With lyrics like ‘‘the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true’’, Over the Rainbow was an apt choice for Glenn Haworth to finish up his successful ukulele world record attempt.
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Haworth finished up with the classic from the Wizard of Oz at noon on Saturday, after starting at 11am on Friday with Counting Crows’ Accidentally in Love.
In between was 25 hours of ukulele playing – one more than Guinness required in order to give him the record.
‘‘I wanted to cover myself,’’ Mr Haworth said of going one hour more than required for the record.
‘‘I wanted to make sure in case there was any slip-up with the timing or anything like that.
‘‘I wasn’t sure whether I’d last, maybe I’d get to 24 hours and just be dead. But I was feeling pretty good towards the end. I think it was because of the energy in the room and the people supporting me.’’
The world record attempt was also a fund-raiser for the Make A Wish Foundation. Between online pledges, in-store donations and an auction held after Mr Haworth broke the record, as much as $10,000 was raised for the charity.
Mr Haworth broke the record in the Fairy Meadow Haworth Music store, sitting on a lounge he’d brought from home.
The rules gave him a five-minute break every hour and allowed for a maximum of 30 seconds between songs, and he wasn’t allowed to play a song more than once in a four-hour period.
But there were no rules about jamming with fellow musicians, which Mr Haworth said helped him get through some tough times in the early hours of Saturday morning.
‘‘I noticed a big difference when I was playing by myself to when I had other people jamming around me and with me,’’ he said.
‘‘I was getting my dad to call people to get them to come and play during the early hours because I needed them. I was getting sore and stuff, but when you’ve got someone else to bounce off it makes a huge difference.’’
Mr Haworth had to put in plenty of work ahead of the world record attempt. He spent the last three months learning how to play the songs on his four-hour setlist, as well as learning how to play the ukulele itself.
If that wasn’t enough, the right-hander also learned how to play some songs left-handed to give his fingers a rest.
It paid off because Mr Haworth said he felt pretty good at the end of the 25-hour ukulele marathon.
‘‘The fingers are feeling pretty good,’’ he said.
‘‘My shoulders are little bit sore, my back’s a little bit sore but other that that it’s pretty good. I started to get sore about eight hours in and then after that point my body just pushed through it.’’
It’s Haworth’s second world record – his first came in 2009 for the most guitar strings changed in one hour.
After playing the ukulele for 25 hours straight, Mr Haworth planned to spend the rest of the weekend with his wife – and catching up on some sleep.
And staying away from musical instruments.
‘‘I don’t want to see a ukulele for a while,’’ he said.