermoplastic bodies—not unlike the
round-back guitar bodies pioneered by Ovation in
SPECS
the 1970s. These bodies are stable, consistent, and durable.
BODY Injection-molded
thermoplastic body; three-ply
LOOKS laminated wood top; injection-
molded polycarbonate clip-lock
Like all Fluke ukuleles, the Fluke baritone has a tapered bridge

body shape that looks like a slim lute with an abruptly NECK Black walnut; 19-fret
walnut fingerboard (14 frets to
flat bottom. That’s actually a pretty hip feature, because the body); slotted headstock;
Grover 6B friction tuners
it means that the Fluke can stand up on its own. (It would
OTHER Molded polycarbonate
be easy to undersell how cool this is.) Fluke baritones nut; GraphTech NuBone saddle;
are built to order with various upgrade options, includ- Aquila Sugar baritone strings
with wound D and G; gig bag
ing a solid spruce or koa top, side fret markers, Pegheds available ($49)

internally geared tuners, and a choice of three U.S.-made MADE IN USA

pickup systems, including two from K&K and a battery- PRICE $399

free preamp and pickup from Mi-Si Electronics. Our test magicfluke.com

instrument’s top was made of a three-ply laminate of

black walnut (an optional $5 upgrade), with a matching
neck and fingerboard.

FEEL
Tipping the scales at around one pound, the Fluke is a
featherweight. Its lack of heft makes it feel a little insub-
stantial, but its slender frame and compact profile make
it appealing to pack on a road trip. The neck has a flat
D-shape and felt natural under my hand. No body cut-
away is needed to reach the furthest frets; the tapered
body simply doesn’t get in the way. To help produce big
baritone tones from a relatively small body, Fluke chose
Aquila Sugar strings, made from a relatively new plastic
material derived from sugar cane.

SOUND
The Fluke is articulate and punchy whether strummed
or plucked. It has a tonal sweet spot in the mids, though
its lows are not as prominent. It has decent sustain, and
the strings can produce a nice vibrato on single-note
runs. Strummed and fingerpicked chords rang sweetly
but didn’t quite bloom into the room. It’s fun to play
acoustically, but I would consider one of the optional
pickup systems for performances beyond a home
hootenanny or a casual campfire strum.

CONCLUSION
A compact, travel-ready instrument that’s made in the
U.S., featuring unusual construction and a modest bari-
tone voice.

56 Winter 2024
 Watch Bill demo these ukes
at UkuleleMag.com/U47

OHANA BK-50G
Founded by Louis Wu in 2006, Ohana is a
family-owned business based in Long Beach,
California, that offers handcrafted factory
models made in China, as well as U.S.-made
instruments from the Ohana Custom Shop.
They’ve been making baritones for about a
SPECS
decade, and the handsome Ohana BK-50G has
BODY Solid cedar top; solid
rosewood back and sides; been around for about half that time.
mahogany binding; pearloid
rosette; pearloid purfling;
gloss finish LOOKS
NECK Mahogany neck and At first impression, the Ohana BK-50G looks
headstock; 20-fret ovangkol
fingerboard (14 frets to like a fancy acoustic guitar’s modest kid
the body); Grover chrome
open-geared tuners; pearloid brother. Its reddish-brown solid cedar top
fret position markers; pearloid looks like burnt sienna with a golden-hour
purfling on the headstock
hue, and it has a hint of the pleasing aroma of
OTHER Bone nut and saddle;
Aquila B and E strings with your grandma’s cedar sweater chest. The
wound D’Addario D and G
strings; gig bag, soft case, or solid rosewood of the shapely sides and
hard case available separately
nearly flat back is rich and dark, with long,
MADE IN China
black grain lines running softly across the
PRICE $509 street
length of the body. Mahogany binding, pearl-
ohana-music.com
oid purfling, and a matching pearloid rosette
dress up the look. Rounding out the ensem-
ble are the neck and headstock, which are
crafted of elegant mahogany.

FEEL
The Ohana’s gloss finish felt welcoming under
the fingertips, though it was also welcoming
to fingerprints. In contrast, the ovangkol fin-
gerboard has a natural, almost unfinished
feel. The body felt comfortable when held for
both strumming and fingerpicking, and when
balanced on either leg when seated. The
strings felt tight and springy, and particularly
lively when playing fingerstyle.

