Tiptoe through the uke tips...

Ukulele fever is sweeping through Sonoma, firing up players from the senior set to school kids and players in between. Ukulele classes are on the hot list at Vintage House senior center, and the Presentation School owns 30 ukuleles, enough for each fifth through eighth grader to play their own during music class.

“Everybody’s playing them nowadays,” says Alan Freeman, who teaches at Vintage House and gives private lessons. “The ukulele is relaxing. It’s happy. How can you be grumpy when you’re playing the ukulele?”

Freeman’s first love is the guitar, but while vacationing on Kauai with his wife in 2011 she suggested he might enjoy the ukulele. She was so right. An accomplished guitar player, it was easy for Freeman to learn the uke and he loves it. Soon a neighbor asked him to teach her “to take her mind off her troubles,” which led to his teaching a group of neighbors – which soon morphed into Vintage House classes and private lessons.

Freeman, who owns a consulting practice specializing in international human resources management, said teaching ukulele is “something I never would have imagined.”

He touts uke playing for a series of reasons, quick to note that the most important one is because it’s a really good time. He adds to the list: It’s not difficult to learn. It is a very portable instrument. You can own a decent quality one for about $100. (He recommends Ohana.) He also said that research has shown that learning a musical instrument is great for brain health.

Scott Parker, head of school at Presentation, says the ukuleles are the students’ “favorite instruments of all.” He says, besides classroom lessons, students play ukuleles in all-school showcases and talent shows, and provide accompaniment to the annual school musical.

The ukulele is a traditional Hawaiian instrument with four nylon strings, first developed in the 1880s and often played for hula music. Beyond Hawaiian music, the ukulele became popular during the jazz age in the 1920s, and then faded in popularity until the 1960s when they were sometimes played by Beatles guitarist George Harrison and by Tiny Tim on his hit “Tiptoe Through the Tulips.” The current resurgence of the ukulele began in the late 1990s, largely because of video ukulele performances and, later, instructional videos on YouTube.

“Jake Shimabukuro playing George Harrison’s ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ on YouTube played a huge part in driving the revival,” Freeman says. “It went viral.” Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s recordings in the 1990s and early 2000s are also credited with the ukulele’s resurgence.

One of the songs Freeman teaches in his Vintage House classes is Harrison’s “Something,” as well as the Beatles’ “Yesterday” and Hank Williams’ “Jambalaya.” “We play reggae, blues, country and even a little bit of Beethoven,” Freeman says.

– Carole Kelleher