Ukulele Instruction Lesson Record 1925

Shared By: Jamie Houston [Founder of Love My Ukulele Club] | Ukulele Instruction Record – Vaughn DeLeath and May Sinhi Breen (22 July 1925 Victor BVE-33092 – BVE-33093 Ukelele).

Here’s a rare instructional record. Vaughn De Leath (September 26, 1894 – May 28, 1943) was a female singer who gained popularity in the 1920s, earning the sobriquets “The Original Radio Girl” and “First Lady of Radio.” Although popular in the 1920s, De Leath is little known today. she had considerable financial difficulties, complicated by a drinking problem which contributed to her early death. Her ashes were buried in her childhood home of Mount Pulaski, Illinois.

May Singhi Breen (1895 – 1970) known as “The Ukulele Lady” has long been recognized as one of the outstanding exponents of the ukulele. She convinced music publishers of the commercial value of ukulele arrangements and pioneered the inclusion of arrangements on almost all printed copies of popular music. Her own arrangements appear on more pieces of sheet music than those of any other single person in history. She was also a teacher. She recorded the first ukulele instructional record and she is considered the first to teach the instrument in schools. Her instructional books emphasized the solo capabilities of the ukulele with her slogan “Uke can play the melody”.