The ukulele is part of the string family. Most ukulele have a wooden body, four nylon strings, a fingerboard and are about 7 1/2 inches wide, 2 3/4 inches thick, and 24 inches long.

The soprano is considered the standard ukulele. Its dimensions are 20 1/2" x 6 3/4" x 2 1/2" and it has 12 to 17 frets on the fingerboard or neck.

Next in line is the concert ukulele with 12 or 19 frets. Its dimensions are 23 3/4" x 8" x 3 3/4".

Coming in at 27" x 8 1/2" x 3 1/2" is the tenor. There are 18 to 22 frets on this ukulele.

The largest of all ukulele is the baritone. It too has 18 to 22 frets and is 29 1/2" x 10" x 3 3/4".

In 1916 Hawaiian craftsman Samuel K. Kamaka began to manufacture ukuleles on a large scale. His creativity led him to design an oval-shaped ukulele, evolving from the figure-eight shape first developed by the Portuguese.

In 1928 a neighbor of Samuel Kamaka saw the oval ukulele and exclaimed, "That looks like a pineapple!" Being an artist by trade, she went on to paint one of the oval ukuleles in the exact respresentation of a pineapple. The name and tradition has stuck and to this day, even oval ukuleles are referred to as pineapple ukuleles.

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