Aloha! Ukulele turned Mandolin

[an uncalloused fingertip]

No, I haven't converted an uke into a mandolin. I did buy an uke while I went without our eight-stringed friend. And I immediately developed a fondness for Hawaiian music.

I know the lowest note on a soprano uke is C (on a mando's G string). When not playing chords, the reentrant tuning really messed me up - my way of conceptualizing a stringed instrument.

Yet, when I had a nice mandolin in my hands again, some of the rhythms I learned on the ukulele seemed to invade the styles I knew beforehand. And I just love the laid back quality of the genre. The mandolin is a good instrument for many styles (like the violin), but the ukulele is the Hawaiian equivalent - and a mandolin would be an invader. So I am not expecting much when I ask about Hawaiian music and the mandolin.

So, has anyone explored Hawaiian music on the mandolin? If so, do you have any resources you'd like to share - or standards I should learn to play? Or tips? Or experiences?

[Larry S Sherman]

I'm curious about getting a Uke too. I would like to get one from Joel Eckhaus.

My favorite Hawaiian CD is Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's Facing Future. He's great.



I would also suggest How About Uke? by Lyle Ritz. It's jazz on Uke.



Larry

[an uncalloused fingertip]

I discovered the uke through You-Tube; they have a lot of good clips; they even have a pair of guys playing a Ramones song on two ukes. Pretty cool.

I also found the mountain dulcimer, which is also a neat instrument.

But compared to the uke and the dulcimer, I feel glad to have a mandolin. The tuning is more consistent, and processing music in the brain seems to move more smoothly.

P.S. - There is part of me that does thirst for a Hawaiian Kamaka though; the pineapple version, soprano. If I ever make it back to Hawaii, I will definately have some money saved to pick up one of these (if my timing is right). Some say there are ukes that have a better sound. But the Kamaka is the Les Paul or Gibson F of Hawaii.

[johnbaxter]

For those of you interested in the uke, I have a site called UkeFarm, and have launched UkeFarm Radio.

Here's my first attempt at "The Way You Look Tonight". I used my Martin Baritone Uke (DGBE) tuned as an Octave Mandolin (GDAE). I had to experiment with different strings to find a set that worked.

http://www.ukefarm.com/homerecording...ookTonight.mp3

Unfortunately, I don't remember which strings I used. I went through a bunch of miscellaneous sets, including a classical guitar set, to find the right string for G.

Baritone = DGBE
Octave Mando = GDAE

4th string - probally used a guitar A string tuned down to G, or maybe an E tuned up, don't remember.
3rd string - used D string (4th string from Baritone)
2nd string - B tuned down to A
1st string - E unchanged

The TablEdit file is in the Mandozine archive.

The Fluke ukes are a great starter instrument. Low cost, great sound, and durable. The intonation is very good also.

John Baxter
http://www.ukefarm.com

[Jacob]

So, has anyone explored Hawaiian music on the mandolin?

Ry Cooder played mandolin (and tiple) on The Gabby Pahinui Hawaiian Band Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.

[delsbrother]

Despite what many have been led to believe, there were mandolins present in what mainlanders call Hawaiian music almost up to the beginning.. You have to remember the first wave of Hawaiian music's widespread popularity happened when mandolin playing was still raging in the US.

Now it's still up to debate whether early Hawaiian musicians played the mandolin tuned like a mandolin (vs. an 8 string uke, or taropatch). But there are several major names in the genre (King Bennie Nawahi, John K. Almeida) who played mandolin tuned in fifths, with steel strings. People who claim mandolins have no part in Hawaiian music (including, sadly, many Hawaiians) obviously don't know a lot about the history of the music.

I would agree that you'd be hard pressed to find mandolin in today's Hawaiian music. But then again, you don't find hot acoustic steel guitar in today's Hawaiian music either, and I would argue that was the sound that really caused the music to sweep the nation in the early part of the 20th century. Oh well..

[Ken Berner]

I dropped in on a Celtic session a few nights ago, only to witness a person picking a banjo-uke, tuned to GDAE. That was a "first" for me; wonder if they would permit one of those new-fangled Commodiums?

[mandolooter]

altho I don't have a list there is still mandolin being played in Hawaiian music and not just me playin along to my huge collection of Hawaiian music in my livin room while dreamin of wahine's on da beach. Iz's old band Makaha Son of Niihau has mando content for sure but I've seen it listed in liner notes on more than a few albums. Those 2 aforementioned Gabby albums with Ry are a good intro to Hawaiian music for the curious but bands like Kalapana, Olomana, Celio and Kapono, etc were mixin Hawaiian and pop music back in the 70's and 80's and achieved some success commercially. To me its all good stuff...:blues: