Ukulele: The World’s Friendliest Instrument

Ukulele: The World’s Friendliest Instrument
Ukulele: The World’s Friendliest Instrument
Daniel Dixon
Gibbs Smith Publishing
Hardcover
144 Pages
Audience – Any Player
Rating – 
Ukulele pictured  – c. 1960’s Silvertone Baritone

Lavishly illustrated it follows the same general format as most ukulele books.  It starts with a history of the instrument and its emergence from Hawaii to the rest of the world.  It then goes into a variety of the great players, both past and present, and some of the amazing manufacturers.  The use of photographs and pictures makes the book flow nicely and provides a colorful read.

The book includes a few pages at the back from “The Daily Ukulele” by Jim Beloff on playing the instrument and a chord chart with 108 of the most common chords.  The resources include web sites and local clubs, but it is a limited listing (12 entries) and is unfortunately already out of date.

Overall I found this an enjoyable read and I would recommend it to anyone interested in the history, both past and near past, of this friendly instrument.  I believe the author delivered on his attempt to entertain, with a bit of education mixed in.  My biggest negative is the lack of an index makes it difficult to use as a reference, something I would be likely to do.

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