SOUND
The Ohana offered a round sound with de-
cent sustain and pretty overtones. It lacked
some of the oomph that I’ve come to expect
from baritones, but moving my strumming
hand yielded a notable range in tones, getting
ever rounder and beefier as I strummed up
over the neck. Individual chord tones rang
clear and blended nicely with both finger-
style and strumming, and single-note runs
were glassy and crystalline.

CONCLUSION
A classy looking baritone ukulele with a good,
solid sound.

UkuleleMag.com 57
 A long neck soprano made from Hawaiian koa with a mahogany neck
UKE MAKERS and ziricote fingerboard and headplate.

Au Naturel
The simple elegance of Yoshiro Naoki’s
jewelry-inspired instruments
BY NICOLAS GRIZZLE

ould you wear a ukulele like a necklace? Maybe

style an outfit around the instrument? If it is a
Naturel ukulele made by Yoshiro Naoki, that might be
an appropriate mindset. A jeweler for nearly 20 years
before he began making ukuleles in 2002, Naoki taps
into his experience with precious metals and gems to
craft exquisite ukuleles with a unique style. “I aim to
create a ukulele that is not only a musical instrument,
but a piece of jewelry,” he says.
Unlike many uke makers, Naoki didn’t start with
guitars, and he doesn’t make any other instruments.
“I have been making only ukuleles since the begin-
ning,” he says, but concedes, “I have made a kalimba
for fun.” At his shop located in Kitanagoya, Japan,
about 100 miles east of Osaka, he makes ten to 15
ukuleles per year using not only traditional ukulele
woods like koa and mango, but also Japanese woods
that bring unique sonic and visual characteristics.
I first encountered Naturel ukuleles at the NAMM
musical instrument trade show earlier this year. On a
hectic show floor, overstimulated by loud noise,
bright lights, and tons and tons of people, these uku-
leles caught my eye. Their elegant, simple beauty was
a wash of calm. The logo of a hummingbird in mid-
flight, inlaid with abalone, looked like a photo taken
with an incredibly high shutter speed—a reminder
that even at its most rapid pace, life is still just a se-
ries of ephemeral moments.
It was too loud to properly hear the instruments
during that first encounter, so after leaving the chaos
of the convention center I looked them up online
to find out what they sounded like. I was surprised to
learn from video demos that they somehow sounded
even better than they looked. I had to know more
about the company and the luthier behind these
instruments.
I was able to get in touch with Naoki through so-
cial media, and he agreed to an interview via email.
Our language barrier proved to be a non-issue, as he
gracefully found a way to translate for both of us.

58 Winter 2024
Yoshiro Naoki

UkuleleMag.com 59
 Naoki places inlay detail on a jindai cedar–top ukulele.

UKE MAKERS

Tell me about your ukuleles. What makes

them special or different from others?
I am not particular about the structure of
a ukulele as a musical instrument, but I
have experience designing jewelry, so the
softness of the ukulele body form and
the freedom of shape are important for me
to design a ukulele that feels comfortable to
play. I am not good at producing a lot of
the same thing, so this may be an advan-
tage that sets me apart from other
companies.
Another example is the cutaway de-
sign. The asymmetrical cutaway design is
a balanced form that creates beauty and
individuality. Many of my soprano models
are also larger at the bottom of the body.

How would you describe the sound of

your instruments?
People often say that my ukuleles have a
soft and gentle tone. I try to make my uku-
leles in such a way that the individuality of
the materials is brought out in the sound.

