All language subtitles for Mighty.Uke.2010.1080p.WEBRip.x264-RARBG.eng

- Aloha, my name is Jake Shimabukuro,

I was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii,

and I've been playing ukulele
since I was four years old.

("Third Stream" by Jake Shimabukuro)

It's the underdog of all
instruments, when people see it,

they don't expect to hear all these sounds

coming from this little sound box.

(audience cheers and applauds)

Thank you very much.

It just kinda freaks them
out, and because of that,

there's that element of
surprise, and I think in music

or any kind of art form,
people like to be surprised.

(medieval fanfare)

- [Voiceover] To most people,
the piano, properly played,

is music.

But music has no country
and no particular medium.

The only Greek instrument was the lyre.

Can it be that such a noble instrument

was the father of this one?

(high-pitched ukelele strumming)

We refuse to believe it.

("Uke Talk" by J. Chalmers Doane)

- [Narrator] For many,
the ukulele is a joke.

It's a kitschy Hawaiian novelty.

Or a relic from some bygone era.

For baby boomers, it was a popular toy.

But eventually, the rise
of the rock and roll guitar

pushed the little ukulele into obscurity.

That is, until now.

("One Small Suite For Ukulele:
Allegro Con Brio" by Hill)

The ukulele has returned.

And it's the most curious
comeback in music history.

- Y'all hold up your ukuleles!

(cheering)

- I feel it's an honest instrument.

Anyone can learn how
to play a couple chords

and then, all of a sudden
we can sit around a circle

and sing songs together,
it's a people's instrument.

- [Narrator] People all over the world

are unleashing their inner music.

- There's a lot of music in the ukulele.

A lot of music in the ukulele.

- There's something about
it that I think represents

a paradise lost.

This time and a place that was
innocent and at the same time

kind of wild and crazy.

- I would never have dreamed
that I would be traveling

all over the country, that I'd
be playing ukulele festivals,

I'd never have dreamed that.

- It seems that there is a movement now,

there's a ukulele revolution going on.

- [Narrator] Welcome to an
alternate musical universe.

- This is all messing with my head,

because I had really
comfortably put the ukulele

in this little shoe box
and it was tightly closed,

right here in my mind, as this.

- Everybody asks, is it
a violin or is it a gun?

And no, it's a ukulele,
it makes people happy.

- This is my first uke.

(laughs)

I've actually never
thanked this uke before.

Thank you.

For everything you've given me.

("Going To Santa Cruz" by
James Hill and Andy McNeill)

Tonight's our monthly meeting

for the Ukulele Club of Santa Cruz,

and tonight's my favorite meeting.

- [Man] Let me know if
you're here for open mic,

we're gonna start at 6:30.

- Twice a year, we do
open mic amateur night,

and tonight's the night.

Okay Art, you're at one.

- [Art] Okay.

- Okay Selena, you are six.

In the spot six.

("Stranded With You"
by Jayme Kelly Curtis)

♫ Gee, how I'd love to be

♫ Stranded on a desert island with you

- [Narrator] The Ukulele
Club of Santa Cruz

began as a campy Hawaiian party.

Today, it's a music
community of thousands.

♫ We'd strum our ukuleles

- The ukulele has this wonderful way

of keeping things accessible,

and the fact that there's
warble in the music

and warble in the voices,
and even warble in the walk

if you live that side,

that's a non-issue.

♫ With you

(audience cheers and applauds)

Way to go, brother!

It's so heartwarming
to see the huge smiles

on people's faces when they
get up and do that first song

for the first time.

- One, two,

three, four!

("Keep On The Sunny Side Of Life")

♫ There's a dark and troubled side of life

♫ There's a bright and sunny side too

♫ Though we meet with the darkness

- From a restaurant in
California to a pub in England,

no DJ or jukebox, just
voices and ukuleles.

♫ Keep on the sunny side,
always on the sunny side

♫ Keep on the sunny side of life

- The ukulele cuts through
the commercialism of music.

It allows you to be a musician
on your street corner,

in your living room, down your local pub.

("Going To Santa Cruz" by
James Hill and Andy McNeill)

(crowd cheering)

- [Narrator] This musical
revolution knows no borders.

In Japan, Taketoshi
Odajima and his friends

have a ukulele afternoon.

- I wanted to play guitar or piano,

but I was not a good player.

But once I think about this ukulele,

it is the easiest
instrument I've ever had.

("Hava Nagila")

- [Narrator] And in Israel.

♫ We are playing

♫ The ukulele for peace

- People are amazed, from both sides,

that Arabic and Jewish
people can get along

but we kinda felt that we
have the same language,

that we have our own language.

- Politics fall away,
ethnicity falls away,

gender falls away, all of those things,

better than really anything
that I've ever seen in my life,

it's a unifying force.

- The whole thing was an accident.

We didn't go to college

to go into the (laughs) ukulele business.

("Going To The Flea Market" by
James Hill and Andy McNeill)

- [Narrator] Once upon a
time, Jim and Liz Beloff

had established careers in
the entertainment industry.

- [Jim] Liz and I are
big-time flea market nuts,

and one day about 15 years
ago, we walked by a whole bunch

of stuff on a blanket, and
there was a ukulele on it,

and it jumped up and said, "Take me home."

("For The Love Of Uke" by Jim Beloff)

Here was this instrument
with two fewer strings

than a guitar, and yet the
sophistication of the chords

was all there, and I had
no idea that you could get

that kind of pretty sound
out of what I thought

was sort of a novelty instrument.

So the next thing I did
was I tried to track down

old ukulele songbooks.

So I recall, nobody had them.

Why?

'Cause the ukulele had fallen

completely off the pop culture radar.

If you went into a music
store and you looked

in the ukulele section,
there was nothing there,

and that was when the light bulb went off.

This is the first book we did

with the goofy head.

Then we did the how-to-play book,

Jumping Jim's Ukulele's Tips 'N' Tunes.

Had to do a Christmas book.

Kids' songs.

And then we started to fall
in love with the spiritual.

This was maybe one of
the most fun to work on.

We've sold almost 300,000 songbooks.

It is scratching some kind of deep itch

that may not have even been
experienced in a lot of us.

You could take your first
finger and do the bar there

and then take your middle finger.

And then the question comes, well why this

and not pianos or harps or violas,

and I'm not entirely sure,
except that when you think

of the ukulele, you bring along

all of your associations with Hawaii.

- [Men] One, two, three, four.

("Pachelbel's Canon")

- [Narrator] In Waikiki, Chris and Daniel

do what Hawaiians have
done for generations:

they're making music
together with their ukuleles.

- Well I've been playing
ukulele ever since I was six.

Whenever I could pick this
thing up, I just jammed.

Jammed until my fingers
hurt and I'd go to bed.

- When I was young, growing
up, at least my experience was,

there was an ukulele in
every house in Hawaii.

("On The Beach At Waikiki")

Here comes 'A 'Oia.

(moves into "'A 'Oia")

It wasn't as if it was an instrument

that you learned to play,

you just pick it up and
just start strumming away.

("On Fire" by The Ka'au Crater Boys)

- [Narrator] In Honolulu,
the ukulele is everywhere.

It's a universal symbol
of this tropical getaway,

and a cheap souvenir for the
millions who vacation here.

But an hour outside of town,
on the dry side of the island,

the ukulele is much more than that.

It's a connection to the past.

To what was once the
great kingdom of Hawaii.

("Haleakala Hula")

(singing in foreign language)

Jarrett, Aunty Leimomi
and Honeyboy have been

at jams like this since they were kids.

It's something they call kanikapila.

(singing in foreign language)

- Kanikapila is when a bunch
of buddies get together,

your friends, family, and
we just have a jam session

and everyone takes turns.

You sing one, you sing one,
you sing one, you sing one,

yeah, it goes right around

and we just enjoy dreams.

It's the love of Hawaiian
music has kept us close.

(singing in foreign language)

- You like kanikapila,
that's really jamming.

You don't have to worry about the crowd

or if you're doing good or what,

you just do what you can do, that's it.

(singing in foreign language)

(laughing)

- In kanikapila, it wasn't even necessary

that you play an instrument.

The only thing somewhat
necessary is that you respect

the people who are there
and not get in their way,

and have a love and respect for the music.

