Cassidy Herman
Special to The Leader
Have you ever heard of a braguinha? Maybe you’re more familiar with the ukulele. That’s what you may be hearing more and more of on Fredonia’s campus. Jam sessions keep popping up around campus.
First, a bit of history on ukes.
The ukulele was invented in the 1880s.
According to most accounts, a man named Manuel Nunes went to Hawaii with his friends, Augusto Dias and Jose do Espirito Santo, to work in the sugar cane fields. While they were there, they created the ukulele which was based on a Portuguese instrument called the braguinha.
It wasn’t until 1929 that it was introduced in Japan. It grew in popularity there along with other forms of Western music.
In the 1960s, the ukulele began to be used in schools in musical education in Canada. Around the same time, the ukulele grew in popularity in the U.K. and the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain was formed.
The ukulele began to become popular in the United States in 1915 at the Panama Pacific International Exhibition.
The Great Depression provided another gateway for the ukulele. As sales of pianos, accordions and other pricey instruments soared, Americans helped boost the ukulele to peak popularity in the 1930s. That’s when bluegrass music took off as well.
Ukuleles commonly come in four sizes: soprano, concert, tenor and baritone. There are also bass, contrabass and pocket. The tone and volume of the instrument vary with size and model.
Guitars are bigger than ukuleles. The standard guitar has six strings while the ukulele has four. The fretboard of the ukulele is significantly thinner than the guitar, as well as being much shorter.
Although most ukuleles have four strings, some come in six or eight strings, and they are often referred to as a taropatch ukulele.
“I always joke that guitar is made for aliens. You need seven fingers to play because there are six strings. You need your thumb behind, then you need six fingers in front,” said Dr. Jill Reese.
Dr. Reese is Fredonia’s leading ukulele booster, leader of the jams and a bit of a YouTube star through her uke videos.
You may not know much about the history or facts about the ukulele or even how to play it, but Fredonia students and the community have several opportunities on campus where you can learn.
Dr. Reese leads different kinds of jam sessions for people of all levels of ukulele playing.
“My favorite part of running Fredonia Ukulele is playing music with other people, that for me is where I get so much joy,” said Dr. Reese.
Community Jam Sessions, B-Side Uke Jam sessions and Uke-newbie jams are the levels of jams that Dr. Reese teaches.
Community jam sessions are typically the last Friday of each month at 6 p.m. No matter your skill level, you are welcome in this group. If you’ve never played ukulele, but are interested and willing to learn, these sessions might be the ones for you. Extra ukuleles will be provided for you if you don’t have one so you can join in. Dr. Reese holds a “beginners and brush-up” session at the beginning of each Final Friday Jam Session.
B-side Uke Jam Sessions are new additions (since summer 2016) to the Community Jam Sessions. B-side Uke Jams are intended for ukulele enthusiasts who are a step beyond beginners. Participants should be familiar with basic chords (C, F, Am, G, Em, D, Dm) and strumming. Although Dr. Reese welcomes everyone, you should note that this session moves at a quicker pace than her usual jam sessions.
Uke-newbie Jam (pronounced “oo-ka-noo-bee”) is intended for beginners and those who would like to work on the basics. Participants will focus on some basic chords (C7, F, C, G7, G, Am)
and strumming. Unlike the B-Side Uke Jams, this jam session moves a bit slower.
“The jams are just a great way to de-stress. I just enjoy playing the instrument in general and it’s great to see people of all different interests come together just to enjoy playing,” said Alexia Lekos, member of the Fredonia Ukulele club.
The most popular and best-selling ukulele song was “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz in 2008. The song was on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for a total of 76 weeks and sold more than $6 million downloads. You can definitely find this song on Dr. Reese’s YouTube channel and possibly at one of her jam sessions.
If you are unable to make any of the jam sessions, you don’t have to worry. Dr. Reese has a YouTube channel in which she posts songs for ukulele players to play along to. You can find her on youtube by searching “drjillreese.” “According to Google Analytics, the YouTube channel has had over 6,200,000 views and has almost 25,000 subscribers,” said Dr. Reese.
The attendance level of these jams range from 30-45 people, but Dr. Reese would love to have more students to attend.