How ancient is the ukulele?

Stumbling Upon the Ukulele’s Oldest Living Relative

It is well-documented that the Hawaiian ukulele traces its heritage across the ocean to the 19th-century island of Madeira (see The Birth of the Ukulele, Ukulele Magazine, Fall 2014, The Mighty Uke, or The ‘Ukulele: A History). Would you be surprised, however, to find out that the earliest known relative of the ukulele was actually a four-course, seven-stringed instrument tuned exactly like a modern ukulele (gG CC EE A)? This mystery instrument was being played across Europe at the same time Shakespeare was penning “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” and was popular on the continent in France, Spain & Portugal as well as in England … Queen Elizabeth was gifted three of them on one occasion (opens YouTube). Where had this instrument been hiding? How did I find out about it? Read on …

My Renaissance Rabbit-hole

Singing concerts full of renaissance madrigals accompanied by period instruments was one of the highlights of my college days (thank you Bruce Bales). Later I took courses in 16th-century counterpoint and Renaissance music history as part of my masters degree in music composition. I still love listening to or singing Dowland’s ‘lute songs’ when I get a chance, so when I came across a ‘lute-kulele‘ I felt had to have one. This is just the first step of the journey though …

The lute-kulele is a lute-shaped, tenor-scale ukulele with six strings in four courses; they are tuned in re-entrant gCCEEA by the manufacturer, but I think sound more ‘period’ with the linear tuning GCCEEA. I discovered this when researching the instrument and coming across the masterfully-played youtube videos of Stefan Dollak, who calls the instrument a ‘4-course lute.’ I messaged Stefan to ask about sheet music, but professional that he is, he answered that he was making it up and/or adapting it on the fly.

In searching to see if there was any 4-course lute music out there I didn’t come across much, other than a peculiar lute tuning of GDAG from The Lute Society’s lute tunings page, which confirms the existence of a 4-course lute in medieval times. Upon further search I found a page from The Lute Society of America (LSA) entitled, “Relatives of the Lute : Renaissance Guitar” (which unfortunately disappeared when they moved their website) … what I found there really surprised me.

The Renaissance Guitar … The Renaissance Ukulele?

Pavan Renaissance Guitar

It turns out that ukuleles, as we call them today, were being played five hundred years ago, at least if you consider a small guitar with a “My Dog Has Fleas” tuning of GCEA to be worthy of the name. Today we call this historical instrument the Renaissance Guitar, although it had many names in the 16-17th centuries (depending on the nation). It is believed to be the ‘original’ guitar, as no records of older instruments exist that use this body-shape/tuning-relationship (fourth, third, fourth still present in the top four strings of modern guitars, transposed down). Although the scale-length of the Renaissance Guitar was longer than a baritone ukulele (50-55cm or 19.7-21.7in), it had the signature guitar-shaped body and was tuned like a modern ukulele.

Is it an ukulele though? It depends on your definition. I’ve heard it argued that the only ‘true’ ukulele is a soprano-sized instrument with peg-head tuners made of native Hawaiian Koa wood. But I choose to be more flexible with my definition. As the saying goes, ‘If it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck …”.

I think it is safe to say though that with the advent of the Hawaiian ukulele in the late 19th century, the guitar has in ways come full circle. I suspect that if we could trace the lineage back through the folk instruments of Madeira that were brought to Hawaii, we might find that the ‘original’ guitar never actually went away, it just traveled a lot, and for good reason.

How Was it Played?

As for the Renaissance Guitar’s use, the now missing LSA article stated, “During the Renaissance, the guitar may well have been used as it frequently is today, to provide a simple strummed accompaniment for a singer or a small musical group. However, there were also several significant music collections published during the sixteenth century containing contrapuntal compositions for guitar approaching the complexity, sophistication and breadth of repertory of those appearing in some publications for lute from the same time period.” Reading this was a ‘wow!’ moment for me.

Where Can I Get One?

Fortunately, I found a Renaissance Guitar replica in stock from from the German music company Thomann and ordered it so I could see what playing a super-long scale 7-string tenor ukulele was like. When it eventually came, I did have to get used to the gut frets that are tied to the neck (same as they are on the lute – apparently wire frets were a later invention), but the playability has proved amazing and the voice of the instrument is uniquely rich. Some other places that offer replicas include:

All of the above ‘authentic’ options are over a thousand USD. See below for more ‘poor man’ options.

