Strum Along and Sing: Ukuleles Increasingly Popular

In a matter of a few years, the ukulele has become the instrument of choice for budding musicians of all ages. They pop out of lockers on high school campuses and out of backpacks at barbecues. "It looks like its fun and easy to use and learn, and that is the reality," said ABC Music owner and ukulele instructor Stan Houston. Houston said he sells hundreds of ukulele's every year.  

Houston stated that "you don't have to read music to really enjoy it, and you can learn it fairly quickly no matter how old you are."  

Houston said that the ukulele is easy for all learners ages 8 to 80.  "We have four or five students that are well over the age of 70 that have taken ukulele (lessons) and done pretty well," Houston said. "It tends to be a great instrument for teaching older people that are past the age of 65 or 70, who want to keep a crisp control of their brain activity...it tends to keep the brain really active." 

Houston has also found that the ukulele is a great instrument for children with learning challenges. The ukulele is a rhythm instrument with only four strings, which is partially why it is so easy to learn.

Part of what makes the ukulele so popular is that it is easy for players to sing along.  "The ukulele brings out the singer in everybody almost...for some reason when you strum that ukulele it invokes an invitation on the part of the person who is playing it to go ahead and sing," Houston said. Most beginners learn to play well known American Folk songs first such as "She'll be Coming Around the Mountain," which makes learning to strum and sing at the same time easier. "It's really quite a blast," Houston said.