Outcast Ukulele

Any small boy would resent it if he were told that his little yellow dog was no dog at all just because its ears were too short, its tail too long, its bark absurd. In Manhattan last week the same sort of loyalty seized May Singhi Breen who for eight years has earned her living thrumming a ukulele for the radio,* improvising ukulele accompaniments for sheet music.

May Breen is an easygoing, practical-joking soul (her dinner guests have been given rolls which squeak when bitten). But her wrath was aroused when the American Federation of Musicians refused her admittance on the grounds that the ukulele is not a musical instrument. The Federation, it seemed, had never even been asked to recognize it before. Yet the ukulele does not have to be played in a hit-or-miss fashion just because it is smaller and cheaper than its cousin, the union-approved guitar. Unlike the harmonica, lowliest of wind instruments, the ukulele has all the chromatics, can be played in any key.

May Breen prepared to do battle, to beard the Federation Board's meeting next week and, instrument in hand, force a vote on the ukulele's status. To plead her case she will present affidavits from famed musicians. Conductor Walter Damrosch heard her play last week, said it was "like raindrops in sunshine." Com-poser-Critic Deems Taylor said that he did not see why "a good ukulele player, such as Miss Breen, shouldn't be admitted to the musicians' union. Triangle players, snare drummers and expert sand block rubbers carry union cards."

*As "Sweethearts of the Air," the radio team of Breen & De Rose broadcasts from station WEAF Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday mornings at 10:15, Monday & Friday mornings at 10:30 (Eastern Standard Time).

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