The most amazing ukelele playing you will ever see (Jake Shimabukuro)

submitted by crayfish
1 decade 8 years 2 months ago

223 Comments

gknutsonsays...

I taught ukulele for years to my classes... gave it up as a lost cause. If I had heard this guy, I think I would have become a ukulele evangalist! I am sure I would still be playing one too!! I admire his dedication and the hours of practice it represents. Thanks! I am glad a friend shared!!!!!

James Roesays...

ktgrosch, if you hit play, then hit pause, and wait for the gray bar to move alllllllll the way to the right, you will be able to play it from your computer. It will probably take quite a while though.

harriersays...

I did studio work for several years, playing guitar and bass, and I still play in a band. After saying that, I've got to say that was Awesome! I'd trade our guitarist for Jake! Nah, that wouldn't be cool, but I'd love to jam with him!

uluhemansays...

I found this clip through reddit.com, suspecting from the title that the player might be Jake. It was. We're lucky to live in Honolulu, Jake's home, so we've seen him countless times and he's always amazing. If anything, this video shows only a sliver of what he does so well. The instrument is an ukulele, which is as big in Hawaii as surfing and shave ice. However, if you like ukulele, please explore Hawaiian music, for you'll find all sorts of great players, from jazz soloists to Hawaiian groups. A typical ensemble might have a uke or two, guitar(s), and bass--all acoustic--with all the players also singing in close harmony, often in Hawaii's very distinctive falsetto style. My personal favorite group is Maunalua, a trio. Jake plays live in Hawaii, tours Japan, and probably the Mainland.

geronimosays...

This is magnificent play and with great spirit. A true tribute to George Harrison. Never knew one could play so crisp and clear on a ukelele.
I'm sure to go listen to jake's cd Dragon. Enjoy.

dnitrasays...

If you havent seen Jake live on stage, you MUST put it on your to-do list. Redeem aluminum cans, whatevah you gotta do to go see him, it will be a performance you won't forget. I laughed, I cried (homesick for Hawaii) and thoroughly enjoyed myself, so did my nine year old BIG TIME Jake fan!! Fan club member in fact. Keep it going Jake!! You are in our hearts forever and ever!

couplandsays...

Wow, there wasn't a SINGLE silly or negative comment about this clip, I'm floored. But why should I be? I'm not a musician, yet I can't stop hitting play over and over again. Brilliant stuff.

eeeeeeeeeeeeekksays...

Jake, your playing is beautiful and inspiring. I don't have a huge musical knowledge: is the the strutting a scaled miniature of an acoustic guitar? I've been thinking of learning to play, but my fingers have limited strength. The ukelele's neck looks to be a more comfortable stretch than that of an acoustic. All that aside, you play remarkably!

James Roesays...

Obligatory call out, if you registered just to vote here, perhaps you should check out the rest of the site. This is merely video 79 of almost 1,000. Surely we have other vittles to tempt your taste buds.

ArtoSsays...

Excellent. Magnifique !
Il doit y avoir de meilleurs joueurs de Ukulele, mais on voit qu'il prend plaisir à jouer !

I think there are betters players, but he 's got so much pleasure playing this song, that it's very incredible. What a beautiful song ! But, hum... What's the title of this song please ?

TheRezsays...

My oldest son lives on Maui and plays his Granny's 60+ year old Martin Uke
quite well - especially Jawaiian. He will stand amazed . . . and get to work.

The Rez

ptarrsays...

Who would've thought. A uke. That small insignificant little instrument that normally does a whole lot more looking pretty than sounding good.

GOOOOOOOOOOOO! JAAAAAAAAAAAAKE! that was AMAZ-ZA-ZING!!!!!!

signor-rossisays...

HI! This is so fantastic! I just can`t stop playing this video again and again...

