The Ukelin is one of the strangest instruments ever invented. The name suggests it’s a cross between a ukulele and a violin, but it’s closer to a zither and a violin. Although rather than being a ‘cross’ it’s actually two instruments stuck together and you’re supposed to play them both at the same time. Bowing […]

As the name suggests, the guitarlele is a cross between a classical guitar and a ukulele. It is tuned like a guitar capoed at the fifth fret (ADGCEA). This gives the top four strings the same tuning as a low G ukulele. The guitarlele sounds closer to a classical guitar than it does a ukulele. […]

The charango is about the same length as a tenor ukulele in total. However, a good proportion of that is taken up by the head and the scale length is closer to that of a soprano. The neck is much wider than that of a ukulele to accommodate its ten strings arranged into five courses […]

The cavaquinho is a scion of the ukulele family. It developed from the same Portuguese instrument as the uke: the machete. The machete developed into the Cavaquinho in Brazil. Hence, today there are two distinct types of cavaquiho: the Portuguese cavaquinho and the Brazilian cavaquinho. Like the uke, the cavaquinho has four strings but these […]