What size ukuleles do you make? had always been a dream of mine. That was for centuries, develops a dense grain, a
We make mostly concert and soprano the beginning of my encounter with the unique luster, and a deep, rich hue. There
sizes, and two or three tenors per year. ukulele and how I started making them. are many alluring qualities to this wood.
When used for musical instruments, its
Why did you start making them? What kinds of woods do you use? distinctive properties are said to produce
When I was in junior high school, my We use Hawaiian koa, mahogany, maple, a captivating sound unlike any other
dream was to become a guitar maker. I mango wood, etc., but recently we have wood. Having grown for centuries and
think I was influenced by the acoustic gui- been using wood from the Tohoku region of achieving a high density, it produces a
tars of folk music that were popular at Japan, such as cedar, chestnut, and tamo, rich, deep low end, especially in stringed
that time. I liked playing them, but I was all of which have been buried in the ground instruments. It offers a warm, full mid-
also interested in making them. But in re- for thousands of years. As a ukulele maker, range, making it ideal for woodwinds,
ality, I had to give up that dream when I I am fascinated by the romance of these where it produces a soft, gentle tone. And
graduated from high school. This was be- woods that have been buried in the ground while clear and sustained, the high end of
cause the acoustic era was beginning to for a long time, but have not decayed, and jomon sugi also possesses a unique depth
fade and jobs were becoming scarce. How- are reborn as ukuleles. not found in other woods. In stringed in-
ever, I loved making things, so I found a In Japan, wood that has been buried in struments, it contributes to a complex,
job at a jewelry manufacturer and I ob- the ground for many years is called jindai. beautiful sound with rich harmonics. Hav-
tained a first-class technical national Because of its rarity and unique properties, ing been growing for centuries, jomon sugi
certification as a jewelry craftsman. jindai cedar is said to produce an attractive is also extremely durable and produces
Although I had built up my career as a tone that is different from other woods a stable tone for years to come. And as a
craftsman, the appeal and enjoyment of when used for musical instruments. The rare wood created by nature, its beautiful
craftsmanship had faded. After about 20 characteristics of jindai cedar, such as deep grain gives instruments a unique character.
years, I encountered Jake Shimabukuro’s and rich bass tones, warm midrange
ukulele playing and fell in love with the in- tones, and clear and extended treble tones, What other materials do you use?
strument’s sound and diverse musicality. show various expressions depending on the For decoration, I use abalone shells, white
At the same time, I was awakened to the type of instrument and playing technique. butterfly shells, etc. I like simple decora-
idea of making musical instruments, which Jomon sugi, a type of cypress that lives tions on my ukuleles, so I have never done