("Ahe Lau Makani")

- [Narrator] The ukulele
first appeared in Hawaii

in the late 1800s, about a
half-century after missionaries

first brought Christian
hymns to the island.

(rhythmic traditional drumming)

(singing in foreign language)

Before them, Hawaiian music
didn't have familiar conventions

like harmony and melody.

Chanting, percussion and
dance told the stories

of the gods and the kings.

But there was no ukulele.

("Alekoki")

That's because the instrument
so symbolic of Hawaii

actually has its ancestry on
the other side of the planet,

on another tiny island:
Portuguese Madeira.

Natives on this wine-making island

played the five-string rajao

and its tiny four-string
cousin, the braguinha.

In the 1870s, Madeira suffered a drought.

Thousands were forced to emigrate,

and wherever they went,

they brought their instruments with them.

With an invitation from
the king of Hawaii,

thousands of Portuguese
braved the four-month trip

around the tip of South
America to their new home.

And their odd musical instrument
had an immediate impact.

- [Voiceover] During the past week,

a band of Portuguese musicians have been

delighting the people with
nightly street concerts.

The musicians are true performers

on their strange instruments.

We confess to having
enjoyed the music ourselves,

and look forward to hearing more of it.

- [Narrator] When word
reached the royal palace,

it caught the attention of
Hawaii's king, David Kalakaua.

- Most of the things we
have here at the museum

are not out on exhibit,

and the early ukulele that we have here

are a couple of those pieces
that we keep in the back.

Hello.

- [Woman] Hello!

- [Kealoha] To make sure,
is Betty gonna set up here

in her office?

- [Woman] Yes, she's in the
office now, it's already set up.

- Here we have some of the
earliest ukuleles on exhibit.

This one, according to
our records at the museum,

was presented by Kalakaua to a family

as a gift, here, in 1890.

So it has come from the king,

and how we got it, we're
not certain, but it is part

of this collection.

("Kaheki Kau Lani")

- [Narrator] King Kalakaua
was the first monarch

to circumnavigate the globe.

He was visiting world leaders,
trying to discover a way

to rejuvenate his ailing kingdom
ravaged by Western disease.

- He was there was this
decline in population,

there was a decline in
morale; the base of that

was the fact that we were
losing some of our traditions.

He traveled the world
and made these treaties

to bring in labor, but he
understood that those cultures

would bring whatever came with them.

- [Narrator] These finely
crafted instruments

caught the king's fancy,

and when Portuguese
luthiers applied the tuning

of the five-string rajao to the body

of the four-string braguinha,
a new instrument was born,

and it ended up in the hands of the king.

- He was the Merrie Monarch.

Now, did he know other instruments?

Oh my God, they all did in Hawaii.

They had grand pianos and
guitars, they knew all that stuff.

But he just loved that little ukulele.

Because it was joyful, and that
was part of his personality,

he was a party-giver and
a party-goer, and in fact,

he threw some parties that
went on for several weeks.

- Koni Au, which is his
famous drinking song,

is a great song to play ukulele on,

because the keys are very
simple and it's easy enough

to add that beat of (singing
in foreign language)

(laughs)

("Koni Au I Ka Wai" by David Kalakaua)

(singing in foreign language)

- [Narrator] The king encouraged
its use in the revival

of traditional music and
dance, and within a few years,

the ukulele became part of
the Hawaiian musical palette.

Kalakaua died at the age of only 55,

and just a few years
later, Hawaii was annexed

by the United States.

("Aloha Oe" by )

But his passion for the ukulele

had brought together two cultures.

And the song Aloha Oe,
written by his sister

and played on the ukulele, would become

the signature song of Hawaii.

("Tomi Tomi")

By the beginning of the 20th century,

a small industry had started up.

Hawaii had fallen in
love with the ukulele.

(singing in foreign language)

- When I lived there as a young boy,

I was known, as a kid, as
the best ukulele player

in the world.

Well of course, they'll
say that, they don't know

when you say the world,
that's exaggerating.

somebody's gonna be better
than you, but at that time,

I played the hell out of this instrument.

I really played better that
time, I think, than I do now.

- [Presenter] Ladies and
gentlemen, Mr. Bill Tapia.

