Frequently Asked Questions
- How is "ukulele" pronounced?
- The correct Hawaiian pronunciation is "OOH-koo-LEH-leh" (pronounce the vowels like you would in Spanish or Italian). If someone pronounces it in the non-Hawaiian way ("YOU-kuh-LAY-lee") near my teacher, she tends to shout "OOK!" at them.
- Isn't it actually ʻukulele (with a diacritical mark)?
- Yes, it is. That mark is known as an okina, which is where a glottal stop occurs in Hawaiian words. See Wikipedia for full details on the okina. I don't usually use it, because (as is seen in the Wikipedia article) it's tricky to display properly in browsers. Plus, I usually forget to include it, due to a lifetime of writing the word without the mark.
- What sizes of ukulele are there?
- The instruments generally come in four different sizes; from smallest to largest they are the soprano, the concert, the tenor, and the baritone. Again, see Wikipedia for plenty of information on the instrument.
- Where does the name "Flea Jumper" come from?
- I got the name from my chiropractor, who started calling me this after he found out I play the uke. (He recently started taking mandolin lessons. Maybe I should start calling him "Almond" or something like that.)
- Who's running this site?
- Jim Allenspach, who also runs Empty-Handed, Legnog, and also has a hand in these other fine sites: Gapers Block; An Exquisite Corpse; and Rubbernun.