Somebody asked, if and how he could get it for iPod. It's this easy:

Go to
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=829401773913198414&q=ukulele&pl=true

and click on the "Download" button on the right. But dont forget to set "Download for iPod"!
So Have fun and share it with everybody! I even bought his Cd! I couldn't remember when i actually "baught" my last one...ROFL

Greetings from the Land of the FIFA WorldCuo 2006

grevssays...

am i the only one who thinks this is GREAT, amazing, but not worth being our number one video... seems like its just me?!?!

dagsays...

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag.(show it anyway)

Well, this kind of thing is subjective, but we are kind of a Web democracy here - and the people have definitely spoken. Keep in mind, VideoSift has been around for barely 2 months. I would be very surprised, if this video was still number one in another 3 months (yikes, scary to think that this comment will be very quotable in 3 months).

I guarantee though, that whatever video replaces it - some people (possibly me) will believe it to be unworthy of the spot.

On this performance, I have watched it so many times that I'm sort of numb to its effect -but- the first time I watched it, a shiver went down my spine. Sometimes art can transcend a mere performance and personally connect to the people experiencing it.

Having said all that - I also think there is a bit of intertia about being on the all-time top page 1. I think there are some videos on page 2 and 3 that are worthy to overcome some of the vids on the top page. So go vote for them!
http://www.videosift.com/topstories.php?page=3
http://www.videosift.com/topstories.php?page=2

darkkraftsays...

Me encanta, aqui en Bolivia hay artistas que tocan de esa forma el charango, es increible.
Quisiera que toque ese tema en charango, sonaria muy bello.

rdbrewersays...

"[T]he first time I watched it, a shiver went down my spine. Sometimes art can transcend a mere performance and personally connect to the people experiencing it."

WORD.

tee128says...

I, also, registered just to vote for this piece of magic. Thanks for sharing.
Reminds me of a time where a co-worker took me aside in the back room in the restaurant where we were both working late at night and he played Forbidden Dreams on guitar (7 minutes and yes, he was a pro). Too cool, both pieces are a work of art, one I was witness to live and this one I felt like I was.
The player who played for me, you ask? Stephen Elliot.

Cheers

CinemaScopesays...

I also registered ONLY to vote. This guy is amazing!! I listened to him play and... this is one of those moments where we stay in awe before sheer brillance... I thought only gods could play that good. This kid really deserves recognition. Does he record? Is he signed up with someone already? How can I get THIS video?

Dolly-sixersays...

Please,please,please come on tour to Great Britain Jake. Someone please put this video on "Classic FM." That is the most amazing ukulele playing I have ever heard. Jake and his ukulele complement "Whilst my Guitar gently weeps" like strawberry and cream. George Harrison must be up there smiling with admiration. Well done Jake.

Txp8ntballer06says...

I watched it about 100 times before I could peel myself away long enough to register and cast my vote...this will always be #1 in my book. TRULY AMAZING and that comes from a kid who normally listens to mainstream rap and rock, both have such little talent compared to this. This is something that no matter who you are or what type of music you like you just HAVE to watch over and over.

killo000says...

when i first saw this on m90.org i coudnt get away from the computer screen. now that more sites r showing this i have 2 say this one thing....THIS SONG NOW DEFIANTLY ROCKS MY WORLD...lol..its unbeleivable that this song was origannly done on an electric guitar..simply amazing...thxxx a crapload crayfish

Farhad2000says...

That's what I meant, Rickegee. I say it's 'overrated' because I get the feeling it's been vote pumped to this ridiculous number.

Don't get me wrong. I was totally mesmerized the first time I saw it.

lucky760says...

I have to completely disagree with you farhad. I do not feel this is at all unworthy of it's position as #1 video on the Sift. I believe that any feelings of "vote pumping" have no foundation as all the votes were made by unique users. (Believe me; I've checked a couple of times.) The simple fact is that, like any other site, users come and go.

rickegeesays...

Lucky - It is nice to know that they are all unique users, but I still have a problem with all of the zero contributions and one vote accounts on this list.