(audience applauds)

- [Narrator] Bill Tapia picked
up his first uke in 1915

and recently celebrated
his 101st birthday.

("How I Learned To Speak Hawaiian")

♫ I wanna learn to speak Hawaiian

♫ So I could say the
prettiest things to you

♫ I wanna learn to sing Hawaiian

♫ So I can do the hula hula too

- [Narrator] He taught
Shirley Temple how to play,

and Betty Grable, and Jimmy Durante.

And as a kid, he witnessed firsthand

the growing infatuation with the ukulele.

♫ It's going to thrill
me through and through

- Every place I went, I
had the ukulele with me.

Even when I went to school,
I used to distract the class.

They followed me during
recess and I'd play

outside the school, and
we'd go back in class late.

Every place I went,
I'd ride on streetcars,

they had trolley cars,
I had the uke with me,

the conductor said, "Go in the back."

I'd go in the back seat and
I'd play and everybody starts

singing and every damn
thing in the streetcar.

♫ Oh Honolulu

♫ America loves you

When I was 16,

I worked on ships going
from Honolulu to L.A.

I played ukulele for Hawaiian music,

they used Hawaiian music
on the ship for dinner.

That was my first big break.

- [Narrator] It was also
the ukulele's big break,

as more and more mainlanders

discovered their new American paradise.

The thirst for the exotic
sounds of Hawaii was growing.

♫ Any night my Dad stays out 'til three

In 1915, it hit critical mass.

♫ Oh Honolulu, we've
got to hand it to you.

(seagulls squawking)

("One Small Suite For Ukulele:
Largo Cantabile" by Hill)

San Francisco has been a
trend-setting city for decades,

and it was here that the ukulele
first found its spotlight

on the world stage.

For Dan Scanlan, this place
is something of a shrine.

- Well, we're standing
in the Marina District

of San Francisco, in the very spot

where the Pan-Pacific
International Exposition

was held in 1915.

- [Voiceover] From reclaimed ground

on the Golden Gate shores,

there arose, like magic, a
beautiful city of jewels.

- [Narrator] This was one of the world's

great cultural exhibitions.

24 countries and all
48 states had exhibits,

and right in the center
of it all was the pavilion

for America's new Hawaiian territory.

("On The Beach At Waikiki"
by Dietrich and Wright)

17 million people visited the exposition,

and crowds were enthralled by the tones

of the Hawaiian quintet.

Their leader, Henry Kailimai,
had just written a song

in English and Hawaiian.

It was going to alter the
course of American pop culture.

(singing in foreign language)

♫ Sweet brown maiden said to me

♫ As she gave me language lessons

♫ On the beach at Waikiki

- That song sold more
records and more sheet music

than any other single in 1915 and 1916.

Everybody wanted to experience the song,

the exotic rhythms of
Hawaii, and of course,

On The Beach At Waikiki
was a perfect song for that

because it gave you location.

("On The Beach At Waikiki")

- That was a big thing,
to see a little ankle.

And here the Hawaiians are,
beautiful brown-toned people,

playing ukuleles and doing hula dances

and showing lots of skin,
and it was quite acceptable.

It was wonderful.

The next year, RCA Victor's
catalog of records,

which were brand new at the time,

the vast majority of them were Hawaiian.

- [Narrator] The ukulele
arrived in New York City

at the same time that
millions of immigrants

were starting a new life in America.

("By The Light Of The Silvery Moon")

- We're on 28th Street,
the home of Tin Pan Alley,

and this is where it all began,
the songwriting industry.

♫ By the light

♫ Of the silvery moon

♫ I want to spoon

♫ To my honey I'll croon love's tune

A lot of the classic Tin Pan Alley songs

were written on piano, but
it was marketed to the masses

with this little instrument in mind.

You would find the ukulele
chord symbols on all the pieces

of sheet music, and of course,
this was the instrument

of the people, this was
something everybody could afford,

or within reach.

So even though the songs
were written on piano,

this was the vehicle

by which folks could
actually enjoy these songs.

♫ Ukulele baby

♫ Of love I'm singing
but you keep stringing

♫ You just got me crazy

♫ The way you roll

- [Narrator] The uke's tight
rhythm was perfect for jazz,

and a generation tossed
off Victorian morals,

launching a decade-long party.

