Quotes & Sayings About Ukulele

Tough like a Ukulele. — Kool Keith

The ukulele totally fits that whole hipster community or whatever you want to call it, but then at the same time it works great in nursing homes where senior citizens get together and play, and then as the traditional Hawaiian instrument with people doing the Hula and strumming the ukulele and singing. — Jake Shimabukuro

Is that a ukulele?" I ask.
We stop and listen closely. "Actually," says Elena, "it's a bunch of ukuleles. — Paul Acampora

I love the fact that people don't see the ukulele as a serious instrument. A lot of people see it as more of a toy, and I love that because it just proves that people aren't intimidated by the instrument. They aren't afraid to pick it up. — Jake Shimabukuro

Elvis came along when I was 10. My father gave me a bass ukulele. I taught myself how to play from a book to play some chords, so I was laying down 'Hound Dog' and things like that when I was 10 years old in 1955. That's the way I was. My ear was glued to the radio. I knew right then what I wanted to do. — Bob Seger

I didn't understand the purpose of the seeds, but it was comforting to know that in a dire emergency I could hit people with my ukulele while Meg planted geraniums. — Rick Riordan

I learned so much about music by playing this little, miniature songwriting machine [ukulele], especially about melody. The motto is less strings more melody. — Eddie Vedder

I've been writing and collecting songs on the ukulele for at least 10 years, so it was time to clear them out of the apartment building and make room for some new occupants.I need to make room for the bassoon record. — Eddie Vedder

You know, the ukulele itself is not a very loud instrument, all right? And, you know, compared to like a trumpet, right? A trumpet is really loud. — Jake Shimabukuro

II know very, very little about the ukulele, but I actually grew up playing the viola from 4th grade through high school. — Kris Allen

Love is an irrational force, making humans do all sorts of strange and wonderful things like write poetry and take up the ukulele. — Amy Dickinson

How do I relax? This might sound slightly ridiculous but I play the ukulele for at least an hour a day and I find something really blissful about it. — Frank Skinner

I started playing ukulele first for 2 years from age 9 to 11 and got my first guitar and got inspired by blues I heard on the radio that turned me on and I started learning myself. — Johnny Winter

On the good days, my mother would haul out the ukulele and we'd sit around the kitchen table - it was a cardboard table with a linoleum top - and sing. — Carol Burnett

Sometimes I can't think of a better way to end my day than coming home and just strumming my ukulele for a few minutes. I mean, I joke around and tell people that it's an entire yoga session in one strum, you know? — Jake Shimabukuro

I mostly play old period songs, as they suit a ukulele more. I bought it when I saw the tribute concert to George Harrison. Joe Brown came on and sang 'I'll See You In My Dreams,' and there wasn't a dry eye in the house. — Charles Dance

When I was five my parents bought me a ukulele for Christmas. I quickly learned how to play it with my father's guidance. Thereafter, my father regularly taught me all the good old fashioned songs. — Tony Visconti

When I was 19 I went to art school. I had six months of teaching myself to play baritone ukulele under my belt, so was sort of a novice folkie ... I was singing folk songs at that time. — Joni Mitchell

I see a young man playing 'Plaisir d'Amour' on guitar. I knew I didn't want to go to college; I was already playing a ukulele, and after I saw that, I was hooked. All I wanted to do was play guitar and sing. — Joan Baez

I play the ukulele. Is that quirky? — David Ramsey

I grew up in a musical family; the majority of my growing up was done in Hawaii. It's what we do. You sing, you dance, you play ukulele and you drink. — Dwayne Johnson

There's no ego when you're a ukulele player. — Jake Shimabukuro

Hilary says to her sister, "You can't eat only pie for lunch." "Just watch me." Lily plucks her ukulele out of the tote bag at her feet and strums it, singing, "Pie is fine. It's very nice/ Especially with lots of spice/ Like cinnamon and ginger too/ My sis would like it, but she's a poo." "Oh, well, that's brilliant," Hilary says. "Taylor Swift must be looking over her shoulder. — Claire LaZebnik

I think my first instrument was a ukulele that they gave me. I used to know how to play that pretty well. — Don Henley

Does Zeus have a perfect tan? Can he play the ukulele? I think not! — Rick Riordan

I had simply been inspired by Arthur Godfrey (40's) and Ukulele Ike and Cliff Edwards (20's). In there day, they were huge in this country. I bought Godfrey's book "You Too Can Learn To Play Ukulele" and taught myself. It's a very romantic instrument. You can take it on a canoe. — Tiny Tim

Bill Gates recently picked up the ukulele. And Warren Buffett is a huge ukulele fan. I even got to strum a few chords with Francis Ford Coppola. It blows my mind that these people, who have everything in the world they could want, have picked up the ukulele and found a little bit of joy. — Jake Shimabukuro

