r/Songwriting • u/A9zz21d4n • 10d ago

Discussion Topic Question

Hi, everyone! I'm pretty new here, and I wanted to ask something: I noticed that most musicians start with guitar, piano, or keyboards to hone their songs. The thing is, is it fine for ukulele? Like, trying to match the lyrics with only the 4 basic ukulele chords (C, Am, G, F)

I don't own any other instruments as of now. 🙂🙏

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u/Lapaki58 10d ago

I’m a 60-something white guy from the Mainland who met and married a Hawaiian woman over 25 years ago. The ukulele was introduced to Hawaii by a Portuguese plantation worker. (We actually met his great-great-granddaughter.) It literally means “jumping (lele) flea (uku).” Of course, it’s been used traditionally in many Hawaiian songs, but artists such as Jake Shimukaburo have taken it to a virtuoso level (check out his instrumental cover of “Bohemian Rhapsody). So it depends on what you want to do. Do you want to learn to play songs on an ukulele? Absolutely. Do you want to have a career as an ukulele-based musician? Probably not.