60 Winter 2024
 STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, AND CIRCULATION STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, AND CIRCULATION
(Required by 39 USC 3685) (Required by 39 USC 3685)
(1) Title of Publication: Acoustic Guitar (2) Publication Number:1049-9261 (3) Date of Filing: October, (1) Title of Publication: Strings (2) Publication Number: 0888-3106 (3) Date of Filing: October, 1, 2024 (4) Fre-
1, 2024 (4) Frequency of Issue: Bi-monthly (5) Number of Issues Published Annually: 6 (6) Annual Sub- quency of Issue: Bi-monthly (5) Number of Issues Published Annually: 6 (6) Annual Subscription Price: $35.99 (7)
scription Price: $35.99 (7) Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication: 330 Sir Francis Drake Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication: 330 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., STE C, San Anselmo, CA
Blvd., Suite C, San Anselmo, CA 94960-2516 (8) Complete Mailing Address of the Headquarters of General 94960-2516 (8) Complete Mailing Address of the Headquarters of General Business Offices of the Publisher: 330
Business Offices of the Publisher: 330 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Suite C, San Anselmo, CA 94960-2516 (9) Sir Francis Drake Blvd., STE C, San Anselmo, CA 94960-2516 (9) Full Names and Complete Mailing Addresses of
Full Names and Complete Mailing Addresses of Publisher: Elizabeth Lusterman, 330 Sir Francis Drake
Publisher: Elizabeth Lusterman, 330 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., STE C, San Anselmo, CA 94960-2516, Full Names
Blvd., Suite K, San Anselmo, CA 94960-2516, Full Names and Complete Mailing Addresses of Editor: Adam
Perlmutter, 330 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Suite C, San Anselmo, CA 94960-2516, Full Names and Complete and Complete Mailing Addresses of Editor: Megan Westberg, 330 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., STE C, San Anselmo,
fancy inlays, but I have used sapphires, A ukulele
Mailing Addresses of Managing Editor: Kevin Owens, 330 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Suite C, San Anselmo, CA
is both a musical
CA 94960-2516,instrument
Full Names and CompleteDoMailing
youAddresses
accept custom
of Managing Editor:orders?
Kevin Owens, 330 Sir Francis
Drake Blvd., STE C, San Anselmo, CA 94960-2516 (10) Owner: String Letter Publishing, Inc., 330 Sir Francis Drake
rubies,
94960-2516diamonds, and
(10) Owner: String Letterother
Publishing,gems
Inc., 330for the Drakeand
Sir Francis Blvd., a work
Suite C, San of art. Therefore,
Anselmo, we make sure We accept custom orders from a few deal-
Blvd., STE C, San Anselmo, CA 94960-2516 Owner: David A. Lusterman, 330 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., STE C, San
CA 94960-2552 Owner: David A. Lusterman, 330 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Suite C, San Anselmo, CA 94960-
position marks
2552 (11) Known on the
bondholders, fingerboard.
mortgagees, and other security holders owningto finish
or holding every
1 percent detail carefully.
or more Anselmo, CA The surface
94960-2516 ers and
(11) Known bondholders, individuals
mortgagees, inholders
and other security Japan.
owning orWeholdingsell
1
of total amount of bonds, mortgages or other securities: None (12) N/A (13) Publication Title: Acoustic Guitar percent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages or other securities: None (12) N/A (13) Publication Title:
(14) Issue Date for Circulation Data Below: September/October 2024 (15) Extentof and
the wood
Nature is polishedStrings
of Circulation: smooth (14) Issue and
Date for the ukuleles
Circulation Data through
Below: September/October 2024Takumi
(15) Extent andUkulele Com-
Nature of Circulation:
How does your experience as a jeweler decorative materials are carefully placed to pany, which is a wholesale distributor in
AVERAGE COPIES COPIES OF SINGLE ISSUE AVERAGE COPIES COPIES OF SINGLE ISSUE
influence your ukuleles? EACH ISSUE givePUBLISHED
a sense of unity to the entire ukulele. I
NEAREST the United EACH States.
ISSUE [Editor’s note:
PUBLISHED NEARESTThey
PRECEDING 12 MONTHS TO FILING DATE PRECEDING 12 MONTHS TO FILING DATE
To15bring out the
a. Total Number best
of Copies in jewelry,
(Net press run) it is26,819
neces- try to give each ukulele its15own
26,137 a. Total personality.
Number of Copies (Net presshaverun) also been
5,159 listed for 5,326sale at times at
sary
15 b. to
Paidhave a sense of design that plays a
Circulation 15 b. Paid Circulation The Ukulele Site, which is based in Hawaii,
(1) Paid Mail Subscriptions through USPS 12,375 11,833 (1) Paid Mail Subscriptions through USPS 2,646 2,742
supporting role
(3) Sales through and
dealers makes
and carriers, the whole look
street Do you have a favorite of the ukuleles
(3) Sales and
through dealers and carriers, streetat Southern Ukulele Store, which is
vendors, counter sales 3,681 3,220 vendors, counter sales
beautiful. This is also true of ukulele
(3) Paid distribution outside USPS, foreign subs
mak-
1,372
you’ve
1,279
made? based in the18
(3) Paid distribution outside USPS, foreign subs
UK.]
213
18
203
ing. To Subtotal create (3) a ukulele like a piece 5,053 of I like the jindai cedar–top instrument
4,499 Subtotal (3) the 231 221
15 c. Total Paid Circulation (Sum of 15b(1) and 15b(3) ) 17,428 16,332 15 c. Total Paid Circulation (Sum of 15b(1) and 15b(3) ) 2,877 2,963
jewelry,
15 d. Free orone
Nominalneeds to have a good sense
Rate Distribution most among the ukuleles I15have made
d. Free or Nominal so DistributionDo you play the ukulele? If so, what is your
Rate far.
of design and technical skill. I am commit-
(1) Free or Nominal Rate Mail Subscriptions 1,278 1,269 (1) Free or Nominal Rate Mail favorite song to play?
Subscriptions 1,617 1,904
(4) Free or Nominal Rate Distribution Outside the Mail 5 0 (4) Free or Nominal Rate Distribution Outside the Mail 250 0
ted15 e.toTotalcreating
Free Distributionmore beautiful
(Sum of 15d(1) and 15d(4) ukuleles
1,283 What is the meaning of the
1,269 15 e.hummingbird Actually,
Total Free Distribution (Sum of 15d(1) and 15d(4) I am
1,867 not good at playing. But I
1,904
15 f. Total Distribution (Sum of 15c and 15e) 18,711 17,601 15 f. Total Distribution (Sum of 15c and 15e) 4,744 4,867
through daily study.
15 g. Copies Not Distributed 8,108
in your
8,536
logo? 15 g. Copies Not Distributed
want to be good
415
at it! If I had
459
the time to
15The
h. Totalukulele
(Sum of 15f andis 15g)
a beautiful instrument 26,819 in Hachidori
26,137 has various meanings.
15 h. Total (Sum ofAmong
15f and 15g) practice, I would 5,159 want to5,326 produce. One
15 i. Percent Paid (15c and divided 15f times 100) 93% 93% 15 i. Percent Paid (15c and divided 15f times 100) 61% 61%
its16own right.
a. Electronic CopyI Circulation
enhance its natural beauty 15,250 by them, it is considered to be
14,397 16 a. a lucky
Paid charm.
Electronic Copy Circulation song I like to 3,094listen to and play is “Close
3,168
incorporating curves and organic shapes.
16 b. Total Paid Print Copies and Paid Electronic Copies The hummingbird’s small size and hard life
16 b. Total Paid Print Copies and Paid to You” by the Carpenters. I like “Close to
Electronic Copies
(Sum of 15c and 16a) 32,678 30,729 (Sum of 15c and 16a) 5,971 6,131
For16 wood and
c. Total Print decoration,
Distribution I use
and Paid Electronic carefully se-
Copies remind us of overcoming 16 c.difficulties and
Total Print Distribution You” Copies
and Paid Electronic played by Jake, which was my first
(Sum of 15f and 16a) 33,961 31,998 (Sum of 15f and 16a) 7,838 8,035
lected materials. In addition to designs
16 d. Percent Paid (Both Print & Electronic Copies)
that achieving happiness. This16is why we chose encounter with
d. Percent Paid (Both Print & Electronic Copies)
the ukulele. U
take advantage
(16b divided by 16c) of the texture of the 96% wood, I the 96%
hummingbird as our (16b logo. divided by 16c) 76% 76%

sometimes
Signed, Elizabethuse decorative
Lusterman, Publisher materials to cre- Signed, Elizabeth Lusterman, Publisher
ate a sense of glamour and luxury.

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, AND CIRCULATION

(Required by 39 USC 3685)
(1) Title of Publication: Ukulele (2) Publication Number: 2333-3790 (3) Date of Filing: October, 1, 2024 (4) Fre-
quency of Issue: Quarterly (5) Number of Issues Published Annually: 4 (6) Annual Subscription Price: $28.99 (7)
Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication: 330 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., STE C, San Anselmo, CA
94960-2516 (8) Complete Mailing Address of the Headquarters of General Business Offices of the Publisher: 330
Sir Francis Drake Blvd., STE C, San Anselmo, CA 94960-2516 (9) Full Names and Complete Mailing Addresses of
Publisher: Elizabeth Lusterman, 330 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., STE C, San Anselmo, CA 94960-2516, Full Names
and Complete Mailing Addresses of Editor: Nicolas Grizzle, 330 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., STE C, San Anselmo, CA
94960-2516, Full Names and Complete Mailing Addresses of Managing Editor: Kevin Owens, 330 Sir Francis
Drake Blvd., STE C, San Anselmo, CA 94960-2516 (10) Owner: String Letter Publishing, Inc., 330 Sir Francis Drake
Blvd., STE C, San Anselmo, CA 94960-2516 Owner: David A. Lusterman, 330 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., STE C, San
Anselmo, CA 94960-2516 (11) Known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning or holding 1
percent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages or other securities: None (12) N/A (13) Publication Title:
Ukulele (14) Issue Date for Circulation Data Below: July 2024 (Fall ‘24) (15) Extent and Nature of Circulation:

AVERAGE COPIES COPIES OF SINGLE ISSUE

EACH ISSUE PUBLISHED NEAREST
PRECEDING 12 MONTHS TO FILING DATE
15 a. Total Number of Copies (Net press run) 10,712 10,971
15 b. Paid Circulation
(1) Paid Mail Subscriptions through USPS 4,378 4,254
(3) Sales through dealers and carriers, street
vendors, counter sales 852 775
(3) Paid distribution outside USPS, foreign subs 516 494
Subtotal (3) 1,368 1,269
15 c. Total Paid Circulation (Sum of 15b(1) and 15b(3) ) 5,746 5,523
15 d. Free or Nominal Rate Distribution
(1) Free or Nominal Rate Mail Subscriptions 840 845
(4) Free or Nominal Rate Distribution Outside the Mail 16 0
15 e. Total Free Distribution (Sum of 15d(1) and 15d(4) 856 845
15 f. Total Distribution (Sum of 15c and 15e) 6,602 6,368
15 g. Copies Not Distributed 4,110 4,603
15 h. Total (Sum of 15f and 15g) 10,712 10,971
15 i. Percent Paid (15c and divided 15f times 100) 87% 87%
16 a. Electronic Copy Circulation 5,281 5,145
16 b. Total Paid Print Copies and Paid Electronic Copies
(Sum of 15c and 16a) 11,027 10,668
16 c. Total Print Distribution and Paid Electronic Copies
(Sum of 15f and 16a) 11,883 11,513
16 d. Percent Paid (Both Print & Electronic Copies)
(16b divided by 16c) 93% 93%

Signed, Elizabeth Lusterman, Publisher

UkuleleMag.com 61
 GREAT UKES

Merchants of Waikiki
The Summers brothers sold quality ukes from different makers in exclusive Hawaiian hotels
BY SANDOR NAGYSZALANCZY

f you’ve explored the history of early

Hawaiian ukulele makers, you’re
likely familiar with brand names such as
Nunes, Kumalae, and Kamaka. Each of
these companies employed talented lu-
thiers who created the ukuleles that bore
their founders’ names. A couple of names
you might not be familiar with are Paul
Summers and Harold Summers. Even
though a significant number of beautiful
vintage ukuleles bear their names, these
brothers never actually built a single in-
strument. Instead, they were sellers of
high-quality ukuleles and guitars made by
a number of different Hawaiian luthiers.
The Summers brothers were born at the
end of the 19th century somewhere in
America’s eastern mid-Atlantic states. It’s
unknown when they moved to the Hawaiian
Islands, but by the 1920s they had estab-
lished themselves as music instructors in
Honolulu. The pair gave lessons in ukulele,
standard guitar, and steel slide guitar. Paul
Summers also authored a couple of instruc-
tional books: Paul F. Summers Hawaiian
Instructor [for] Ukulele and Guitar, published
in 1927, and Instructor [for] Ukulele and Gui-
tar, published in 1932.
By the mid-1920s, the brothers had set
up music teaching studios at the two most
exclusive hotels in the Waikiki area of
Honolulu: the Moana and the Royal
PHOTO COURTESY OF TOM WALSH

Hawaiian. First opened in 1901, the 75-room

Moana (known today as the Moana Sur-
frider) was the first luxury hotel in
Waikiki. The 400-room Spanish-Moorish
style Royal Hawaiian, built on 15 acres of
beautiful beach frontage, opened in Febru-
ary of 1927. A Moana Hotel brochure The Summers brothers set up music teaching studios at both the Royal Hawaiian Hotel
advertising the Summers brothers’ classes and the Moana Hotel in Waikiki.