I can certainly foresee a situation where I could post an AI video and go on all of the American Idol forums and make up a story urging people to register and vote for magical ClayAiken-bot AI performance b/c VS is now tied to the AI voting in some way.

We may or may not get a hit of unique users one-voting for ClayAiken-bot. And there it would sit near the top. . .when the majority of the actively participating members would really want to have nothing to do with it.

Jake's performance is transcendent, but I believe that the vote total is fluffed by far too many single-vote voters or people who registered only to vote here for Jake from the urging of a Jake or ukelele forum.

And even if a user is a once-a-month lurker, then they should have voted more than once at this point. There are posts just as amazing as Jake at this point.

Deanosays...

Erm for gawd's sake does it matter? If you allow people to register and vote and then bugger off then you have to accept that kind of behaviour. I just don't see how you're going to ensure you get "quality" votes. That is always the disadvantage of vote-driven sites. And votes have to be equal; if you were, for example, to start weighting or moderating them what is the point of the site?

And is he getting some sort of prize for being the top-rated post? I doubt it. Prestige perhaps but with all due respect most people are going to see this directly on Google or YouTube, not here. If people really did pump up the votes on this one then they are desperately sad but surely we can rise above that nonsense? The video is still worthy of being on VideoSift, which is the whole point, non?


lucky760says...

Ah, I see what you mean, rickegee. It's a very valid point, especially after browsing the comments above and seeing that a few people were "directed here by a link on another site." One bloke even mentioned a newsgroup that referred him here.

Looks like Jake's many groupies served him well this go-round. Since they are all unique users, they aren't actually breaking any rules, but I suppose it's worth noting that the votes are a bit skewed.

rickegeesays...

deano:

All good points. I just see a loophole here that could be abused down the line as the community grows. Jake doesn't bother me one bit, but Justin Timberlake exploiting the loophole would cheese me off. And I would hope that the most popular videos always reflected the sensibility of the actively participating VS community.

And we don't really have to adhere strictly to the one person, one vote experiment in democracy here. It already is a moderated community. I think that one way to ensure "quality" votes would be to enable "dead" votes just as we tab "dead" videos. If it is apparent that a person only arrived to vote once and to never again participate in the crack cocaine that is VS, then gold stars should be able to nullify a vote.

rickegeesays...

(apologies in advance for the implied ad hominems and poor similes)

On this list of thousands of voters, Deano and Lucky perceive beautiful and unique voices of democratic expression like delicate droplets of dew on the hidden orchid.

All I see are BODIES.


rembarsays...

Jake's good, but I'm sure that this definitely doesn't belong as the #1 sift. Hell, we have much better stringed instrument sifts all around the place. It kinda bothers me that it appears a bunch of Jake fanboys have upvoted and just disappeared from VS for good...*recount!

johnald128says...

this is very impressive, especially on a ukelele. on third listen i've decided i could do the same on guitar with some learning, but i guess guitars are less fumbly so...
inspired me to think of doing something similar though, so thanks!

MarineGunrocksays...

Hmm... By my hasty count of 68 non "P" users, that leaves 426 vote-and-run users.
Great video, but definitely doesn't deserve almost 500 votes. All the other four Jake videos tally up to 53 votes total. Definitely inflated vote count here.

gwiz665says...

I have a request: Can we wipe this sift of all its votes and let crayfish send it through the sifter again? This was artificially boosted for sure and it is a symbol of all the bad things about videosift. I like the video and will upvote it again, but this is just ridiculous.

CaptainPlanet420says...

Alright this problem has never been dealt with by the "authorities." I'm sick and tired of this hurting the sift. I think we can all agree this needs to go. I'm so nice I won't even ask to be the one who gets to submit it again. Maybe that's because it sucks though. *discuss

joedirtsays...

(a) crayfish probably hasn't visited the sift in years.
(b) WTF is this all about? Why is this some big conspiracy about artificial votes and "hit and run"??

