Jimi Hendrix and the uke: how the ukulele gave us the greatest guitarist of all time
Within the wide world of guitars, the humble ukulele is often scoffed at, viewed as something of a novelty or a children’s toy in comparison to the superior musicality of a traditional six-string. For decades, the uke has been the butt of jokes and musical pretentiousness. Still, the instrument actually has just as much claim to the development of rock and roll as the electric guitar, helping to produce the world’s all-time greatest guitar hero.
The image crisis of the ukulele is fairly understandable, given the position of the instrument within popular culture. First developed in Portugal in the 19th century, before finding a natural home within the sun-soaked islands of Hawaii, the ukulele was introduced to the masses in the UK by the comedic stylings of George Formby – remembered particularly for his controversial ‘When I’m Cleaning Windows’ song, banned by the BBC. Thus began a long history of the ukulele being viewed as a novelty instrument, the last resort of unimaginative vaudeville comics and holiday resorts.
In the modern age, the image of the ukulele has again been discredited, this time by the advent of YouTube vloggers. In the early days of the platform, you could hardly move for millennials using the uke as a vehicle for poorly-aged parody songs and godawful original compositions.
This style has continued into the present day, perhaps best encapsulated by the horrendously out-of-touch musical apology video created by Colleen Ballinger after the viral sensation was accused of sexual misconduct. However, modern artists like Billie Eilish have adopted the ukulele into their repertoire, bolstering the idea that the uke can form part of a successful music career.
Eilish was not the only one who adopted the miniature guitar into her music career. Former Beatle George Harrison was also noted for his adoration of the instrument. The utilisation of the uke by one of the most respected musicians of the 20th century must have done something to improve the image of the instrument, yet it still remains the unwanted step-brother of the six-string. Perhaps things would have been different for the poor old ukulele if more people were aware of the fact that the instrument set Jimi Hendrix on a path to rock and roll heroism.
According to Hendrix’s brother, Leon, who wrote the book Jimi Hendrix: A Brother’s Story, the master of psychedelic rock got his start on a ukulele. During childhood, the young Jimi could be found experimenting with a battered, old one-string ukulele, predicting the stringed genius he would later become known for. “If [Hendrix] tightened it a little more, it got even higher and vibrated less.” Leon recalls, “He began turning the tuning peg as he strummed to make the pitch go up and down.”
Even at a young age, playing one string on a cheap ukulele, the talents of Jimi Hendrix were unavoidable, according to his brother. “Even though he was playing single notes,” he explained, “he still followed along to a couple Elvis Presley songs on the radio. [Jimi] did it all by ear and matched up the notes.”
So, while he may be best remembered for the guitar-playing brilliance of tracks like ‘Machine Gun’ and ‘Voodoo Child’, it is worth remembering that, were it not for the humble ukulele, the world might never have heard the distinctive tones of Jimi Hendrix, the greatest guitarist of all time.