Perhaps Dexter's dutiful but uninspired brain pictured him as Sherlock Holmes, able to examine the wheel ruts and deduce that a left-handed hunchback with red hair and a limp had gone down the road carrying a Cuban cigar and a ukulele. I would find no clues, not that it mattered. — Jeff Lindsay

I always feel a little funny being in front of a lot of people trying to show them my approach to the ukulele, but I do enjoy it. I do get a little more nervous doing workshops rather than performing. — Jake Shimabukuro

The ukulele has always appealed to the older generation. — Jake Shimabukuro

The guys in the saloons shoving free ones across the bar and saying happy new year and many more of them kid you been a good customer have one on the house happy new year and the hell with the prohibitionists some day the bastards are going to give us trouble. The girls from the hash houses and the girls from the hotels and the guys swarming out of dirty little apartment bedrooms and music and dancing and smoke and somebody with the ukulele and have another and the feeling of being lonesome that everybody has inside him and people bouncing against you and off you and have another one and a girl passing out at the bar and a fight and happy new year. — Dalton Trumbo

I think beating someone to death with a ukulele would just sound funny. — Dane Cook

Strumming a ukulele just right can make you sound like a pro, even if you only know one chord. — Wilson Villanueva

There's something about guitars, they're just so big, you know what I mean? You're just like, 'Ugh!' It just seems so overwhelming. And the ukulele is, like, the opposite of overwhelming. — Zooey Deschanel

Growing up, the ukulele was always a respected instrument. It's a big part of our culture. It wasn't until I started traveling outside of Hawaii that I realized people didn't really consider the ukulele to be a real instrument. — Jake Shimabukuro

I bring my ukulele everywhere I go, play a little music in the park, always have it with me. — Max Schneider

My Portuguese uncle had a Portuguese version of a ukulele. The family would pull it out after dinner and play Portuguese folk songs on it. I couldn't wait for him to finish so I could get my hands on it. I was seven or eight years old. And he used to have a Fender amp in his house and an electric guitar. I would spend hours making sounds. — Joe Perry

Leo didn't usually think of the ukulele as a sad instrument. (Pathetic, sure. But not sad.) Yet the tune Apollo strummed was so melancholy it broke Leo's feels. — Rick Riordan

I love the ukulele. It's got a beautiful, melodic tone to it. There's something innocent and romantic, and it's just a grand instrument to play. — Pierce Brosnan

If I could play the ukulele like Zooey Deschanel, I would find my own personal M. Ward, and we would do a side album; but I don't, you know? — Anna Kendrick

I had a $1.50 from playing the ukulele after owning it seven minutes. I thought, "Hmmm, this has some possibilities." — Eddie Vedder

The ukulele is the instrument of peace, — Jake Shimabukuro

As I try to get around with a guitar, a banjo and a suitcase of high heels and dresses, I treasure that little ukulele. — Valerie June

I started playing piano; I picked up a ukulele, and I loved it and kept playing that. I play a bit of guitar, and some African drums from back in the day. — Max Schneider

I love crafting. Knitting, decoupage, scrapbooking, any "lady-ish" art form, I'm a fan. For about six months each. Then I shove all the supplies in a closet, alongside the skeletons of long dead New Year's resolutions, like saber fencing, playing the ukulele, and Japanese brush painting. — Felicia Day

My mother gave me a ukulele at age eight, and I sang the popular tunes of the day. — Pete Seeger

Playing the ukulele and singing is a fantastic stress reliever. So is cleaning! Scrubbing away at the dirt helps clear my mind as well. — Kandyse McClure

I started out playing ukulele when I was 5 or 6 years old. — Edgar Winter

There's not much you can do with a ukulele that doesn't sound happy. — Jeff Lynne

When I got divorced and moved into an apartment, I started keeping the TV on, just for company. — Mark Harmon

Things like guitars and ukuleles, you should never part with it, because there will probably be good, healthy times spent, just playing and writing. — Eddie Vedder

If everyone played the ukulele, the world would be a better place. — Jake Shimabukuro

Sometimes when you're writing on a ukulele, you're in a totally new land, rhythmically or melodically. — Tift Merritt

Another goal that I have is to learn how to play the ukulele - should be fun - and to stop taking my clothes off for money. But I need money. That is a ridiculous goal. I'm gonna cross that one off. That's stupid. — Kristen Schaal

There's something about the ukulele that just makes you smile. It makes you let your guard down. It brings out the child in all of us. — Jake Shimabukuro

One thing you might want to learn before you attend the world's largest ukulele lesson is how to say ukulele. — Mary Schmich

I actually first picked up an ukulele before I picked up a guitar. — Dick Dale

Because if everyone played the ukulele, this world would be a much happier place. — Jake Shimabukuro

A man of honor never surrenders his ukulele. — Rick Riordan

It's hard to be depressed around a ukulele. You just pick it up and you're halfway home. — William H. Macy