♫ But you get coo-coo-cooler

♫ Ukulele baby

Ukuleles were selling by the millions.

They could swing hard, get
a laugh, and get the girl.

♫ He knew just what
lovin' was invented for

♫ So when his heart cried love songs

♫ He's got to sigh to her

- It was the music of the young,

and this little instrument
went right along

with the fashion.

It was as much a symbol
of being collegiate

as a raccoon coat.

Now, you couldn't always
afford a raccoon coat

but you you could go to Sears & Roebuck

and get one for a few bucks.

("Crazy Words, Crazy
Tunes" by Johnny Marvin)

- [Narrator] The great
ukulele craze put music

in the hands of millions
of amateur musicians;

the backlash was inevitable.

♫ There's a guy I'd like to kill

♫ And if he doesn't stop, I will

♫ Got a ukulele and a voice
that's loud and shrill

♫ And he lives next door to me

♫ And he keeps me up 'til three

♫ With a ukulele and his funny melody

♫ Crazy words, crazy tunes

♫ All you'll ever hear him croon

♫ Is vo-do-do-de-o, vo-do-do-de-o, doe

By the early '30s, the fad had faded.

Jazz evolved into other rhythms

that the ukulele couldn't follow.

(static hisses)

- Now folks, here's a real surprise.

- For them or for me?

(audience laughs)

- This is a surprise for everyone.

- For a minute I thought you
were gonna bring back Tiny Tim.

(audience laughs)

(audience applauds)

- [Narrator] In 1968, the ukulele returned

to the pop charts,
propelling the instrument

into a very different
realm of pop culture.

- Wait 'til you see this.

Tiny has added a bit of choreography

to his usual presentation.

- There is nothing usual
about Tiny Tim's presentation.

(audience laughs)

("Tiptoe Through The Tulips")

♫ I'll tiptoe through the window

♫ By the window, that is where I'll be

♫ Come tiptoe through the tulips with me

- Tiny Tim was this guy who
started to appear on television

like crazy, and he was kinda
considered a big cartoon

and pretty much a joke
to the world at large.

(television static hisses)

Beneath the cartoon that
most people think of

when they think of Tiny Tim

was a guy who was just deeply in love

with the material that he performed.

He was an absolute encyclopedia
of American popular music

from the early 1900s to '30s or '40s.

The reason he got into the uke
was that it was an instrument

that he could audition with,
and then if they hated it,

he could escape fast.

He carried it, not in a uke
case, but in a paper bag,

and so it came out of the paper
bag fast, he did his number,

(laughs) and if the response
was less than positive,

he could put it back in the
paper bag and beat a hasty exit.

(audience applauds)

(television static hisses)

("Apao's Trip" by Kuricorder Quartet)

- [Narrator] The uke became
known as the instrument

of wackos and weirdos, and
sales dropped off a cliff.

The instrument was once again consigned

to the trash heap of history.

This time, for about 30 years.

- Initially, it was with the
concert for George Harrison

where the baby boomer
generation of rock stars

came out as uke players.

I interviewed rock stars
as a job, and the people

you would least likely expect
to have ukes, play ukes,

and love ukes, had ukes.

("Turkish Rondo")

Somehow, this tiny little instrument

that nobody really took
seriously was shown as something

that people you took
seriously, took seriously.

But in a not serious way;
there's so much ambiguity

about the uke.

("One More Lie To Love" by
James Hill and Anne Davison)

- [Narrator] In the 21st
century, the ukulele is finding

its way back into the spotlight,
as musicians rediscover

a unique musical voice.

- As a kid, I always was
finding things in the trash.

(laughs)

And we saw someone, I
guess, pick up this ukulele

and put it down in the
trash, out the window.

I watched it for a little while

to see if anyone was
gonna come back for it,

and when they didn't, I
went out and picked it up.

I don't think it had all the strings

on it, but it had some cool stickers

and I've been playing it ever since.

