Thursday, November 19, 2009

Arthur Godfrey: Uke Tuning Advocate

Another historical tidbit from Billboard today. Arthur Godfrey off on a rant about non-standardized uke tunings in sheet music. Warns that the Second Wave will be just another fad unless everyone picks a tuning and just sticks with it. Also vilifies makers of junk ukuleles flooding the market. Don't cross Uncle Arthur. Link

2 comments:

Ron hale said...

Just can't quite picture Arthur Godfrey as a "uke happy pixie."

Brings to mind the tune What Are We Going To Do With Uncle Arthur, a few of whose lyrics follow, the music hall version of the quicker part of the Upstairs, Downstairs Theme...

What are we going to do with Uncle Arthur/Have him doctored like a tom cat/You'd have thought by now he'd has his fill/But my Aunt can't bloody well keep him still...

Anonymous said...

I'm just glad that someone is speaking up about a standard tuning! As a new ukulele teacher I found the multiple tunings a tricky concept and have decided to stick to the C so that my students can learn together/play together more readily.

 
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