The Fountain of Uke

I’ve been enlisted to strum a ukulele for a combo group made up of the school’s chorus class blended with the faculty a capella group (cleverly dubbed The Staff Notes) on a rendition of a medley of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” and Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” to be performed at the Parents’ Weekend event a few weeks from now. I’d never even held a ukulele until today, much less played one and when I learned that the 4 strings feature a different tuning from standard guitar tuning and that the medley featured ten different chords, I knew I had some work cut out for me. However, after just one afternoon and evening spent with a borrowed uke, I’ve already mastered all ten chords and can play the medley. Why? Cuz I can’t put the thing down! It is so fun playing this instrument. I learned the chords then started piecing together the song while monitoring the music building from 4-5:30 PM so that by dinnertime, I had “Rainbow”s chords down. I even strummed some after dinner while in the dining hall and more on the walk towards the dorm for study hall. Another great thing about the instrument is that you can play it while you’re walking. By the end of the 8-9 PM free time period, which I also spent monitoring the music building, I had the medley ready for rehearsal with the chorus. I seem to have temporarily lost my singing voice for some unknown reason so I’ve had to rely on whistling the melodies while practicing. The combination of the practice as well as the sound of me playing a ukulele and whistling is so odd and alien that I feel like a different person when I do it. Good times.