Jake Shimabukuro

Classical music presents some of the world's most challenging pieces.

I still believe that music is healing to some extent.

You know, Leonard Cohen is amazing, just a mastermind, and really one of the great geniuses of our time.

When I was growing up, there was no such thing as a touring ukulele player.

When you play guitar and strum, you're using biceps and triceps to move up and down. I realized you could just turn your wrist, your forearm, using smaller muscles in your arm that are much more efficient and much quicker.

One of the biggest things that happened for me was YouTube.

You know, I think music is very interactive. It's a - it's a language.

I'm not the kind of person that can do the same thing over and over and over, so that's why touring, playing in a different venue every night, in front of a different audience, is so rewarding, you know, because it always feels fresh.

You know, the ukulele itself is not a very loud instrument, all right? And, you know, compared to like a trumpet, right? A trumpet is really loud.

Sometimes I can't think of a better way to end my day than coming home and just strumming my ukulele for a few minutes. I mean, I joke around and tell people that it's an entire yoga session in one strum, you know?

I know a few chords on the guitar, but I wouldn't be able do a show or even be part of a jam session with one.

Hawaii is a small, close community.

Blues, rock and hip hop are more about a lifestyle and culture than notes on a page.

Jazz is an art that takes decades to appreciate and understand.

Bill Gates recently picked up the ukulele. And Warren Buffett is a huge ukulele fan. I even got to strum a few chords with Francis Ford Coppola. It blows my mind that these people, who have everything in the world they could want, have picked up the ukulele and found a little bit of joy.

Most of my ukulele heroes were traditional players from Hawaii, like Eddie Kamae and Ohta-san. There may not be uke stars in popular culture, but there are certainly pop stars that play uke - George Harrison, Eddie Vedder, Taylor Swift, Train, and Paul McCartney.

There's no ego when you're a ukulele player.

When you go into the studio or get up on the stage with people who have more experience or knowledge, you learn.

I think everyone should feel like they can make music, they can create music.

I always feel a little funny being in front of a lot of people trying to show them my approach to the ukulele, but I do enjoy it. I do get a little more nervous doing workshops rather than performing.

The ukulele has always appealed to the older generation.

I thought I'd grow up to be a teacher, or maybe run for political office.

There's nothing I like better than talking to kids, just sharing the music with them. To relate to them, you need to play songs they're familiar with.

You get older, you start meeting girls, you want to impress them. And if you happen to know an instrument, what you do is turn on the radio and try to figure out how to play popular songs.

There's something about the ukulele that just makes you smile. It makes you let your guard down. It brings out the child in all of us.