Books, Books, Books

Here are a few resources for the 'ukulele, Hawaiian music and instruments, instructional material, and some generalized songbooks. Be aware that some authors have "an axe to grind" - not all opinions reflect the objective facts as we now know them. Research by serious scholars continues.

The 'ukulele and the taropatch are descendents of instruments brought to Hawaii by settlers from Madeira in 1879, specifically the machete and the rajao. The machete was originally tuned DGBD but as it evolved into the 'ukulele, the tuning changed to GCEA; for a time,  D-Tuning was popular together with numerous other alternative tunings. It was about the size of a soprano 'ukulele.

The taropatch came from the rajao, a five-string instrument slightly larger than the machete, and was tuned DGCEA (reentrant). It was about the size of a tenor 'ukulele. 

Primary sources include:

• Ulukau, the Hawaiian Electronic Library. An amazing source of information not the least of which is their collection of books and music resources. They also have two significant photographic collections plus numerous Hawaiian dictionaries.

• Hawaii State Archives. Sometimes a challenge to navigate but their archives have information that is not otherwise available. They have some excellent photographs and their digital archive continues to expand.

• The Honolulu Community College Library has an excellent list of resources on their Hawaiian Literature Resources webpage.

• Hawaiian Music for Listening Pleasure - Recordings, Recommendations & Remarks. The Blog of Dr. Amy Ku‘uleialoha Stillman. Recommended.

• The Internet Archive (Books, recordings, photographs, etc)

• Google Books

• Project Gutenberg

• The Library of Congress including the guide to Hawaii Collections in the Archive of Folk Culture. Numerous text and music recordings are available in their over 100,000 items that relate to Hawaii.

A Bit of Background

• Liliuokalani,_Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen (1898) 

• Emerson, Unwritten Literature of Hawaii:_The Sacred Songs of the Hula (1909). A significant source for the hula including forms, music, and instruments.

• Roberts,_Ancient Hawaiian Music_(1926). Excellent resource!

• King & Tranquada, A New History of the Origins and Development of the 'Ukulele, 1838—1915 (2003). This article is from the Hawaiian Journal of Music and represents the initial work by King and Tranquada which was followed up by their full-length history: The 'Ukulele: A History (University of Hawaii Press, 2012). This book is widely available in formats that include hardback, paperback, and electronic copies.

• Hawaiian Song, the Library of Congress.

Songbooks

It would be impossible to post all of the Hawaiian and 'ukulele songbooks that have been published, but here are a few to help you get started.

• Buke Mele Lahui: The_Book of National Songs (1895, 2003)

• He Buke Mele Hawaii by_Liliuokalani (Queen of Hawaii) (1897)

• Buke Mele Hawaii ka Hoonanea o na Homes.pdf

• Ka Hae Hoonani (The Banner of Praise) (1874)

• Ka Robina Gula (The Golden Robin) (1874)

• Ka Lei Alii (The Royal Crown) (1878)

• Na Mele Aimoku. The full title is Na Mele Aimoku, Na Mele Kupuna, a me na Mele Ponoi o ka Moi Kalakaua I (Dynastic Chants, Ancestral Chants, and Personal Chants of King Kalakaua I) (1886, reprint 2001)

• Ka Buke o na Leo Mele Hawaii no ka Pono a me ka Pomaikai o na Home Hawaii (1888)

• Moyer,_Up To Date Collection of Ukulele Solos_(1919)

• Nā Mele o Hawai'i Nei_- 101 Hawaiian Songs (1970)

• Michael Madden,_Collection of Old Tunes for Ukulele (2014)

• The Remick Collection of Popular Songs with Ukulele Accompaniment (No.4) (1917)

• The Remick Collection of Popular Songs With Ukulele Accompaniment (No. 7) (1926)

• The Remick Collection Popular Songs with Ukulele Accompaniment (No. 8) (1927)

• Rung,_Comic Songs and Solos for the Ukulele_(1922)

• Jack Snyder's Comic Songs for the Ukulele and Ukulele-banjo_(1924)

• Littig's Comic Songs for Ukulele or Tenor Banjo_(1924)

Instructional Books

Not all of the earliest chord books and instructional books have been scanned but here are a few to start with. There is a huge number of instructional books available for the 'ukulele. Most are based on CGEA (C-Tuning).

• Ernest Kaleihoku Kaʻai,_The Ukulele_A Hawaiian Guitar and How to Play It (1910). The earliest known instructional guide.

• Bailey,_A Practical Method for Self Instruction (1914)

• Moyer, National Self Teacher For Ukulele (1915)

• Santos & Nunes,_Original Method and Self-Instructor on the Ukulele (1915)

• The Kamiki Ukulele Method (1917)

• The Original Guckert's Chords for the Ukulele At Sight (1917)

• Kalamona,_EZ Method-How To Play the Ukulele or Ukulele-Banjo (1924)

• Roberts Progressive Method for the Ukulele and Ukulele Banjo (1924)

• Fillis,_Simplicity Method for Ukulele and Banjo Ukulele (1926)

• J. Kalani Peterson,_Peterson Ukulele Method (1927)

• Illustrated 5-Minute Guaranteed Ukulele Course for Hawaiian Ukulele and Banjo Ukulele (1937)