Ukulele, Guitalele, Banjolele and suchlike
Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2017 7:02 pm
“Ukulele” ????
What the …. ?????????????????
If your first thoughts were along the lines of ‘George Formby’ or ‘Tiny Tim’ or ‘toy!’ I humbly suggest that this post and any thread which develops from it might not be for you …. or maybe it will convince you to have a go.
For over 50 years, I’ve been an unashamed guitarhead. Not much of a musician, but always a diehard fan. Then, after damaging my left hand, I looked around for an alternative. I’d never seriously considered the ukulele but decided to give it a go. I played safe and opted for a Brunswick BU4B baritone uke which, like a lot of baritones, was tuned DGBE. (They can also be tuned GCEA). Without going into lots of personal waffle and wacha-macaulits, I was almost instantly a fan. The instrument was a joy to play. I already knew all the chords and as long as I didn’t reach for those 5th and 6th strings it was easy. I then discovered that my then-5 year old granddaughter was using a small uke in her nursery school where a peripatetic teacher was teaching the whole class how to play. This is now continuing into Year 1.
THAT was when I began to seriously research and learn about the instrument. I quickly found that all other sizes of ukes (and some baritones) are turned to GCEA or, more usually, ‘gCEA’. This is called ‘High G’ or ‘re-entrant’ tuning and is what gives the uke its distinctively bright, happy sound.
Next came the purchase of a Kala long neck soprano instrument and the apparent hassle of having to transpose chord shapes and chords. Again, to cut down on waffle – chord shapes for GCEA-tuned ukes are identical to those for the DGBE tuning, but the chords you sound are different. (Think about it – GCEA is five steps removed from DGBE and are the four notes you play if you barré a guitar at the 5th fret). Thus a G on my baritone actually sounds a C on the soprano. Em becomes Am; C becomes F and so on.
Ahh – oh dear – Mmmm – tricky! Yes, it is if you approach the ukulele after experience playing guitar. But in reality it’s just a case of mentally building a new repertoire of chords and names. I found that the best way forwards was to go back to the beginning and to start with a set of basic chords which suited the type of music I liked to play.
Since those early days, I have given away the BU4B and now play a Pono baritone, a Pono tenor, a Kala concert and the Kala long neck soprano. As you might infer – just as there is Guitar Acquisition Syndrome, there is also UAS.
By the time I’d built up that little collection, I’d also come to realise that although you can transfer guitar techniques onto a uke, the instrument also offers its own distinctive ways and modes of playing. Most of these centre upon a wide range of often challenging strumming styles, but there are also some nifty fingerpicking tricks as well. One of the books (by Chad Johnson) that I will recommend later on provides a detailed exploration of these areas.
I’ll thus end my narrative thread-starter here and finish off with a sample list of books and other resources. This is by no means comprehensive – it’s just a selection from my bookshelf and personal experience. Some have proved better than others. Some proved to be superb, others were of little value. Hopefully, other members of the forum will add their own anecdotes, opinions and suggestions. I won't add comments at the moment, I am happy to do that in more detail if there's any interest out there.
-----------------------------------------------------
Get plucky with the ukulele
Ukulele for Dummies
Ukulele aerobics GCEA & Bariton versions
The Daily Ukulele GCEA and DGBE versions
Just for fun – children’s songs for ukulele
3 chord carols for ukulele
Christmas on 34th street covers both GCEA & DGBE
Fun with strums – baritone ukulele GCEA & DGBE versions
Uke quarterly UK magazine
Blues uke (DVD)
Incidentally, from experience, I can vouch 100% for the helpfulness and quality you get when you shop with Omega Music or Southern Ukulele Store. Both are here in the UK. Other forum members will have their own recommendations, hopefully from the UK and other countries – but those are mine.
-----------------------------------------------------
And as someone once said, “That’s all folks”.
I hope this starts a new set of conversations, ideas and comments and if you really MUST invoke the spirit of George Formby, well so be it, even though the banjolele was his main instrument. However, if the likes of George Harrison, Joe Brown and Frank Skinner are in the roster of his fans, then who am I to disparage him?
