The first ukuleles were made in the 19th century by Hawaiian island natives from found materials, and basically emulated the guitars played by some of the explorers and traders who came there from Portugal. After Hawaii was annexed as a US territory at the end of the 19th century, ukuleles started finding their way into the States, and into the popular music being recorded by the fledgling record industry there. Well into the 1920s, 30s and 40s, ukuleles could be heard on in all sorts of popular songs.

Although the ukulele is not quite as popular now as it was in the early 20th century, it’s had its brief moments in the spotlight since then, too. Singers like George Formby, Tiny Tim, Don Ho, BJ Thomas, Nellie McKay and Israel Kamakawiwo’ole have all had influential or hit songs that feature the ukulele, but the uke’s greatest champion still must be George Harrison, who used them prominently in many of his post-Beatle solo recordings.

I’ve been intrigued with the ukulele since I heard Harrison use it on “The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea,” and picked up a cheap First Act ukulele at the local Walmart. I learned quickly that a cheap ukulele is no bargain: the intonation and action are usually way off, making it difficult to keep the instrument in tune, and impossible to make good sounding chords. The First Act ukulele soon became just a display piece, and I eventually donated it to Goodwill.

When my daughter was very young, she was interested in learning to play an instrument like her dad. I figured a ukulele would be a better fit for her little hands than a full-sized guitar, so bought a much pair of much nicer Kohala soprano ukuleles, one each for my daughter and myself, for not that much more money than I’d spent on the First Act.

Although my daughter soon lost interest, as very young students often do, my own fascination with the ukulele has only deepened. From there, my collection has grown to five ukes, including the Kohala soprano, a Kalos tenor, a Rogue baritone, an Oscar Schmidt banjo ukulele, and the Yamaha 6-string ukulele pictured here.

Ukuleles usually come in three sizes: soprano, concert and tenor. The tuning is the same on all three sizes (gCEA), although sometimes the tenor is tuned with its fourth string an octave down (GCEA). This alternate tenor tuning is equivalent to the four treble strings of a guitar, capoed at the fifth fret. This is a wonderful thing for guitarists to know, because we can take the same chords we already play on the guitar, move them over to the ukulele, and they work just splendidly (although pitched up a perfect fourth).

Yamaha’s GL1 ukulele takes this idea and goes a bit further with it, by adding two more strings to make the instrument even more guitar-like. I can play full guitar chords and leads on the 6-string ukulele (or Guitalele, as Yamaha calls it), just bearing in mind that what I hear is pitched up a fourth from what I’m fretting.

It’s essentially a small alto classical guitar, similar in many respects to my Oscar Schmidt alto guitar, but with nylon instead of steel strings. In fact, when I inquired about replacement strings at the local Guitar Center where I bought the GL1, the head guitar tech and I agreed that using a standard set of classical guitar strings, cut down to size, would be the simplest and most economical way to restring the GL1.

The Yamaha GL1 Guitalele has a spruce top, and the back and sides are made of meranti wood. A matte finish makes it a bit easier to keep the uke free of fingerprints, and can help to mask small scratches that may appear over time. I chose the natural finish, but the GL1 is also available in a darker “persimmon” finish or a “tobacco” sunburst. The neck is very straight, and the intonation is better than just about any other ukulele I’ve played. Overall, I’d say it’s well worth the $90 I paid for it (much less than the $140 MSRP). I’m becoming more and more impressed with Yamaha instruments, the more I play them.