62 Winter 2024
Fancier Summers models featured more shapely
pegheads than the standard three-peak design.

One of the least expensive

models in the Summers
brothers’ line of soprano ukes,
built from plain koa with no
body bindings

UkuleleMag.com 63
 GREAT UKES
Summers ukes featured a paper label in the body.
read: “Paul F. Summers makes it possible
for you to become a clever performer on
the ukulele or steel guitar in one six-lesson
course without tedious study or previous
knowledge of music.” This course cost $10,
the equivalent of about $180 in today’s dol-
lars. The Summers’ studio also offered
classes in hula dancing taught by famous
Hawaiian dancer Anna Hila.
In the 1930s, both Summers brothers
performed at the Moana Hotel as part of the
Studio Little Symphony led by noted Hawai-
ian musician and composer Johnny Noble.
Noble wrote (or co-wrote) some of the most
popular hapa-haole songs of the period, in-
cluding “I Want to Learn to Speak Hawaiian,”
“Hula Blues,” and “My Little Grass Shack in
Kealakekua, Hawaii.” Some of the band’s
performances were broadcast locally on
KGMB radio, which helped to popularize
Hawaiian ukulele and steel guitar music in
the islands.
In addition to teaching and performing,
the Summers brothers operated retail music
shops at both the Royal Hawaiian and
Moana from the mid/late 1920s through
about 1940, when Paul moved to Florida. As Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Their 1907 “trial” The Waikiki Ukulele, and Famous Waikiki.
mentioned, the Summers brothers weren’t order spurred Martin, which had never In addition to a paper label visible inside
instrument makers but rather sellers of uku- produced ukuleles before, to develop proto- the body, Summers ukes typically have
leles and guitars made by various Hawaiian types that eventually led to full-scale uke peghead decals bearing the Hawaiian
luthiers. These included Sam F. Chang, Ah production in the late 1910s and ’20s. crest above the word “Hawaii.” Royal
Tau Kam, and Kaneala Makini. Both Chang The least expensive models in the Sum- Hawaiian and Moana branded ukes feature
and Kam had worked for Sam Kamaka Sr. mers brothers’ line of soprano ukes were the hotel name above the crest. Pegheads
before starting their own lutherie shops. It’s built from plain koa with no body bind- on fancier Waikiki-branded ukes have
also likely that some Summers instruments ings, simple three-ring soundhole rosettes, small embossed brass plaques that read
were made by the Honolulu-based Hawaiian mahogany necks, and rosewood finger- “Paul F. Summers; The Waikiki Ukulele;
Mahogany Co., which was in business from boards and bridges. Fancier models Honolulu.”
1926 to sometime around 1945. The instru- featured highly figured koa bodies and The majority of Summers ukes also
ments these various builders created for elaborate rope-style body bindings, ro- have dark brown “Tabu” emblems
the Summers brothers ranged in style settes, and fingerboard center stripes. The stamped on the back of their pegheads.
from quite plain to very fancy, with small top-of-the-line models were adorned with This emblem features a pair of crossed
variations particular to each builder. For lustrous abalone pearl body purflings and kapu sticks (traditional symbols of Hawai-
example, Makini’s ukes typically have rosettes. Like the majority of Hawaiian ian authority) under a crescent or “hoaka,”
deeper bodies and wider waists than ukes ukuleles made in the early 20th century, a symbol closely associated with ali’i
created by Sam Chang. all Summers ukes had bodies made of very (Hawaiian royalty), surmounted by the Ha-
Retailing instruments made by various thin woods, which made them light and waiian crown and includes words “Made
makers was already a common practice in gave them good volume and tone. The in Hawaii.” The Tabu emblem was trade-
the 1920s. For example, prior to WWII, the pegheads on the more basic models were marked in 1916 by the Honolulu Ad Club in
Bergstrom Music Co.’s store on Fort Street of the “three peak” design, while fancier an effort to stem the tide of fake Hawaiian
in Honolulu was Hawaii’s premier dealer of models featured more shapely pegheads. ukes made by less-than-scrupulous main-
musical instruments, sheet music, radios, Regardless of their actual maker, the land manufacturers who passed them off
and record players. Not only did they sell Summers brothers’ ukes sold under a as genuine Hawaii-made instruments. The
ukuleles made by myriad Hawaiian lu- number of different brand names, includ- Summers brothers stamped their ukes
thiers, but they were also the first to order ing Paul F. Summers, Harold Summers, with the Tabu emblem, as did many other
ukes from the Martin Guitar Company of Summers Bros., Royal Hawaiian, Moana, Hawaiian luthiers. U