I was able to apply ukulele to whatever I'm trying to write. It's become part of songwriting for me, the knowledge I gained from hearing the melodies come out, and then applying that to guitar or vocals. — Eddie Vedder

I play the ukulele. I have a great group of friends, and we do things like have battles of the bands - me sometimes on ukulele, but mostly on drums. — Mike Myers

Most of my ukulele heroes were traditional players from Hawaii, like Eddie Kamae and Ohta-san. There may not be uke stars in popular culture, but there are certainly pop stars that play uke - George Harrison, Eddie Vedder, Taylor Swift, Train, and Paul McCartney. — Jake Shimabukuro

I was reading a magazine when I was a little kid, probably about twelve years old, and an ad said that if you sell so many jars of Noxzema skin cream, we'll sell you a ukulele. So I went out and banged on doors in the snow in Quincy, Massachusetts, where I was raised, and I sold the skin cream. — Dick Dale

Let me be the first to admit that the naked truth about me is to the naked truth about Salvador Dali as an old ukulele in the attic is to a piano in a tree, and I mean a piano with breasts. Senor Dali has the jump on me from the beginning. He remembers and describes in detail what it was like in the womb. My own earliest memory is of accompanying my father to a polling booth in Columbus, Ohio, where he voted for William McKinley. — James Thurber

I play guitar, the ukulele and the piano. I grew up on a mountain in Tennessee, and we had 'The Mountain Opry,' where anyone could just get up on stage to perform. It was just about the soul and heart of music. My upbringing was less about being great and more about just doing what you love. It was always for joy. — Rachel Boston

Now everybody's got a crazy notion of their own. Some like to mix up with a crowd, some like to be alone. It's no one elses' business as far as I can see, but every time that I go out the people stare at me, with me little ukulele in me hand. — George Formby

I'm an American songbook guy, though I've got eclectic tastes. I really love the American songbook. I've taken up the ukulele, and so you can play 'Five Foot Two' and Hawaiian music, but you can also do some of the great tunes, like 'You Go to My Head,' 'I Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry,' 'Taking a Chance on Love.' — Tony Danza

I spent my entire life working with the smallest budget I could get. Just working with old, junky, donated equipment. The only things I bought myself were the trumpet and the $9 ukulele. — Zach Condon

I could hit people with my ukulele — Rick Riordan

Rick shuffled through the cards again. "Where is the tallest mountain on earth?" Lydia put her hand over her eyes so she could concentrate. "You said tallest, not highest elevation, so it can't be Everest." She made some thinking noises that caused the dogs to stir. The cat started making biscuits on her stomach. She could hear the clock ticking in the kitchen. Finally, Rick said, "Think ukulele." She peeked through her fingers. "Hawaii?" "Mauna Kea. — Karin Slaughter

The very first thing I saw at this year's Telluride Film Festival was sheer bliss. "Lava," a musical romance from Pixar Animation, was one of the shorts that traditionally precede almost every festival screening; the director was James Ford Murphy. The story, spanning millions of years in 7 minutes, starts with a lonely Hawaiian volcano who, crooning to ukulele accompaniment, yearns for "someone to lava. — Anonymous

Trying to be a first-rate reporter on the average American newspaper is like trying to play Bach's St Matthew Passion on a ukulele: The instrument is too crude for the work, for the audience and for the performer. — Ben Bagdikian

When I was growing up, there was no such thing as a touring ukulele player. — Jake Shimabukuro

The ukulele was the first of many instruments they had bought for me. They got me a guitar when I was eleven, which my son Morgan uses until this day. They paid for 3 years of guitar lessons; they bought me a bass fiddle, which I still play. — Tony Visconti

Quit the bitching on your blog
And stop pretending art is hard.
Just limit yourself to three chords
And do not practice daily.
You'll minimize some stranger's sadness
With a piece of wood and plastic.
Holy fuck it's so fantastic,
Playing ukulele. — Amanda Palmer

I was starting to play the ukulele at the same time I was having all these conversations with [the late Ramones guitarist] Johnny Ramone, these intense tutorials staying up late and listening to the music he grew up on, and picking up what's a great song and what makes a great song. He was all about lists and dissecting songs, like what's a better song by Cheap Trick: "No Surrender" or "Dream Police"? Sometimes you'd be surprised by the answer. It was an interesting dichotomy between hanging out with the godfather of punk rock and starting to play the ukulele. They came together. — Eddie Vedder

I was really young, but I can't say that I wrote much of anything. I liked to scribble; I thought of it as that. But I was playing guitar and ukulele when I was in second grade. — Mary Chapin Carpenter

I like to play the ukulele, but I'm not, like, awesome at it. I mostly play the piano and the guitar. — Zooey Deschanel

Unfortunately for humanity, I've gotten into the habit of providing my own closing music for shows by singing a song and playing the ukulele. — John Hodgman

The amplified ukulele music was giving me a migraine. — Laird Barron