Everybody who has played a Ukulele on a beach knows how much better it sounds in its natural habitat. Originating from Hawaii, it is perfectly understandable that the little things need a proper beach to sound their best. I first found this out on a holiday to the Algarve. I took the little Ovation to the beach and after playing a few chords everybody around us started to smile. It’s just lovely how the sound carries over the sand in a way it never does indoors. Never? Well, I played her a bit in the hotel after we returned from the beach and I swear she was sounding better than the night before. This carried on for a few days, but one evening I got annoyed with all the sand inside the uke. So I tipped it all out on the beach and went back to the hotel. That night the uke definitely sounded duff when I played her before going to bed. It couldn’t be the sand… or could it? Was it possible that a ukulele needed sand to sound well? Surely not!!!

The next day on the beach I poured some sand into the body. Back at the hotel I was amazed about the rich sound she was producing! There was no other explanation: a ukulele needs to be near sand to sound its absolute best! So I made sure she was well filled up before we took the flight home. Unfortunately the sand kept falling out of the sound holes and after a few months the Ovation was back to its duff land-locked sound. When I tried putting in some sand from the local sand pit, I made the next astounding discovery: it made the sound worse! Chords didn’t ring, melodies were scraping along, and the sand inside was rattling out of tune. Land sand apparently doesn’t do it for ukuleles.

Now that we live in lovely Norfolk we have a fantastic beach in cycling distance. So of course I took the little one out for a few tunes in the dunes. And guess what: the sound was back! Not quite as sun-drenched and smooth as in the Algarve, a bit sharper and saltier, but it nevertheless carried the proper Hawaii tone towards the sea. That evening I filled her up with Norfolk sand and tried her out at home. Let me tell you: the sand from Norfolk’s beaches works! Now I will never run out of ukulele sand again and all my ukes are kept according to the strict official rules of the Hawaiian Ukulele Association (HUA).

If you have problems finding proper ukulele sand for your little one, just drop me a message and I’ll pop a bag in the post for you!

PS: I would be interested to know how the folks from Brighton manage!