("Remedy" by Jon Bromon)

♫ My buddy, my man, my partner, my dude

♫ My homie, my first compadre

♫ No kind of emotion, no reason, no logic

♫ Can explain the way that
we linked it, we locked it

♫ My buddy, my brother, my brah

♫ Never be lonely if I could call ya

♫ And talk some nonsensical shit

♫ That nobody else gets,
this is it and I wanna say

♫ I remember when we first met

♫ It was maybe August

Sometimes I think, if I heard,

"Oh, you want to come hear
"some ukulele hip-hop?"

I probably wouldn't be that
interested in it (laughs).

But with hip-hop, I think it's
actually really well-suited,

'cause I was writing songs
on the ukulele before,

but when I hit the hip-hop thing,

I really thought I hit my stride.

- You know a good song if you
can play it on the ukulele

and it sounds amazing.

You know that it's a good
song; there's no fluff,

there's no tracks to cover up.

If it's a good song, it'll
come through by playing it

on the ukulele, instantly.

♫ Tell me stars and
moonbeams twinkle in the sky

♫ Tell me that my world
is pink and not blue

♫ And I'll be alright

♫ I'll be fine

♫ Tell me dolphins sing starfish lullabies

♫ Butterfly kisses dry my eyes

♫ I'll be alright

♫ I'll be just fine

Well I've been singing
and danced since I was 15,

and that really dates me,
I'll just leave it at that,

but I've been in a bunch of cover bands

and I sang backup for about
four years for Johnny Otis.

But until I started writing
songs and playing the ukulele,

I didn't really find my voice

because I was singing
other people's music.

♫ Tell me mermaids know
where buried treasure goes

♫ Tell me that my world
is pink and not blue

♫ And I'll be alright

♫ I'll be just fine

♫ I'll be alright

♫ I'll be just fine

In the key of C, the
people's key (laughs).

Last summer, I quit my
job at the record store

to follow a dream, and in the
last year I have been touring

and playing music, and
that's how I've been

making my living.
(audience cheers)

♫ I'm on my way-ay-ay-ay

♫ Ay-ay-Ay

♫ I'm on my way-ay-ay-ay

♫ Ay-ay-ay

♫ I'm on my way-ay-ay-ay

♫ Ay-ay-ay

♫ I'm on my way

(audience applauds)

There's so many reasons why I love ukulele

but one is, most people
still don't take it seriously

in the real world, so they
think I'm just bringing a toy.

I never have to explain myself
when I go through customs,

I don't need special rigs or roadies.

I'll take groupies, but
not roadies (laughs).

(bright, swaying ukulele music)

- [Narrator] Now we're
south of Los Angeles.

Canadian James Hill is
making a pilgrimage of sorts.

- There's this community of
people who are crazy enough

to try to make their living doing this,

and you get to see them at every gig.

- [Narrator] Tonight, James is performing

in Carlsbad, California.

The Museum of Making Music
is celebrating the ukulele.

There's a concert and an exhibit

dedicated to the instrument's
place in American culture.

- The ukulele is always
fighting the novelty factor.

It's so good at being a novelty.

But if it's going to really
survive and become an instrument

like any other instrument, not
that I'm saying that would be

a good thing, but you know what I mean.

It would stick around and be
part of the musical landscape

for generations to come;
if we're gonna do that,

we gotta be creative.

(melodic, rhythmic tinkling)

("Chopsticks" by James Hill)

The driving force of some of my work is,

what is the ukulele, in and of itself?

What can the ukulele
do in its native tongue

that maybe another instrument
just couldn't do as well?

(wood cracking)

- [Narrator] When he's at home

in the Nova Scotia wilderness,

James Hill composes music for the ukulele

that he hopes will be taken seriously.

("One Small Suite For Ukulele:
Allegro Con Brio" by Hill)

- I wrote One Small Suite
For Ukulele because I had to.

I wrote it to prove to myself
that this was possible,

and it also seemed slightly radical

to make the ukulele the
focus of an orchestral piece.

(laughs)

- [Narrator] James and
his partner Anne Davison,

both classically-trained musicians,

are taking the ukulele
into unknown territory.

- I just wanted to push
it, pedal to the metal.

See how far can I go before
this thing explodes on me.

- [Narrator] And in the process,
he's discovered something

that sets it apart from other instruments.

(audience applauds)

- The ukulele is a strumming machine.

That seems to be its native
voice, it's the strum.

And there are all sorts of
things you can do with the strum;

the sonic boom moment is where you start

making more sounds than moves.

