Showing posts with label oo-koo-lay-lay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label oo-koo-lay-lay. Show all posts

Thursday, March 28, 2013

How to pronounce "ukulele"

In my neck of the woods (northwest Missouri), the common pronunciation of "ukulele" is "yoo-ka-lay-lee".  When I started getting more and more into the ukulele, I discovered that the actual Hawaiian pronunciation is "oo-koo-lay-lay".

So...I started to try to pronounce it "correctly".  To be quite honest, I felt completely ridiculous saying it the right way.  On top of that, if I go to a local music store to ask for "oo-koo-lay-lay" strings, I tend to get a strange look coupled with a reply of, "Do you mean yoo-ka-lay-lee strings?".  So I gave up trying the right way and just settled for the pronunciation that I've always known and heard around here.