I washed it and it shrunk!

R

Richard Monroe

Well-known member
OK, I really didn't really know what forum to stick this in, so here it is. For 35 years or so I've been hauling an acoustic or a hollowbody through airports, trying to talk them onto the airplane or (gulp) checking them as luggage! (United breaks guitars!). And what do I do this for? It used to be for gigs or sessions, but now it's mostly for plinking, maintaining calluses, and songwriting.

Well, I just spent 12 days on the big island of Hawai'i, and I actually bought a tenor uke! Where are you going to find a big ukulele store anyway? Be afraid, be very afraid. By Kala, a travel uke, it has a thin body but surprisingly, a pretty solid voice. Solid top Australian Acacia (the scientific name of Koa is Acacia Koa- they're pretty much the same tree). Nice bookend matched Acacia back and sides, simple appointments, made in China. It's the first hollowbody of any type I've played that was made in China that didn't suck. They're learning. I've never related to mandolin or banjo, but the Uke felt good right off the bat. My only promise is that I will not play "Tiptoe through the Tulips", or the theme song of "Gilligan's Island". Right now, I'm using it for vintage New England seafaring songs. Based on the Portuguese machete, it was a common sailor's instrument in the 18th and 19th centuries.

So I'm trying to figure out the strums for an instrument with reentrant tuning (high note strings in first *and* 4th position.) I'm planning on trying the low-G tuning, which requires switching out the 4th string for a G that's an octave lower. Then you can play a ton of 4-string lute and tenor guitar stuff.

Oh Boy! All new chord positions, but it's easier than guitar. 4 fingers, 4 strings, they're on to something there. The hard part is figuring out the real finger positions with half-bars. To make my big ol' fat fingers fit in those little spaces, I have to press more than one string with the same finger, when the chord diagrams show all 4 being used. Not. It's cool, though, like starting all over again, but with a clue. Just sharing.
 
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Thanks, Joro! First, it is one of the few video recordings of any music I've ever seen where they showed you the guy's fingers, instead of the camera view jumping all over the stage. I love that. Also note- at no time in all of that did his left hand ever touch the G string (#4). It's basically a 3 string tenor guitar solo, like a balalaika. It's all about the strum. He can only touch the G string with his strumming hand on chords with a G in them. Very instructional.
 
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I bought myself a Kala Tenor Uke for Christmas. They're loads of fun. I just learned a few chords, and just sit and noodle around on it. I have it strung with high G at present but intend to try out the low G stringing soon. The high G does give it a great sound though when strummed which will obviously be lost with the low G.

Here's mine.....

Image00001.jpg​
 
Here's a hint about ukuleles if this helps you to envision the fret board any better: A standard-tuned uke is tuned the same as the 4 highest strings on a standard-tuned guitar with a capo on the 5th fret.
 
guitarplayr82 said:
Here's a hint about ukuleles if this helps you to envision the fret board any better: A standard-tuned uke is tuned the same as the 4 highest strings on a standard-tuned guitar with a capo on the 5th fret.
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That's only if you use low-G tuning, instead of reentrant tuning. To get a ukulele from a guitar, you remove the low E and A strings, put a capo on the fifth fret, and tune your d string (now capo'd up to "g") an octave higher (which of course, requires a different string). Baritone ukes are often tuned with low-G tuning, tenors and concert sizes per personal preference. Sopranos rarely use low-G. So- most chord positions are the same as guitar, but the strums are all different, because your lowest string isn't at the top. I thought about chickening out and just doing it, but it's a challenge, and it's personal now.

If you go to low-G tuning, the low-G string is usually wound, like the lower courses on a classical guitar, which can mess up the tonal balance if you hit it too hard ("boom" from a UKE? Yuck.). And- they go dead faster than the nylon strings. The latest tech in Hawai'i are these:

Aquila- corde armoniche Red Series, an Italian string that is nylon impregnated with steel filings to increase density. They make a nylon/steel composite low-G string for ukes that is smaller in diameter than a wound string, so it fits the nut better, lasts the same as the other strings, and supposedly fixes the balance problem. I took some time on the Big Island to get a handle on this uke thing. BTW, it's pronounced ooh-koo-lay-lay. Why do we have to screw up perfectly good words for no reason?
 
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Richard Monroe said:
That's only if you use low-G tuning, instead of re-entrant tuning. To get a ukulele from a guitar, you remove the low E and A strings, put a capo on the fifth fret, and tune your d string (now capo'd up to "g") an octave higher (which of course, requires a different string). Baritone ukes are often tuned with low-G tuning, tenors and concert sizes per personal preference. Sopranos rarely use low-G. So- most chord positions are the same as guitar, but the strums are all different, because your lowest string isn't at the top. I thought about chickening out and just doing it, but it's a challenge, and it's personal now.
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True. I was just referencing the tuning of the strings, regardless of the G string octave - as you said it's still the same chord shapes as played on guitar, minus the low E and A strings. It just helps me to visualize the uke like a guitar with a capo on the 5th fret. I don't have to think as much about the chord shapes when I play that way.
 