Breaking it In

When I purchased the Thomann Renaissance Guitar in 2018, I felt it was appropriate to break it in with some new settings of song texts from the plays of William Shakespeare (1564-1616). I performed these at the 10th anniversary concert of the Salty Cricket Composers Collective. I also set a poem by Robert Herrick (1591–1674) for Christmas (on Facebook). I post this second one just to give you an idea of what the instrument sounds like and how I’m using it, coming from a decade+ of ukulele playing. I’m planning to record the Shakespeare settings this year.

How did it sound ‘Back in the Day’

If you’d like to hear examples of how the instrument was played ‘back in the day,’ I’ve located some wonderful recordings by some amazing players who have released recordings on Amazon. See “Comiença la musica para guitarra” by Massimo Lonardi, “Tabulatures de guiterne” by Michael Craddock, and “Renaissance Redux” by Jacopo Gianninoto. All of these are worth checking out.

Sheet Music for Renaissance Guitar

Although you can find lute-style renaissance guitar tablature (handwritten, with letters instead of numbers) for free on a number of web archives, Michael Walker has published modern transcriptions of almost all the music available for the renaissance guitar, and adapted other period music for the instrument. Although he has labeled these editions for baritone ukulele or modern guitar players (using only the top 4 strings), the tablature can be played on modern GCEA ukuleles and will sound in the original keys (just note that the staff notation will be a fourth off from what you’re playing). UPDATE: Renaissance Ukulele on blogspot has posted MANY free transcriptions of music from this period.

I would recommend playing with a low G for these transcriptions, or if you can spring for another ukulele, you might try any of the following ‘poor man’ Renaissance Guitar configurations:

  • Kala KA-ATP-CTG Solid Cedar Acacia 5-String Tenor Ukulele with low and high g-strings on the fourth course : This will give you that wonderful double octave on the G, but single strings for ease of play on the remaining courses. The scale length is much shorter, but you’ll be playing all the same notes.
  • Oscar Schmidt OU28T Ukulele : This well-reviewed 8-string with double courses on all the strings is closest you can get to the sound of the renaissance guitar for under two hundred dollars. Again, the scale length is nowhere near the size of a replica.
  • Kala KA-ABP8-CTG Solid Cedar Acacia Baritone 8-String Ukulele (not available on Amazon the day of posting 2/4/21 likely due to pandemic issues, but search around and you may find one) : I purchased this baritone ukulele to see if I could make a ‘poor man’s’ renaissance guitar out of it. The scale-length is close enough to my replica and you get the distinctive sound of the double courses. I switched out the stock strings for a custom set of La Bella rectified nylon lute strings (recommended for renaissance guitar by Stefan Dollak) that I tuned up to GCEA. This works well, but is a bit more tense than the replica’s strings, which the manufacturer said were Aquila strings. I also ordered a custom set of new nylgut strings direct from Aquila in Italy, but it was a hassle and I think I like the La Bella’s fuller sound better (demo video to come).

Wrapping it Up

This renaissance rabbit-hole I quite accidentally stumbled into has made me reexamine my thoughts about the ukulele and what makes a uke a uke. While the instrument undoubtedly made its way through Madeira to Hawaii to the world, for which I am very grateful, the DNA makeup of the instrument is far more ancient. It seems to me a bit like when you dig into your personal ancestry and find out that you’re distantly related to Lady Godiva (which I am). In the end, how far the lineage traces back matters less than what we do with the instrument today. Whether you play ‘for fun,’ ‘for joy,’ ‘for others’ or ‘for community’ or all of the above says more about the you than the instrument you use. I’m grateful for all those that teach and have taught and brought so many people together through the ukulele, whether the origin of the instrument be new or old.

More to Read

Addendum

This post has been edited as new information has been made available to me.

Several forum readers wondered why I didn’t focus on the Madeiran connection. One wrote to me to say:

This article is jumping on the bandwagon of genuine academics such as Christopher Page who have properly researched the Renaissance guitar … The connection between the Renaissance guitar and the ukulele is very interesting and compelling but all evidence (see King and Tranquada) supports the idea that the ukulele came to Hawaii from Madeira. The size comes from the machete and the tuning from the rajão. So where is the link between the Renaissance guitar and Madeira?

