Evan J De Silva
I am Evan, a passionate ukulele player!
I discovered my love for music when I was gifted an ukulele at 8 years old in 2013. Since then, I fell in love with my precious ukulele! My dream is to be able to play so well, that I can spread the feeling of love and joy to those listening, and hopefully… more people will know how amazing this very very underrated instrument is!
Let’s Uke On! 😊
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Where are you from?
I am a Eurasian (mix of Portuguese and Chinese descent) from Singapore.
What is your age?
I was born in 2005.
How did you learn to play the ukulele?
I am mostly self-taught using YouTube videos online, with some guidance from a few mentors and music teachers that I am very grateful for.
Why did you choose to pick up the ukulele?
Let me share with you how it all started. I was surfing the internet one day at the age of 8, and I came across a guitar video unlike anything I had ever seen before. I was immediately inspired and I pestered my dad to get me a guitar. When he said that my fingers were too small for a guitar, I was heart-broken, but only for a short while…
Because one day I was walking around in a mall and passed by a music shop. While I was longingly looking at the guitars displayed on the walls, out of the corner of my eyes I caught what looked like tiny guitars! I was so excited and pointed them out to my dad, telling him that my small hands could fit those! However, my dad rejected me, as he didn’t seem convinced.
However I persisted on. I went onto Dr Google, and found out that those tiny guitars were actually called ukuleles! I did more research on the different songs I could play, the best affordable ukuleles available, and much more information. Finally, after several tries of presenting relevant information to convince my dad, he finally said yes! I was very happy that day, and promised him I would put my ukulele to good use.
Ever since that day, I’ve been playing the ukulele to friends, family, schoolmates and even had public performances both locally and overseas!
Why are you still playing the ukulele even though your hands are bigger now?
Through playing the ukulele, I have discovered how amazing the ukulele is because of how much more you can do with the ukulele besides just the sing and strum that everyone knows about.
I enjoy re-interpreting popular songs on the ukulele. Being mostly self-taught has given me the opportunity to explore and showcase the surprising versatility of the ukulele. I like transposing all genres of music onto the ukulele by emulating the style and feel of the music and combining it with a virtuosic way of playing the ukulele—plucking the bass, melody and accompaniment simultaneously. This helps me pull off intricate chording and ambitious fingerstyle arrangements, because of the large difference in pitch whenever the bass and melody is played at the same time.
The ukulele, like many other more popular instruments, can create lots of music with depth and emotion. I want to share this with others so that they can hopefully enjoy ukulele music and perhaps pick up an ukulele for themselves.
Which countries have you performed in so far?
Annual BBQ Block Party – Guam, United States
Seoul International Aloha Ukulele Festival – South Korea
The Piano Guys Concert Opening Act – Singapore
Child Aid 2016 – Singapore
Multiple live performances at Esplanade – Singapore
Do you play any other instruments besides the ukulele?
Yes, I play the piano and the guitar. I finally picked up the guitar in 2019!
I am very grateful for all the support I receive.
To go ahead with a donation using PayPal, click the button below.
(*Because I am too young to own a bank account, the name shown will be my mom’s name. But no worries, it will show a picture of me!)
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS?
COMMENT BELOW AND ASK AWAY!
Evan J De Silva 
I watched the video where I believe yo were 8 years old. I couldn’t believe it! You have been gifted a great talent young man.. I am so happy to see how you have grown. Keep it up! Your music is awesome! I would like to here some more guitar.
Best from USA.
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Hii Mr Prather!! Thank you so much for all the kindness and support you have given me all these years 🙂 I’m so happy that you enjoy my music, and I’ll continue to work hard to share more of my music with you!
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What size ukulele do you play?
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It’s so beautiful what you play, your sense of rhythm and understanding of the ukulele is unique.
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I am 72 years old and have never heard such virtuosity in such a young man in my life. I’m really blown away by the beauty in your heart, your mind and your fingertips. I look forward to watching you more and more. If you ever plan to come to Australia or the Philippines please let me know.
Regards
Kevin
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Hey Evan, I really enjoy your playing! It has inspired me to pick up the ukulele again. I was wondering how you arrange scores – do you play by ear / what are some suggestions you have for someone trying to arrange songs (can’t seem to find tabs of some songs I want to play, and would love to be able to play them)?
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Hi Charles, thank you so much! So happy to know that you’re picking up the ukulele again! I actually have a post under the “blog” tab in this website which gives a full detailed explanation on how I come up with my arrangements and covers, so feel free to check that out 🙂
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