guitarplayr82 said:
True. I was just referencing the tuning of the strings, regardless of the G string octave - as you said it's still the same chord shapes as played on guitar, minus the low E and A strings. It just helps me to visualize the uke like a guitar with a capo on the 5th fret. I don't have to think as much about the chord shapes when I play that way.
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That's how I remember the chords, too. I got my Luna uke as a Christmas gift this past Dec 25. Even if you have the high G string, the chords are still the same (they just sound different). I think it is the high G which gives the uke its distinct sound.
If those big hawaian guys with ham-sized hands can play chords on those tiny frets, anyone can!
 
mjbphotos said:
That's how I remember the chords, too. I got my Luna uke as a Christmas gift this past Dec 25. Even if you have the high G string, the chords are still the same (they just sound different). I think it is the high G which gives the uke its distinct sound.
If those big hawaian guys with ham-sized hands can play chords on those tiny frets, anyone can!
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You got that right. One of the masters, Iz (short for Israel) is a 450 pounder. It's just a matter of finding the right real finger positions. But- once you've got a chord with all 4 strings, you can move it up and down like a bar chord. It's the strums that are a bitch. Take a relatively easy guitar tune like "House of the Rising Sun" and try to figure out the strum on a uke. It'll give you a headache.
 
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Big uke fan BTW,it is the original travel guitar and it's a great instrument for kids because it only has four nylon strings which are easy on soft hands and a neck that's great for little hands.

Everybody should have at least one.
 
acidrock said:
Now you're just being difficult.:rolleyes:Explain yourself!:mad::p

I have two ukes and I tune them just like a guitar capoed on the fifth fret,the top string is high and that's the only difference.
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Then it isn't tuned like a guitar capo'd at the fifth fret. It is a rentrant tuning. Besides a "Uke" is family of instruments strung at different pitches. You could just as easily say a cello is tuned the same as a piano only without the black notes and in fifths.
 
muttley600 said:
Then it isn't tuned like a guitar capo'd at the fifth fret. It is a rentrant tuning. Besides a "Uke" is family of instruments strung at different pitches. You could just as easily say a cello is tuned the same as a piano only without the black notes and in fifths.
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See,you were being difficult.:rolleyes::p

What I and the other poster are saying,is that you can play a uke like a guitar capoed on the fifth fret.Is that technically correct enough for you,hmmmm?:confused::D
 
acidrock said:
See,you were being difficult.:rolleyes::p

What I and the other poster are saying,is that you can play a uke like a guitar capoed on the fifth fret.Is that technically correct enough for you,hmmmm?:confused::D
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Thing is it's the wrong way to learn. The best and the way that is taught by all decent teachers is to learn intervals and where they are and not chord shapes shapes. A Uke is a different instrument to the guitar.
 
I got badgered non stop a couple of months ago to go and join a newly formed local Uke club against my better judgement, which considering I'd never played one or owned one seemed like a bad idea. I borrowed one and went along had such a laugh, I decided to buy one and now play the damn thing all the time. It sounds quite tasty when plugged in to a valve amp. I've been learning chord formation through knowing the string notations so I can invert chords along the neck and play scales but that's just how I work with stringed instruments, it suits me. I will be using mine on my tracks from time to time, so it gives me another option and maybe joining the Uke club wasn't so daft after all.

Uke1a.jpg
 
muttley600 said:
Thing is it's the wrong way to learn. The best and the way that is taught by all decent teachers is to learn intervals and where they are and not chord shapes shapes. A Uke is a different instrument to the guitar.
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My point is,if you know how to play guitar you can play uke immediately.You can play all the same chord shapes,you'll just be in a different key.

If you're looking to be a hardcore uke player then take the time out to learn the differences,but if you just want to play chords you're aleady there.
There are uke string sets that have a low top string so you'll be closer to a guitar,but I don't think the small body of a uke will do that low string justice and I would rather have a uke sound like a uke.
There was recently a thread about mandolins and people mention mandotars and stuff like that.I'm against mandotars,banjotars and any other instrument that tries to be accessible to guitar players,in that case you should learn the right way,but ukes are very easy to learn and play if you already know guitar.

I'm not arguing with you,I'm just saying you can slip into a uke in a second and if youre a guitar player and if want to take it farther,well there you go.

Did I mention I'm a big uke fan?:D
 
Phrasemaker said:
I got badgered non stop a couple of months ago to go and join a newly formed local Uke club against my better judgement, which considering I'd never played one or owned one seemed like a bad idea. I borrowed one and went along had such a laugh, I decided to buy one and now play the damn thing all the time. It sounds quite tasty when plugged in to a valve amp. I've been learning chord formation through knowing the string notations so I can invert chords along the neck and play scales but that's just how I work with stringed instruments, it suits me. I will be using mine on my tracks from time to time, so it gives me another option and maybe joining the Uke club wasn't so daft after all.

View attachment 79334
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Here's one of my ukes.....

https://homerecording.com/bbs/attachment.php?attachmentid=55630&d=1245892352


Here I am playng it......

 
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