My Dog Has Fleas

Every Hawaiian kid I know has picked up a ukulele at some point in his or her life. It's easy to learn a few chords; the ukulele has only four strings compared to the six strings on a guitar, and the first chord, C Major, is quickly learned by placing the second (the middle) finger on the A.

To tune the ukulele each of the strings G,C,E, and A can be matched to the corresponding key on the piano, although a musician only needs one "true" note to tune the entire instrument, much like an entire orchestra tunes to an "A."

The "air ukulele" cartoon is funny because of the ukulele's popular image as a sedate, Island instrument. However, the current generation of artists, including my cousin by way of marriage, tests the limits of the ukulele.