My reply:

While I am not employed in musical academia, I do have a masters degree in music and have researched and written many a paper, having spent plenty of time at the university library … one emphasis of study was Renaissance music for my masters degree. There is nothing unethical about reporting on the research of others if that research is credited, which I have done in many ways. While I was unaware of Christopher Page’s work (thank you for making me aware), I have referenced the mentor of one of my personal teachers under which I sang several full concerts of renaissance music, James Tyler, who’s article in Early Music is linked to, as well as John King who’s books got me started playing classical music on the ukulele in the first place.

I am fully aware that the ukulele came to Hawaii via Madeira and reference that in the very first paragraph of the article, “It is well-documented that the Hawaiian ukulele traces its heritage across the ocean to the 19th-century island of Madeira (see The Birth of the Ukulele, Ukulele Magazine, Fall 2014, The Mighty Uke, or The ‘Ukulele: A History).” This is a message to state, “Go read about that part of the story there.” My article is about my own personal discovery of the Renaissance guitar and how interesting I find it that this is the first known guitar-like instrument to sport the GCEA tuning. Are they ‘directly’ related. Not at all. I feel it is more like the great grand-daddy of the ukulele.

My speculation, and it can only remain a speculation (and academia is full of them), is that instruments like the rajão held on to this tuning in folk circles and then passed it on to the ukulele. Until we learn how to time travel though we’ll never know for sure …

Fun Finds: One of a Kind Ukuleles for the Wallace & Gromit Fan

Wallace & Gromit Biscuits Tin Ukulele
Wallace & Gromit TV Tin Ukulele

Say cheese! 🙂

Ukulele Sidekicks: Ocarina

What goes good with ukulele? Almost everything really, but in this Ukulele Sidekicks series I’ll be exploring some logical ukulele companions that you can get going on easily if you have multi-instrumentalist aspirations and want to bring a different sound to your ukulele group, whether it be an informal jam session, a regularly rehearsing ukulele orchestra or just a small duo.

My experience with ocarinas.

I was first exposed to the ocarina as a child. My oldest brother was a missionary in Chile for two years and brought home two beautiful clay ocarinas in different sizes. I thought it was sooooo cool and really wanted to learn how to play it. Unfortunately, no one in my family knew the fingering system and the internet was still a long ways away from providing easy reference for info on almost any subject.

Fast forward forty years. I decided it was time to fulfill my childhood longing and I bought a Focalink Osawa Soprano C Ocarina. It is an awesome instrument and was under 20 bucks. Having played other wind instruments since I was a youth (my father was a band director), it didn’t take me long to pick up the basics with a fingering chart in hand. I featured this instrument in my cover of The Lion Sleeps Tonight, as a replacement for the background operatic soprano in the original recording. I think it worked nicely there. I also purchased a soprano G and an alto C, but haven’t made as much use of those, mostly because I love the bright and cheery range of the soprano in C.

Stepping Up to Purple Clay

I’m planning a performance at the Renaissance Faire next Summer and am planning to include the ocarina in my instrument line-up (as vessel-flutes have been around since ancient times, even though the modern ocarina is only a couple hundred years old). The bright plastic yellow of my first soprano ocarina feels like it would be a little out of place among all the leather and homespun cloth. So …

After doing some research, I ordered a new purple clay soprano ocarina in C marketed as one of the pro-level instruments by STL Ocarinas. It happened to be on sale for eighty dollars (you gotta love that a pro-level ocarina costs about the same as a beginner-level ukulele). It finally came after some shipping delays (darn pandemic) and …

I am in LOVE with this thing (recording coming soon!). It offers a pure, piercing sound that is going to carry well in an outdoor setting. It also is easier to play and stay in tune with itself (though my yellow ocarina was no slouch).

Ocarina Acquisition Syndrome?

Like ukuleles, ocarinas are relatively inexpensive instruments, and it is easy to start collecting. There is also a practical reason to own several ocarinas, as they come in a variety of keys and ranges.

What key should I get?

