Let's face it: Half the fun is that the thing is just plain silly. "Many people think of the ukulele as a joke," says Andrews, who's serious enough about the instrument to have collected 150. "People's expectations ... are very low, and when they hear it, they are flabbergasted at how very beautiful it sounds. But when you take a ukulele out of your case, people almost immediately start smiling."
The birth of the ukulele can be traced to 1879 when Portuguese sailors brought a forerunner of the instrument to the Hawaiian Islands, according to Jim Beloff, author of The Ukulele: A Visual History (Backbeat Books; $24.95).
Popularity boomed after the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco ignited interest in all things Hawaiian. In the late 1940s, uke-playing TV/radio star Arthur Godfrey fueled another wave. But soon after Tiny Tim warbled his 1968 hit, Tip-Toe Thru' the Tulips With Me, accompanied by ukulele, interest faded.
Fast-forward to the early 1990s. Beloff became smitten after he bought an old Martin ukulele at a flea market. He began to create songbooks, and a decade later, his Web site, www.fleamarketmusic.com, serves as a nexus for all things ukulele. It sells CDs, books and so far, more than 12,000 custom-built Fluke ukuleles.
These days, ukuleles are easy to spot. Paul McCartney plays one on the Concert for George DVD in honor of fellow Beatle George Harrison. Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder occasionally whips one out in concert. And millions of kids know the uke from another icon: undersea hero Spongebob Squarepants, who strums one in his home in Bikini Bottom.
There's even a virtual, Web-only Ukulele Hall of Fame Museum at www.ukulele.org.
"There is something kind of lighter both physically and spiritually about the instrument," Beloff says. "It really is a creature of an era of music that really was fun — funny and novelty-like."