64 Winter 2024
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UkuleleMag.com 65
 THE BACK PAGE

This religious society had two of the

nation’s top ukulele groups
of the early 20th century

ne of the strangest chapters in the gardens and grounds, a world-famous zoo, the men’s long beards, they’d typically
already unusual history of the uku- miniature steam train rides, midget auto gasp, scream, and cheer.
lele began in 1903, in Benton Harbor, racing, fields where HOD’s baseball teams The House of David’s gender-mixed uku-
Michigan, a small town on the southern played, and a host of musical stages and lele band featured four soprano ukes (two
shores of Lake Michigan. There, a religious performance venues. played by women), two regular guitars, a
zealot named Benjamin Purnell (who died Of all the various industries and activi- slide guitar, and a flute. One of this band’s
in 1927 after being embroiled in scandal ties promoted by the House of David, none most colorful musicians was Clarence
and legal issues), along with his wife, was more important than music. Playing “Chic” Bell, seen at far right in the back row
Mary, founded a religious settlement music was not only part of their social in the photo above. Bell was a talented Aus-
known as the Israelite House of David functions and commercial enterprises, it tralian musician who joined the House of
(HOD). Their colony (which some have was also integral to their religious values David in 1905. A world-class trumpeter who
called a cult) quickly acquired hundreds and worship practices. Almost every col- played a variety of instruments, including
of members from all over America, as well ony member was involved in some form of the ukulele, he was a member of several
as Australia and England. This new com- musical expression: Adults played in men’s house bands and served as emcee of House
munity of soft-spoken, hard-working men and ladies’ bands; children played in chil- of David’s Wednesday night amateur
and women was incredibly industrious: dren’s bands. Between 1906 and 1927, the shows. HOD’s all-female ukulele band fea-
They built houses and magnificent man- House of David fielded a number of nation- tured three soprano ukes, two banjo ukes,
sions, bought land where they raised ally recognized musical ensembles, two regular guitars, two slide guitars, a
dairy cattle and farmed, and started innu- including their own house orchestra, violin, and a flute.
merable commercial businesses. They a symphonic jazz group, a men’s chorus, a In keeping with HOD’s principles of in-
also created their own electrical power marching band, comedic musical acts, and dustry and self-sufficiency, most band
plant and water supply, which made the not one, but two ukulele bands. Most of members played instruments that were
colony essentially self-sufficient. these acts toured America almost non-stop hand-crafted at a workshop that was part
Besides living communally and adhering on the three top vaudeville circuits of the of the colony. The shop was run by a fa-
to Purnell’s Christian-based religious teach- era: the Pantages, the Keith, and the mous Australian stringed instrument
ings, colony men were required to never cut Orpheum. The men’s bands had a particu- maker named Joseph Hannaford, who de-
their hair or shave their beards, which made larly novel performance gimmick: At the veloped a prosperous business building
them an odd sight in early 1900s rural Michi- start of every show, the men all stood with violins, guitars, mandolins, bass fiddles,
gan. To foster better public relations with their backs to the audience. Because they and ukuleles. These instruments were not
their neighbors, HOD built a colossal amuse- had such long hair, the audience assumed only played by HOD musicians, but were
ment park (later known as the Eden Springs that they were women . . . until they turned also sold to visitors at the colony’s souve-
Amusement Park) that featured lush around. When audiences caught sight of nir shops. U

Ukulele (ISSN – 2333-3790, USPS - 14110) is published quarterly by String Letter Publishing, Inc., 330 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Suite C, San Anselmo, CA 94960.
Periodical postage paid at San Rafael, CA 94901 and additional mailing offices. Printed in USA. Canada Post: Publications mail Agreement #40612608.
Canada Returns to be sent to Imex Global Solutions, PO Box 32229, Hartford, CT 06150-2229. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to Ukulele,
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66 Winter 2024
 G U I D E S

LEARN TO PLAY
15 AMERICAN FOLK
SONGS, WITH TAB,
STANDARD NOTATION,
CHORD DIAGRAMS,
ARRANGED BY PETER PENHALLOW
AND COMPLETE LYRICS VIDEO LESSONS BY DIANE NALINI

Each song in Traditional Songs for Beginning Ukulele includes easy-to-follow chord
diagrams, standard notation, tablature, and lyrics, plus delightful step-by-step video lessons.

Download Today at store.UkuleleMag.com

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