Common keys for the ocarina are C, G & F. While 12 hole ocarinas are chromatic, meaning they can play in any key, they are easiest to play in their ‘home’ key as well as a key one fifth up and another one fifth down (the closest keys on the circle of fifths). Therefore, an ocarina in the key of C will most easily cover the keys of C, F and G, while the G ocarina models are most practical in G, D & C. Finally, the F ocarina models are easiest in F, C & Bb. So if you have 3 ocarinas in C, G & F then you can easily cover songs in Bb, F, C, G & D. With a little practice you can add Eb & A to that lineup of keys. Other keyed instruments may be available if you search around, but these cover the most common ukulele keys anyway.

What range should I get?

Ocarinas come in Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass ranges. While a lot depends on the model, ocarinas are generally louder in the soprano models and very quiet in the bass models (the higher the louder, the lower the softer). Caveat: the material the ocarina is made out of and the quality of construction also effect volume (read reviews before buying). For live performance, without amplification, soprano and alto models are probably the best. If you’re willing to mic or are planning to record in a studio, any model can be made to work as long as it is a quality instrument.

How do I play the ocarina?

I like method books, so I purchased the Hal Leonard Ocarina Method which is just under fifteen dollars. It really is an excellent book and I plan to record some of the melodies it covers in the future.

Getting started though is as easy as referring to an ocarina fingering chart and blowing (less air for lower notes, more air for higher ones). One of the cool things about ocarinas is that they are a transposing instrument, so you only need to learn one set of fingerings to play any 12-hole instrument, and you will read music in C. However, this can be a problem when playing with others if you don’t know how to transpose music. Because of this I would definitely suggest getting a C instrument if you’re not familiar with a lot of theory and transposing seems daunting. Later on you can branch out when you feel comfortable with the concept that a G instrument will play a G when you finger a C, and an F instrument will play an F when you finger a C. On a C instrument, a C is a C is a C, of course.

What should I play on ocarina with ukulele?

Here are some ideas for incorporating your new ocarina skills in your ukulele group:

  • Instrumental riffs integral to a song can be covered on ocarina. Imagine the opening guitar riff on Layla, or the flute part on Down Under … these would be awesome on ocarina.
  • Just play the melody for a verse.
  • If you have arranging or improv skills, play a new countermelody of your own.
  • Many older songs like Blue Skies, or Over the Rainbow follow an AABA song form. This makes for very short songs by today’s standards. Often times in the original recordings of these songs they would extend the song by doing a second instrumental B-section and then doing one last chorus of the A-section, making the song AABABA in form. This second B-section is an ideal place to cover the melody, simply or jazzed up, on ocarina.

Of course any of these ideas and more will work if your a multi-tracker in your own studio as well.

Transposing from Standard to Baritone Ukulele

If you’d like to try your hand at baritone ukulele, but find the idea of learning a whole new set of chords daunting, try thinking of transposing from standard (GCEA) to baritone (DGBE) this way:

  • There are only 7 note names: A B C D E F G … A B C etc.
  • All of these can be sharped # or flatted b, but E#, B#, Cb & Fb almost never seen as they are the same as F, C, B & E respectively.
  • The C chord shape is the G chord shape on a baritone.
  • This means any chord on standard will be three steps down … C (skip B & A) becomes G.

Thus:

D shape becomes A.
E shape becomes B.
F shape becomes C … etc.

If you add a sharp or flat …
Db becomes Ab.
F# becomes C#.

Hope that helps!

On Christ, the Solid Rock, I Stand (aka My Hope is Built on Nothing Less)

On Christ, the Solid Rock, I Stand : Also known as My Hope is Built on Nothing Less. Lead sheet and chord indications. If you need to look any of these chords up, my favorite tool is UkeBuddy.

If you’re unfamiliar with the tune, here is a separate version of this song I produced (different keys than the version above):

Got an Amazon Gift Card for Christmas? Gift ideas for Ukulele players.

One of the fun things I got from my wife this year was an Amazon gift card in my stocking. I already spent it towards a Shaman Drum (frame drum) to use in some upcoming videos I’m planning. Here are some other ideas from things I’ve personally tried out …

A New Tuner

Tired of your painfully inaccurate cheap headstock tuner? I was. I recently upgraded to the Fishman FT2, which boasts 1 cent accuracy for only fifteen dollars. I have NOT been disappointed. It is amazing and will be my official tuner going forward with my students and ensembles (when we can finally start meeting together again). Review to come in 2021.

