I love my ukulele. The four strings anchored to the bridge of the instrument extend lightly and mightily across the soundhole and fretboard, fastened to the headstock and subject to the tuners. A singular, soft strum across the ukulele introduces a wave of sensation that crashes into the surrounding air, its mutualistic build providing both power and delicacy. With each pluck, a vibration travels up and down the instrument, resulting in a poised, soprano crescendo.Â
My obsession with the ukulele began in middle school, when my local library held a program where younger kids could rent out the instrument for a week. As soon as my young hands strummed the chords of the tiny music box, I knew that I needed to buy one of my very own. The onset of the pandemic during my Freshman year of High School allowed me time to purchase my own instrument and learn a handful of songs. Soon, I was teaching myself basic ukulele chords and tunes from YouTube videos. I would practice over and over, stopping only for a few hours when my fingertips were too sore to press down on the strings. The ukulele became my go-to creative outlet for stress relief.Â
At the time, it seemed like I was not the only one. Many other teenagers also took a liking to the instrument. The rise of TikTok during the early pandemic years of 2020 sparked the influx of videos made by several young artists singing along to their ukulele covers of famous songs. However, with many students now returning back to their normal day-to-day lives, is the ukulele slowly starting to fade out of popularity?Â
I, for one, can unfortunately attest. During my freshman year of college, my ukulele did not make the list of items I would be packing for VCU. Instead, it would spend the year lying atop my closet shelf, fading into the background and keeping my old childhood toys company. It soon became apparent to me that this was also the case for several other ukulele players – with life picking up speed post-pandemic, new passion projects and hobbies became less of a priority. Living a busy life made it harder to find the time to whip out the ukulele and learn a new song for a few hours. The significant decrease in ukulele content on social media led me to believe that this occurrence might have been more of a universal experience than I initially thought.Â
But, like they say, if you are truly meant for something, it won’t pass you by. And, with the ukulele, that is exactly what happened. The summer after my freshman year of college, I revamped my ukulele playing. Uncovering the videos I recorded of myself playing the ukulele and deciphering the scribbles of notes I documented for each song was so nostalgic. I wanted to try playing again. After several hours of tuning and practice, my muscle memory finally kicked in, and I was not only remembering old songs, but advancing my skills as a ukulele player to quickly learn newer songs. I even progressed from beginner level to intermediate level on my ukulele YouTube video playlist (a pretty big deal if you ask me!)
I’m confident that I’m not the only one with a renewed interest in playing the ukulele. I hope that others have also returned to their mini-stringed instrument, revitalizing their passion for ukulele playing. To me, the ukulele will never be out of date – it’s a timeless instrument with a playful and peaceful sound that makes it impossible to forget. It’s contagious in the best possible way. And, the ukulele officially made my list of move-in items for campus this year. I guess it’s just an instrument that keeps stringing me along.Â