Ukulele, kazoo, bongos: Why some instruments became more popular than others post-pandemic

A house under lockdown can get lonely. So when Kavya Ramachandran dusted the covers off her ukulele months after she bought it, repaired its strings nibbled away by rats in her absence, and sat down to play ‘Leaving on a Jet Plane’ by John Denver, it was for one reason: “I live alone and I just wanted to fill the house with some sort of sound.”

The Chennai-based 26-year-old is not a professional musician, but nevertheless, has become attached to the small four-stringed instrument through the pandemic. “I don’t pack away my uke any longer. I sleep with it on my bed, and play it first thing in the morning. I owe my survival of the pandemic to it.”

I don’t pack away my ukulele any longer. I sleep with it on my bed, and play it first thing in the morning. I owe my survival of the pandemic to it Kavya Ramachandran

Dealing with pandemic-induced screen fatigue, people are showing an interest in exploring hobbies they would have normally picked up in their childhood, and learning musical instruments is a popular option. So much so that instrument sellers are now counting on beginners as a prime customer base.

Kishore Das, CEO of Musee Musical, one of the oldest instrument stores in Chennai, says, “Before the pandemic, 50% of our business would come from amateurs and 50% from professionals.” Then two things happened — the number of concerts and live performances went down, while the number of hobbyists rose. “Today, the sales have shifted; 60%-70% comes from beginners,” he says.

Noting this rise, Kishore has been working at making online shopping for beginners easier. “On our website, we have included experts who can explain to you how the instrument works. You can listen to it and watch how it is played, before buying,” he says.

The music starter pack

While guitars and keyboards are evergreen, stores have seen a rise in smaller, and relatively easier-to-play instruments, explaining the rising popularity of the ukulele.

Yash Gupta of Kadence Music says that the number of ukuleles they sold has gone up from 20,000 in 2019 to over one lakh in 2021. “We are seeing the same numbers that we used to see with guitars, we believe that it will eventually surpass guitar sales,” says Yash, adding that after millennials, it is most popular among the retired age group.

Pune-based Luv Mahtani, who teaches the ukulele online, says that in the past three years he has taught the three-month beginner course to over a 100 people, and 50 of those were in the last year alone.

“I think it has become the kind of phenomenon it has, post-pandemic in India, partly because of social media. This may sound trivial…” he observes, with a laugh, “But instruments such as the uke fit better on a vertical video (on Tik Tok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts) than a bulkier instrument like the guitar. So the aesthetics may work in its favour.”

It helps, of course, when the instrument is less intimidating for someone just starting out. The kazoo is a great example of this. Consisting of a hollow pipe with a hole in it, it modifies the players’ voice and turns it into a buzzing sound when they hum or sing into it.

The kazoo is an easy instrument to master. All you have to have is a sense of humming and possess basic breath control Harry D’Cruz

“The kazoo is an easy instrument to master. All you have to have is a sense of humming and possess basic breath control,” says Bengaluru-based kazoo player Harry D’Cruz, noting, “Ever since the pandemic, a lot of people have resorted to music as a stress-buster. For many music lovers, learning the kazoo was one such activity.”

Kazoo beatboxer Harry D’Cruz
 

The American-made instrument developed to play Georgian strains in the late 1800s is now finding itself in places as varied as Carnatic, to beatboxing — Harry is in fact, one of India’s first kazoo beatboxers and throughout the pandemic phase, has been working on improving this musical marriage, making covers of ‘Pink Panther’ and ‘Mr Bean’. The instrument, handed out as party favours in the US, is cheap; a metal one costs less than ₹500.

The economics of it

And for a beginner, the question on investing in a musical instrument is a major one. “I am somebody who abandons hobbies easily,” shares Kavya, “A guitar would have cost me over ₹12,000, whereas I got the uke for ₹3,000.”

The same logic applies to the percussion instruments like damru and dholak priced between ₹400 to ₹900, a tenth of their costlier cousins: the tabla and mridangam. Which is why, 32-year-old Aiyadurai Iyer, a Mumbai-based payroll manager in the HR industry, recommends bongo drums for anyone interested in rhythm patterns.

Percussion enthusiast Aiyadurai Iyer with the bongo drums
 

“The bongo drum is a very user-friendly instrument that communicates music. Even a child with a liking for music can just hit it to produce a particular rhythm,” says Aiyadurai, who used the last year to master this Afro-Cuban instrument.

Aiyadurai is self-taught, as is Kavya. “I learnt how to play through chord sheets and YouTube tutorials,” she says, “I am not sure if my technique is right. I don’t even know all the chords’ names; I know the finger positions instead. But all that doesn’t matter, because I am only playing for myself.”

With inputs from Srinivasa Ramanujan