Uke Night

I and a friend attended one of Ukulele Manila's Meet, Strum & Jam sessions (free admission, free short lessons) and was able to play the uke for the first time. It's just soooo cute! And the soprano was smaller than I thought at first.  It felt weird to hold and play it 'cause it was so cute and small :) And my left thumb tired easily 'cause unlike the guitar, I could't rest my palm on the fretboard. Anyway, I tried playing a Susing's, and it was amaaaazing! I didn't really find that a (Sta. Mesa) Lumanog guitar sounded great (though I'd never trade my Lazaro for anything in the world!). Which made me prematurely conclude that all Philippine-guitars are meeh. But after I tried a Susing's uke, I thought whoooooooa!

I've read about Susing's in the past. It's a very famous guitar shop and maker in Cebu (Cebu, you're officially in my bucketlist of places to visit!). Anyway, I've been wanting to buy a pineapple uke, but I played a standard uke during the MSJ (standard meaning the sexy, curvaceous guitar sounding board). I realized the merits of the curvaceous uke when playing standing up: the curves act as anchors across the pelvic area, so I was able to hold the uke steadily even without a sling on.

Uke major chords are weird, especially the ones that need to be barred. Like E (4442) and D (2220). Instead of barring E on the fourth fret, I used three fingers to press the strings. I should warn those with.... er, slightly big fingers: get a concert or the bigger ukes.

If you're interested to buy a uke, visit Ukulele Manila's page. As for me, I'm saving up for a Susing's, which a UM member said would soon be available in their stocks.