Your thoughts on this important decision.
I've never had a ukelele. I've never really wanted a ukelele. I don't know much about ukeleles. Heck, I only just learned how to SPELL "ukelele."
But, they're really popular where I'm living now. Every guitar shop I go to (which is a lot) has a big selection of ukes. They just look like FUN. And they're small, reasonably priced, and look easy to travel with. (I still travel too much, and am putting a lot of wear on my main guitar by lugging it from city to city and occasionally country to country in a gig bag.)
I could get a seemingly decent uke for $25 to $60. By comparison, a cheapish travel guitar would run me $150.
And the ukes are smaller and cuter. Seems like a great campfire instrument, a nice thing to hum and strum on my own that wouldn't be out of place if an acoustic jam comes up.
BUT...I don't know how to play it. I don't even know how to tune it. I don't listen to much music with ukelele in it. And I already struggle to play the instruments (guitar and bass) that I already have.
What do you all think? Do I need a uke? Would it be cool to travel with?
If you own a uke, tell me what you do with it. If you like uke, tell me what to listen to. What can I play on it if I get one? How hard is it for a guitarist to learn?
Thank you for your help with this important decision,
Justin
I own two - a traditional Hawaiian style (four strings) and an eight-string Tahitian one. There should be a picture of that one in this page of the following thread:
https://www.guitarnoise.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=40756&hilit=riverside+jam+2008&start=15
Typically a ukulele is tuned (string closest to you going to the floor) GCEA. Notice I didn't say "low to high." That's because quite often the A string is tuned to the note one step higher than the G string. So depending on how you tune the C and E, either the two outer strings are higher than the inner ones (as I do on the four string) or the two inner ones are higher than the outer (as I do on the eight string).
But if you look at the intervals of the notes, you'll pick up on the fact that they are tuned to the same intervals as the four thinnest strings on the guitar. So making chords is virtually the same as with the guitar (minus the low E and A strings) only you have to account for transposing the chords. C is 0003, for instance, and G is 0232.
Because I usually play with a lot of guitarists, playing the uke offers a different voicing and I use it much like a guitar, for both lead and rhythm depending on what's going on. At a coffee houses gig last spring, Greg Nease and I played All Along the Watchtower using two ukes (I played rhythm and he played lead).
Should you get one (and I think you definitely should), the main advice I'd offer is to make sure you get one with decent tuners. The really cheap ones don't stay in tune all that well. Get one that's meant to be played and not one that is primarily for show or display. There are all sorts of good brands. Luna makes decent ones and there was a fairly recent discussion on them here:
https://www.guitarnoise.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=47313&hilit=ukulele
Hope this helps. And I hope you end up getting one!
Peace
Bad question... :lol:
I was very tempted some months ago. I listened a blues played on an uke by Dogbite and I discovered how that instrument can sound. I was reading about them and also checking some YouTube videos (there are many good lessons there, look for "Ukulele Mike", Michael Lynch, guitar and ukulele teacher, he has several channels with lessons and also original songs).
Two couples of months (or so) I started to search in the local stores. Here it is not easy to find them but I localized two or three stores that sell them (although they didn't have in stock, it seems it is very popular as well here... some people buy them just for decorative purposes).
I was not in Spain these days and when I am traveling I always do shopping in music stores. I was playing several ukes, from the toy-like to the top-notch. I didn't buy because I was afraid of the return on airplane but I will restart the local search on September and I will buy it, my birthday is coming... well it is on November but I need my time for choosing.
It is a very cool instrument and surely you can get a lot of fun. It is compatible with guitars.
I learnt that there are several sizes. The smallest (and probably the most usual) is the soprano but there are also tenor, concert and baritone. The baritone has a different tuning (I don't remember just know but it shares the tuning with guitars but it has 4 strings). The tenor and convert sizes also use the tuning that David said but they sound different (lower and more mellow) and they could be easier to play depending on your hands/fingers size.
Hope it helps!
I own several ukes. I think they are an essential to any guitar player's arsenal. I have learned more about the fretboard and intervals by playing a uke than all my years with my regular guitar. my main uke hangs out on the TV couch. I am always playing it during commercials. when a visitor drops in they always grab the uke and play a song in no time.
if you remember that a capo on fret 5 of a guitar is the same as ukulele tuning the uke will open itself up to you.
get a uke or two.
THere will be a Uke- And thanks everybody for the tips.
The uke won't be coming up right away, though- I've been through maybe 15 stores, and found...hundreds of toy ukes that were practically unplayable. And some really great ukes that were totally outside of what I can spend on a uke.
In between the two extremes, nothing. So...I picked up a nice little travel guitar for my next journey. (Pics up as soon as I get my camera back...)
Best,
Ande