What the …. ?????????????????
If your first thoughts were along the lines of ‘George Formby’ or ‘Tiny Tim’ or ‘toy!’ I humbly suggest that this post and any thread which develops from it might not be for you …. or maybe it will convince you to have a go.
For over 50 years, I’ve been an unashamed guitarhead. Not much of a musician, but always a diehard fan. Then, after damaging my left hand, I looked around for an alternative. I’d never seriously considered the ukulele but decided to give it a go. I played safe and opted for a Brunswick BU4B baritone uke which, like a lot of baritones, was tuned DGBE. (They can also be tuned GCEA). Without going into lots of personal waffle and wacha-macaulits, I was almost instantly a fan. The instrument was a joy to play. I already knew all the chords and as long as I didn’t reach for those 5th and 6th strings it was easy. I then discovered that my then-5 year old granddaughter was using a small uke in her nursery school where a peripatetic teacher was teaching the whole class how to play. This is now continuing into Year 1.
THAT was when I began to seriously research and learn about the instrument. I quickly found that all other sizes of ukes (and some baritones) are turned to GCEA or, more usually, ‘gCEA’. This is called ‘High G’ or ‘re-entrant’ tuning and is what gives the uke its distinctively bright, happy sound.
Next came the purchase of a Kala long neck soprano instrument and the apparent hassle of having to transpose chord shapes and chords. Again, to cut down on waffle – chord shapes for GCEA-tuned ukes are identical to those for the DGBE tuning, but the chords you sound are different. (Think about it – GCEA is five steps removed from DGBE and are the four notes you play if you barré a guitar at the 5th fret). Thus a G on my baritone actually sounds a C on the soprano. Em becomes Am; C becomes F and so on.
Ahh – oh dear – Mmmm – tricky! Yes, it is if you approach the ukulele after experience playing guitar. But in reality it’s just a case of mentally building a new repertoire of chords and names. I found that the best way forwards was to go back to the beginning and to start with a set of basic chords which suited the type of music I liked to play.
Since those early days, I have given away the BU4B and now play a Pono baritone, a Pono tenor, a Kala concert and the Kala long neck soprano. As you might infer – just as there is Guitar Acquisition Syndrome, there is also UAS.
By the time I’d built up that little collection, I’d also come to realise that although you can transfer guitar techniques onto a uke, the instrument also offers its own distinctive ways and modes of playing. Most of these centre upon a wide range of often challenging strumming styles, but there are also some nifty fingerpicking tricks as well. One of the books (by Chad Johnson) that I will recommend later on provides a detailed exploration of these areas.
I’ll thus end my narrative thread-starter here and finish off with a sample list of books and other resources. This is by no means comprehensive – it’s just a selection from my bookshelf and personal experience. Some have proved better than others. Some proved to be superb, others were of little value. Hopefully, other members of the forum will add their own anecdotes, opinions and suggestions. I won't add comments at the moment, I am happy to do that in more detail if there's any interest out there.
-----------------------------------------------------
Get plucky with the ukulele
Ukulele for Dummies
Ukulele aerobics GCEA & Bariton versions
The Daily Ukulele GCEA and DGBE versions
Just for fun – children’s songs for ukulele
3 chord carols for ukulele
Christmas on 34th street covers both GCEA & DGBE
Fun with strums – baritone ukulele GCEA & DGBE versions
Uke quarterly UK magazine
Blues uke (DVD)
Incidentally, from experience, I can vouch 100% for the helpfulness and quality you get when you shop with Omega Music or Southern Ukulele Store. Both are here in the UK. Other forum members will have their own recommendations, hopefully from the UK and other countries – but those are mine.
-----------------------------------------------------
And as someone once said, “That’s all folks”.
I hope this starts a new set of conversations, ideas and comments and if you really MUST invoke the spirit of George Formby, well so be it, even though the banjolele was his main instrument. However, if the likes of George Harrison, Joe Brown and Frank Skinner are in the roster of his fans, then who am I to disparage him?