Art & Entertainment: Ukulele Solos: the Uke's Most Impressive Displays

Author: Al Wood

When most people think of the ukulele, they picture someone strumming gently to accompany their singing. Something slow and soothing. But the ukulele is capable of a great deal more than that. Some players really push what the ukulele can do as a solo instrument, playing melody and chords on just the four strings of the ukulele. Here are some of the pieces you need to hear if you think the ukulele isn't a real instrument.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps - Jake Shimabukuro

Jake Shimabukuro performed his rendition of The Beatles' While My Guitar Gently Weeps for the website Midnight Ukulele Disco. From there, it ended up on YouTube and became a viral sensation. Jake Shimabukuro, from Hawaii, has since become the most famous ukulele player in the world and played this piece again Conan O'Brian and Carson Daily's shows. Conan O'Brian even went so far as to call it his favourite performance ever.

Down Rideau Canal - James Hill

James Hill is, without doubt, the best ukulele player in the world today. He comes from Canada and, though you might not think it, Canada has one of the world's biggest ukulele scenes (matched only by Hawaii). Down Rideau Canal is a tune James wrote about skating on Rideau Canal and it's a tour de force of ukulele strumming and techniques.

William Tell Overture - Andy Eastwood

Andy Eastwood comes from a very different school of ukulele playing. He is British and his playing is very much part of the British tradition of ukulele playing including, most famously, George Formby. He doesn't play a traditional ukulele but a banjolele (a cross between a banjo and a ukulele). His solo ukulele version of Rossini's William Tell Overture is a breathless race through the tune with one of the wildest and most flamboyant outros you'll ever hear.

Stars and Stripes Forever - Jesse Kalima

Jesse Kalima started performing Stars and Stripes Forever in the mid-30s when Hawaii was bidding to become on of the United States of America. He used this tune to win the Hawaii Amateur Ukulele Championship in 1935 and went on to become one of the innovators of solo ukulele. He was one of the first people to show what the ukulele is capable of as a solo instrument.

So, if you ever doubt what the ukulele is capable of, track down these tunes and have it proved to you otherwise.