Seriously just because your pea brains can't understand how it works. In my opinion Lucky should have grandfathered all existing accounts at the time instead of adding a "P" to all accts that didn't have a publication. At any rate, this has nothing to do with hit and run or anything. Before there was a critical mass of submitters and voters there were mostly voters and the occasional submitter. Now you only need 10 votes and we have probably 20x or 50x the number of casual voters and a lot more submitters.

The sift is like a dirt road. top videos keep getting reinforced for no other reason then being #1. Just like getting into the top15 means your votes explode and all the other videos hover around 15 or whatever.

UsesProzacsays...

The grandfather clause, you say? I do believe that this video is older than the account of the person who called it in for discussion. Let sleeping dogs lie.

We can't change the inherent nature of a voting system that is open to all.

Kreegathsays...

They're all individual people voting for a video they like, that's abiding by the rules. Just because you don't like the way they vote doesn't give you the right to take away their voice or somehow invalidate it. Enough people thought this video was worth making an account and vote for that it got over 500 votes, that's not going against any rule or regulation and I find it quite appaling how some people here actively try to stifle these P-members' voices just because they're not voicing them in the way these people would like.

You're saying it dilutes the sift? I say cat fart videos dilute the sift, could we please stop them aswell? Let's stop "first"-posters aswell while we're at it, as they're diluting the comment section. Why not round it off with stopping certain words from being put in the description and/or comment section?

If you want to break this number and get your sift to be nr.1 that badly, find a good enough video and advertise it.

NordlichReitersays...

Kreegath at least cat fart videos go through the sift on the table. Not under the table like this one did.

When I posted a cat fart video, I didn't go out to my YOUtube subscription members and ask for them to make accounts on the sift to get my video to be over 9000.

blankfistsays...

>> ^NordlichReiter:
Kreegath at least cat fart videos go through the sift on the table. Not under the table like this one did.
When I posted a cat fart video, I didn't go out to my YOUtube subscription members and ask for them to make accounts on the sift to get my video to be over 9000.


But you should've, because cat fart videos is what made the Sift.

siftbotsays...

Tags for this video have been changed from 'music, beatles, guitar, ukelele, cool, amazing' to 'music, beatles, guitar, ukelele, amazing, while my guitar gently weeps' - edited by xxovercastxx

siftbotsays...

Tags for this video have been changed from 'music, beatles, guitar, ukelele, amazing, while my guitar gently weeps' to 'music, beatles, guitar, ukulele, ukelele, amazing, while my guitar gently weeps' - edited by calvados

djsunkidsays...

DAMMIT! I want my vote back until there is a proper recount! ARGH! I had been waiting and waiting, and when 3/11 happened I thought finally, I can upvote with my conscience clean. Now he's got his 520 BS votes back, I want mine back.

No upvote until a *recount

direpicklesays...

>> ^cybrbeast:

Worst video of the Sift. Talk about over-hype. If a random new user goes to the top videos of the sift and sees this there, they must think, man this is a retarded site.


Yeah, one of the cat fart, TDS, or omg-libertarians-rule videos should really be on top. That'd make this place stand out.

cybrbeastsays...

>> ^direpickle:

>> ^cybrbeast:
Worst video of the Sift. Talk about over-hype. If a random new user goes to the top videos of the sift and sees this there, they must think, man this is a retarded site.

Yeah, one of the cat fart, TDS, or omg-libertarians-rule videos should really be on top. That'd make this place stand out.


Yes it will.

robvsays...

Smug alert. This was one of the first top rated videos I personally saw on Video Sift... and yes I was confused.

>> ^cybrbeast:

Worst video of the Sift. Talk about over-hype. If a random new user goes to the top videos of the sift and sees this there, they must think, man this is a retarded site.

siftbotsays...

Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Sunday, February 19th, 2006 7:42pm PST - promote requested by poolcleaner.

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