A Travel Uke

I did a review of the Enya Nova carbon fiber composite ukulele (concert-size) earlier this year. I’ve liked the instrument enough that I recently completed doing demo videos for all 34 songs in one of my books with this ukulele in hand. If you need a great first ukulele, or something you can leave in the car without worrying about it, this is an awesome choice and now comes in six colors:

I just found out they now offer a soprano-sized edition in black or blue!

Percussion

If you play in a group, percussion is always a nice thing to add to a number or two when performing. Some percussion can also be added to solo performances or to multi-track videos you’re producing at home. Take advantage of the away time most of us are experiencing due to gathering restrictions by adding some percussive skills to your lineup. Some small percussion instruments in my collection include:

Something still on my wish list is a Stomp Box.

Keep that Uke Handy

I have about a dozen String Swings installed about the house to hang my ukuleles within easy reach.

ALL 34 Tutorials for Christmas on 34th Street Now Complete

The playlist is complete! Tutorials & Sing-alongs for ALL 34 songs and carols from the book Christmas on 34th Street. Each song has 3-4 chords and many are presented in multiple keys, so you can choose the key that’s best for your voice, or modulate from key to key.

Hope you find these helpful and enjoyable!

What Child is This? : Complete Ukulele Tutorial & Sing-along

The lyrics of this beloved carol hail from 1865, paired to the gorgeous tune of ‘Greensleeves’ from the late renaissance, first published in 1580. I have never cared much for it as a melancholy love song, but adore the song as a Christmas carol. It reminds me a little of the transformation that more modernly the tune ‘Stewball’ was morphed into John Lennon’s Happy Xmas Was is Over … another vast improvement over the original lyrics.

The Wexford Carol : Complete Ukulele Tutorial & Sing-along

Perhaps my favorite carol of all-time hails from Wexford Ireland and is thought to date back to renaissance. I first heard this beautiful carol on one of the King’s Singers Christmas albums and absolutely fell in love with it. Being a reflective, lyrical tune, it may never get played on ‘Christmas’ radio stations and thus enter the canon of well-known carols … it is a favorite to program on classical concerts and is still sung by artists that appreciate a great tune … Julie Andrews, Loreena McKennitt, Yo Yo Ma and Alison Krauss, Celtic Women, Trace Adkins, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and more.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas : Complete Ukulele Sing-along & Tutorial

Perhaps the only song known to celebrate ‘figgy pudding’ – it is always a great choice to close a caroling set or Christmas concert.

Wassail, Wassail All Over the Town : Complete Sing-along & Ukulele Tutorial

The first time I heard this carol was learning it in choir in high school … the wonderful arrangement by Vaughen Williams. I LOVE this one! It is just a ton of fun to sing. Also known as the Gloucestershire Wassail, Vaughan Williams collected a version of the carol in 1909 and merged it with a version collected by Cecil Sharp to produce what is commonly sung today.

Up on the Housetop : Complete Ukulele Sing-along & Tutorial

The oldest popular ‘Santa’ carol (from 1864) still gets covered by artists across the spectrum … Lawrence Welk, The King Sisters, Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Jackson 5, Jimmy Buffett, Reba McEntire, George Strait, Pentatonix, Straight No Chaser and many more. This is a fun one for ukulele and great for beginners as it uses the all four of the first chords that students often learn C, F, G7 & C7 … I do it almost every year with my new ukulele youth students.

The Twelve Days of Christmas : Complete Ukulele Sing-along & Tutorial

This carol used to be a bit of a mental tongue twister for me, but I’ve gotten a lot of practice on this carol as I have this wonderful illustrated book version by Laurel Long that I’ve sung/read to my son over the past few years (gorgeous illustrations!).

The Sussex Carol (On Christmas Night all Christians Sing) : Complete Ukulele Sing-along & Tutorial

This popular British carol has been a favorite among composers to arrange and is featured in Vaughan Williams beautiful Fantasia on Christmas Carols. Being in 6/8, it is a great one to throw in a variety of triplet techniques.

