The ukulele was invented in Europe, but took root in Hawaii in the 1870s when an immigrant called Joao Fernandez started playing it to fascinated islanders. The reigning monarch, Kalakaua, was even said to have learnt the instrument. It became popular again in the West the following century. 

Wigan-born George Formby, of course, popularised the instrument in films such as 1936’s Keep Your Seats Please, which featured his signature tune, When I’m Cleaning Windows. The British Invasion of the US in the 1960s saw pop musicians such as Ian Whitcomb use the ukulele in music hall-tinged songs such as Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go With Friday on Saturday Night?, while stars such as Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley played them on screen, giving the humble uke a touch of credibility.

But it was around a decade ago that ukulele fever really exploded. The ukulele became “the symbol of twee”, the hipster aesthetic symbolised (according to author Marc Spitz) by food trucks, waistcoats, strings of lightbulbs, Etsy and flea markets. The movement was based on a return to craft and whimsy, and its patron saints were Mumford & Sons, the British ‘nu-folk’ band, and Zooey Deschanel, the artfully kooky actor and star of hipster film (500) Days of Summer, who started playing the ukulele in her band She & Him. Eddie Vedder, the frontman of grunge rock band Pearl Jam, even released an album of ukulele songs (it was nominated for a Grammy).

George Hinchliffe founded the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain in 1985. He tells me that when they started, ensemble playing wasn’t really done (apart from at George Formby conventions). But his group started orchestrating songs so that each instrument played a different thing. “Since then we’ve seen the concept of ensemble ukulele playing flourish right across the world,” he says. The Orchestra’s repertoire includes tracks such as Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit and the Theme from Shaft. They’ve played everywhere from Carnegie Hall to Glastonbury.

Hinchliffe says the appeal of mass ukulele playing in schools is clear. “As a social activity, music has got an appeal. And something that’s small and, dare I say, cuddly, rather than a huge great thing like a bassoon, might lend itself to this social music making – and if it’s affordable even more so,” he says.