(virtuoso ukulele music)

That's just a bit of a magic moment.

When the sound check and
the visuals don't sync up.

That fries people's
brains, and they love it.

("Ode To A Frozen Boot")

(audience applauds)

(rhythmic clapping)

Your turn.

(rhythmic clapping)

Was that together?

- [Narrator] So why would
a virtuoso pick the ukulele

as his favorite instrument?

- Ready, go.

(rhythmic clapping)

(class chanting)

- It actually wasn't so much
how I came to the ukulele

but how the ukulele came to me.

Your turn.

(deliberate strumming)

In the community where I grew
up, Langley, British Columbia,

they have this wonderful tradition

of teaching elementary music
education through the ukulele.

So in grade four, I got
a standard issue ukulele

just like all of my other classmates,

and I had to do two
years' mandatory service.

It's the best thing that's
ever happened to me (chuckles).

("Song For Cheri" by James Hill)

- [Narrator] Just outside Vancouver,

this sleepy bedroom community
looks like any other.

- You know what, you handled
that beautifully, well done.

Because the reality is
we need the portables.

I'll see you sometime after
my long principal's meeting

tomorrow morning.

- [Narrator] But there
is one big difference.

- One, two, one, and.

(intricate ukulele music)

Stop, let's start that again.

That's very good, that's
great play, I can hear it

on my left-hand side, it's right on.

(mimics ukulele strumming)

Make it a little bit more intense,

a little bit more mysterious, ready?

One, two,

one, and!

("Flight Of The Bumble Bee")

- [Narrator] And that
difference is Peter Luongo.

- The very first time I stood in front

of a group of students, started
to teach them to play it,

and saw that as I started adding harmony,

added discordal as supplement to it,

that I had kids making music.

(mimics ukulele strumming)

And,

and...

I like it.

I grew up playing the accordion,

another really loved instrument,

and another one that's got a reputation,

the more you have to win people over.

As a young college student,
I attended university

and they offered a course in
classroom music instruction

that featured ukulele.

♫ Follow my example

And I just believe that this is among

the most effective ways to
teach music to children.

(flowing, meandering ukulele music)

- Hi!

- [Narrator] Canada has a long tradition

of teaching kids music with the ukulele.

- I was brought in as
the first-year teacher,

had very early success
with a group of students

who wanted to learn.

We probably have, I'm gonna
say close to 1,000 kids

who are learning to play.

- [Narrator] Tonight is
the annual ukulele recital.

- My daughter started
first with the recorder,

which was not something we
really enjoyed that much.

But you know, you don't
like to discourage them,

but I was certainly happy when
she brought home the ukulele

because even at the beginning,

(audience applauds)

you can play something
that sounds like music.

- [Narrator] The best players
form the senior A orchestra.

- Ladies and gentlemen, the
Langley Ukulele Ensemble

will now perform Tico-Tico.

One, two,

one, two, one!

("Tico-Tico no Fuba")

How did I recognize that
all of this was possible?

It didn't take much,
once students could see

what they could do with the instrument,

it became about me making sure
that I was confident enough

to teach them to take their
full potential to play.

Right, the first left hand!

One, two, one!

(audience gasps)

The ukulele is seen as
something insignificant,

it's seen as something that
you can't be serious about.

Part of the allure for me is
that I get the opportunity

to change that perception.

(audience cheers and applauds)

- Well, I've been in the
ensemble for six years now.

I've been playing since grade four now,

so it's just always been
in my life, ukulele.

I know in elementary school, you say,

"Oh, I play the ukulele, but it's dumb,

"my mom's making me do it." (laughs)

But it does definitely
change as you get up

through the groups and as you realize

the type of music that you're
making is really advanced.

("Blue Danube")

(audience applauds)

(moves into "Die Fledermaus")

When you play the ukulele
and you just let out

all your emotions into your playing,

it is magical in a way, I would say.

You can create really nice
harmonies and melodies

and rhythm at the same
time and accompany that

with your voice, and it's
really empowering, too.

("Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring, BWV 147")

(ensemble harmonizing)

(audience applauds)

(plane engine screeches)

("Nanakuli")

- [Narrator] So why would
a bunch of teenagers

give up their evenings and
their weekends for the ukulele?