Sing We Now of Christmas : Complete Ukulele Sing-along & Tutorial

Once again we return to France for another beautiful renaissance-age carol, Noël Nouvelet, or Sing we Now of Christmas.

Silent Night : Complete Ukulele Sing-along & Tutorial

Silent Night is the quintessential Germanic carol and quite possibly the most well-known Christmas song in the world. “On Christmas Eve 1818, Mohr brought the words to Gruber and asked him to compose a melody and guitar accompaniment for that night’s mass, after river flooding had possibly damaged the church organ. The church was eventually destroyed by repeated flooding and replaced with the Silent-Night-Chapel.” [Wikipedia]

Shepherd! Shake Off Your Drowsy Sleep : Complete Ukulele Sing-along & Tutorial

Yet another delightful tune of French origin, I grew to love this carol from a recording by Julianne Baird & the Aulos Ensemble performing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There’s not a lot of information out there on the origin of this carol, but I adore the fanciful imagery of flowers bursting through the snow as if it were summer dew in celebration of the miraculous birth.

Rocking Carol : Complete Ukulele Sing-along & Tutorial

Rocking Carol was first published in an anthology in 1920 in Czechoslovakia, where it was described as a traditional Czech carol and was loosely translated into English by Percy Dearmer. In the 60s Julie Andrews did a tender rendition of it on the 4th Firestone Christmas Album. It has no relation to a certain song by Queen.

Once in Royal David’s City : Complete Ukulele Sing-along & Tutorial

Whenever I think of this Christmas hymn, I think of the longstanding tradition of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King’s College in Cambridge. Each year since 1918 (amidst the hardships of World War I) on Christmas Eve the program opens with this beautiful tune, which is used as a processional.

O Come, Little Children : Complete Ukulele Sing-along & Tutorial

The sweet and simple carol “O Come, Little Children” is based on the nineteenth-century German song, “Ihr Kindelein, kommet” by Christoph Von Schmid, a German Roman Catholic priest and schoolmaster, who authored this carol approximately 1850. The verses were set to an existing melody by Johann Abraham Peter Schultz who lived a half century earlier.

The March of the Three Kings : Complete Ukulele Sing-along & Tutorial

This Christmas carol dates from 13th century France during the time of the crusades. My own translation of the text is loosely based on the original French. I undertook this endeavor because though I LOVE the tune, I’ve never found a translation that really matched its rhythm and meter well.

More on the history of this great song can be found in Reader’s Digest Merry Christmas Songbook (1981): “The Crusades … created an enormous interest in both faith and fighting in the Middle Ages. French peasants from Provence in the 13th century, when the tune for this “March of the Kings” was being sung and danced to, must have endowed the Three Kings of the Christmas story with all the virtues and appearance of their own folk heroes nearer at hand. These were the French dukes, clad in gleaming armor, carrying brilliant banners and bejeweled shields, who fought for the Pope far more willingly than they would have for the lives of their own serfs. Hence the martial references in this text, sung to a tune that is perhaps even older than the verses. Georges Bizet, composer of the opera Carmen, used the same tune as a farandole, or stately dance, in his incidental music for Alphonse Daudet’s play L’Arlesienne (The Woman from Aries).

Masters in this Hall : Complete Sing-along & Ukulele Tutorial

I love this carol, but I think it is hilarious that the melody is an old 18th century French dance tune once known as “The Female Saylor.”

Joy to the World : Complete Sing-along & Ukulele Tutorial

Joy to the World holds the distinction of being the most published Christmas hymn in North America.

Jolly Old Saint Nicholas : Complete Sing-along & Ukulele Tutorial

Jolly Old Saint Nicholas … Another bit of 19th-century Santa nostalgia to keep company with Up on the Housetop and A Visit from St. Nicholas (‘Twas the Night Before Christmas). This song is credited as helping the Ray Conniff Singers’ Christmas album “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” achieve platinum status in 1962.

Infant Holy, Infant Lowly : Complete Sing-along & Ukulele Tutorial

Infant Holy, Infant Lowly … It is believed that this beautiful, traditional Polish carol may date back to Medieval times. There are number of English translations (at least three). I chose to cover two verses from separate versions.