Their approach to music feels at once old-timey and totally modern. They exhibit an enviable versatility on several instruments—Collins on tenor banjo, tenor ukulele, and guitar, and Jordan on cello and guitar—and they blend their voices to create harmonies that wrap listeners in sound.
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Shimabukuro plays a custom-made 4 string tenor ukulele from Kamaka Ukulele. Early in his career he experimented with the use of effect pedals, but for the last eight years has relied on the natural sounds of the ukulele and avoided sound manipulation."Jake Shimabukuro Interview". J-Pop World.
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In his later years, he moved to the larger tenor ukulele, which was becoming popular in the 1930s. Edwards continued to record until shortly before his death in 1971. His last record album, Ukulele Ike, was released posthumously on the independent Glendale label. He reprised many of his 1920s hits; his failing health was however evident in the recordings.
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Both classically trained musicians, Collins and Jordan are known for their tight, sweet, smooth vocal harmonies and simple, exposed, crafted instrumentation on cello, tenor ukulele and guitar. They could draw easy and favorable comparisons to The Indigo Girls. Like their forebears, Tina & Her Pony's harmonies are deep in the pocket. The songs themselves carry a gentle wisdom that invigorates the listener.
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A number of instruments bear the name "tiple", some of which are not closely related to the tiple Colombiano. The American tiple, for example, created by the R.R. Martin Company in 1919, is sized closer to a tenor ukulele, and has ten strings, grouped 2-3-3-2. The Martin Tiple The modern variant most closely related to the Colombian tiple is the requinto tiple.
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Lyle Ritz began his music career as a college student working at the Southern California Music Company in Los Angeles. Responsible for the small goods department, he demonstrated instruments including the ukulele, which was being popularized by Arthur Godfrey at the time. He purchased a Gibson tenor ukulele for his own use. Drafted into the US Army during the Korean War, Ritz played tuba in the United States Army Band.
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Art "Dustbowl" Fowler (1902 – April 4, 1953) was an American actor and musician known as "The Wizard of the Ukulele". He played tenor ukulele accompanied by a gentle croon. Among his hits are "No Wonder She's a Blushing Bride", "Crazy Words, Crazy Tune" and "Just A Bird's Eye View of my Old Kentucky Home". From Oklahoma, Fowler took up ukulele around 1922, playing professionally from 1925 with his first professional performance at the Metropolitan Picture House in Los Angeles.
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Traditional model: tenor ukulele in mahogany Mya-Moe ukuleles have been built from over 20 woods including traditional koa as well as myrtlewood (Umbellularia) found only in the local southern Oregon and northern Californian coasts. Mya-Moe Ukuleles are available in five different sizes;: soprano, super soprano, concert, tenor and baritone. Once the building process begins on an instrument, daily progress can be viewed on the UkeTracker page of the Mya-Moe website as photos are taken for each step.Clark, Jack.
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Kamaka ukuleles are endorsed by a number of professional musicians including ukulele prodigy Jake Shimabukuro. Shimabukuro, who achieved popular recognition following the performance of his arrangement of George Harrison's 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps', plays a Kamaka 4-string tenor ukulele custom built to his specification by the luthiers at Kamaka's workshop. The instrument features solid master-grade Hawaiian curly koa wood and a Fishman pickup. George Harrison was also fond of the Kamaka ukulele; he played the concert, the tenor 6-string and tenor 8-string.
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Tenor guitars are normally tuned in fifths (usually C3 G3 D4 A4, similar to the tenor banjo, mandola, or the viola) although other tunings are also common, such as "Chicago tuning" (D3 G3 B3 E4, same as the top four strings of a standard guitar or a baritone ukulele), "Irish" or "octave" tuning (G2 D3 A3 E4, like an octave mandolin or tenor violin, one octave below the usual violin/mandolin tuning) and various "open" tunings, for slide playing. The tenor guitar can also be tuned like a soprano/concert/tenor ukulele, using various versions of G3 C4 E4 A4 tuning.
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Marvin recorded 49 records for Victor Records from 1926 to 1930.Johnny Marvin, Discography of American Historical Recordings, University of California at Santa Barbara His contract with Victor was not an exclusive one; he did performances and recordings under a large number of names with a variety of labels: Elton Spence and His Ukulele, Ukulele Luke, Jack Lane and His Uke, George Thorne, Billy Hancock, Honey Duke and His Uke - Harmony Label, Jimmy May and His Uke, and Ken Wallace. Harmony Musical Instruments Company of Chicago produced the Johnny Marvin Professional Tenor Ukulele as well as "The Prince of Wales" made of traditional koa wood. He presented a copy to the Prince of Wales on one of his trips to England.
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In the 7th and 8th grades in the Junior Academy at Punahou, "ukulele" was a required music class for all students; thereafter Shane became quite accomplished with the ukulele, graduating from standard to tenor ukulele and then to baritone uke, with one or the other almost always in or near his hand. Guard and Shane were also regularly exposed to Japanese language and music broadcasts, as well as broadcasts of Chinese, Filipino, and Portuguese languages and music. Popular Japanese tunes of the 1949–1953 era, like "Kankan musumae (koku no Hawai'i)" were popular among haole and non-haole's alike. Rarely understanding the meaning of the words, but being able to remember and sing a medley of popular and traditional Hawaiian "folk music" was virtually a requisite at house parties, beach parties, moonlight gatherings, and other events.
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