Because every summer,
they get to go to Hawaii.

- My teacher had told us
eventually you could get

into a group that goes to Hawaii;

I just knew I needed to be in that group.

(laughing)

(singing in foreign language)

- [Girl] Alright!

- [Narrator] Every year,
the Langley Ukulele Ensemble

has a two-week host gig
at the Sheraton Waikiki.

(lonesome ukulele music)

- Hi, everybody!

- [All] Hi.

- How are you?

- [Peter] Never mind the
handshake, my friend.

- Yeah yeah, brothers don't
shake hands, brothers hug.

(Peter grunts)

(teens giggle)

Taimi Palakai is an ukulele
player, choral director,

and a part-time firefighter.
- Yeah, let me see the words.

- 'Kay, how many of you
have the words memorized?

- Nobody!
- Negative!

- [Narrator] And he teaches the kids

traditional Hawaiian
songs every time they come

to the islands.

- [Taimi] Go.

(rhythmic clapping)

(singing in foreign language)

Okay, let's go over it by itself.

(singing in foreign language)

Okay great, try that.

(singing in foreign language)

- I definitely enjoy
playing the Hawaiian music

on the uke.

It's Hawaiian instrument
(laughs), most popular in Hawaii,

so you just get that feeling

it's just meant for the ukulele.

(singing in foreign language)

("Latitu")

- We have a fairly big Hawaiian repertoire

and you kinda get a hang or
feel for the Hawaiian words.

After playing it for a
while, you can feel it.

("William Tell Overture" by
Gioachino Antonio Rossini)

- [Narrator] The novelty
of foreign kids performing

on Hawaii's instrument isn't
lost on the local media.

- Once again, Peter Luongo,
the director over here,

putting in this rigorous schedule,

just making them work so hard.

- [Narrator] Here, the
ukulele is serious business.

These kids will do two
to five shows a day,

(cheering)

give daily lessons to hotel guests,

and study with the Hawaiian
masters of the instrument.

But the highlight of
the trip is performing

in the Hawaiian communities
that have inspired

so much of the music
that the group's played.

- Welcome to the heat of Nanakuli.

That's why we sing, that's
why we have to sing.

This is where the ukulele came from,

we'd be very depressed if
we didn't have an instrument

to keep us occupied in the afternoon sun.

Back in the 1800s, much like a lot of your

First Nations people, Hawaiians were moved

off of the prime land and put into land

that was arid and dry.

To your right is one of the
original homestead properties

that was created for people
of Hawaiian ancestry.

Unfortunately, throughout
time, being from this part

of the community, you get stereotyped

and you fit this picture.

But a lot of the songs you
play come out of this box.

Come out of this area of Hawaii.

("Kawika")

(singing in foreign language)

- [Narrator] The audience
knows this as a song of praise,

written for their last king.

But for the Langleys, it's
an intimate cultural exchange

they'll never forget.

(singing in foreign language)

(audience cheers and applauds)

- Teachers live for the aha moment,

when the light bulb goes on.

And really, as the musical director,

this is an offshoot of that.

I'm not in a classroom,
or maybe better stated,

my classroom is different;
my classroom is the stage.

And when that audience
responds as they do,

you know you've hit it.

(singing in foreign language)

("Hawaii Aloha")

- [Narrator] Tonight is
the last show of the trip.

And for those graduating,

it's the last time they'll
play with the group

they've been part of for
nearly half their lives.

(audience cheers and applauds)

- It is sad knowing
that you can't be a part

of this forever, but
continuing friendships,

like you see it all the
time when people leave,

their friendships just stay like that.

- The friends I still keep
in touch with from Langley

are ukulele friends, and
it's because that connection

and those experiences were so
much more profound and varied

and rich, and that was all
thanks to the instrument

and what we were doing with it.

("Amazing Grace")

- [Narrator] This humble instrument,

born in a wood shop in Honolulu,

became a star on Broadway
and in Hollywood.

It's brought cultures together
and put music in the hands

of the many.

Maybe it's time we showed
the ukulele a little respect.

- Ukulele.

Pass it on.

(laughs)

("Uke Talk" by James Hill)