It was love at first sight for Erin Mahr.
When a green paisley ukulele arrived at West Music in Moline, where she works in sales and as the conservatory director, she wouldn't let it go.
"I thought, 'Hey, that's awesome,' " she recalled. "I wanted it, and it seemed attainable."
She's part of a comeback for the ukulele, a small, four-stringed instrument that at first glance resembles a guitar.
Long thought of as just for Hawaiian luaus, it has received a boost by being featured in recent pop songs such as "Hey Soul Sister" by Train, "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz and a version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" by Israel "Iz" Kamakawiwo'ole. Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder released an album of "Ukulele Songs" in May.
Also pushing the wave is singer and actress Zooey Deschanel, half of the duo She Him and the star of the TV series "New Girl."
Older fans might think more offbeat, with 1960s-'70s avant-garde performer Tiny Tim coming to mind.
"That's the image I'm trying to dispel. When you mention ukulele to people my age, that's the first name that comes to their mind," said Alan Morrison, 49, who owns AM Guitar Repair in the Village of East Davenport.
"But younger kids, when they think ukulele, they think it's cool — Jason Mraz and Train and all that," he said. "That's been their exposure to it."
Thanks to the Internet, the ukulele is making its own
celebrities.
"There are YouTube sensations out there who have been playing ukulele online for each other, and all these websites coming up with lessons," Mahr said. "There are all these communities sort of secretly playing ukuleles."
Morrison said about half of his 30 guitar students also own a uke, and he's only been selling them since November. A recent class at the Q-C Rock Academy in Davenport brought 10 students who ended their one-hour lesson with a group version of "Over the Rainbow."
Mahr experimented with giving lessons in January and was overwhelmed when 18 players (ages 7 to 81 years old) showed up. Eight people already are signed up for beginner classes starting Wednesday. She has specialty classes as well, including an all-Beatles night on Monday and plans for a '90s grunge night as well as a night of songs by female musicians.
Mahr and Morrison say the selling points of the ukulele are its low cost, ease of play and a large fun quotient.
"It's just a happy instrument," Mahr said. "It's convenient, it doesn't really cost a lot of money to get a beginning one."
"The thing is they're super-easy to learn how to play," Morrison said. "There's only four strings, they're very small, so it's easier to get your hand around the neck, and most of the chords are only one-, two- or three-finger chords.
"People pick up on them real quick," he added.
Beginning ukes cost as little $30-$40 and as much as $400-plus.
Mahr said it's more versatile than people think.
"It's not really as intimidating as a guitar or other instruments. There's not much to it, but there are a lot of chords and a lot of musical things you can do with it," she said. "You can definitely shred on a ukulele if you wanted to."
Dave Jessen of Bettendorf, a former guitar player and a student of Mahr's, said he was glad to make the switch.
"Ukulele seemed like it'd be fun," the 54-year-old said. "It's a lot easier for me than a guitar. I've got arthritic fingers and this seems easier to get my fingers around."
Morrison and Mahr have seen some players make unique uses of the instruments.
Mahr said Don Abbott, who is a teammate of hers at ComedySportz Quad-Cities, takes it along to performances.
Morrison said his wife, Julie, uses it when teaching at the St. Ambrose Children's Campus in Davenport.
The first Quad-City Ukulele Club, organized by Mahr, is meeting today at West Music. There's no registration and no cost, she said, just ukulele musicians who want to play together.
"We're hoping that if there's enough interest, we can go out and play in the community, like libraries, nursing homes," she said, "wherever ukulele is needed."
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