|
Aloha and welcome to the ukulele thread! The what thread? Ukulele! It's a tiny guitar-like instrument from Hawaii. It's got four nylon strings and it's played by either strumming or picking the strings. Most people use their fingers, but some use picks. The uke has a range of about two octaves and is traditionally tuned g-C-E-A with C being the lowest string. This "re-entrant tuning" is the reason the ukulele makes such a funny sound when strummed. In addition to the standard-sized (often called soprano) ukulele, there are various other types such as concert, tenor, baritone and even bass. Tl;dr: It's basically a tiny classical guitar with a hosed up tuning. What kind of music could I play on one? Anything you feel like! Besides being a cornerstone of Hawaiian music since the 19th century, the ukulele was extremely popular in the US during the twenties. Dig out some Tin Pan Alley songs, join a folk jam or butcher some jazz standards, it's all good. These days you can find uke arrangements of literally anything, up to and including the Star Wars soundtrack. Okay, how do I get started? Buy a uke. And a metronome. Google "twelve bar blues" and "ukulele chords". Borrow a song book from the library. Go nuts. Yeah but which ukulele? gently caress if I know, go to the store and play around with some.  If you have big hands, you might find a tenor or even a baritone more comfortable than the comparatively small soprano. Your dog has fleas? I really should call a vet about it. If you can't tell, I don't know a whole lot about the uke.  That's because I bought one on impulse (because of a thread in A/T), left it in its bag for literal years and picked it up last month. Thus far I can play a basic twelve-bar blues in C and muddle through the first ten bars of John Williams's Cantina Band. I'm learning music for the first time since high school.  What do y'all other uke-owners play?
|
#
¿
Nov 7, 2018 22:17
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 10:49 |
|
|
I'd heard about it but I don't think I've ever actually watched the entire video. 
|
|
#
¿
Nov 9, 2018 23:22
|
|
|
ewe2 posted:I've found that they really love Aquila reds for strings, they seem to bring out more sustain and volume from them. But now the drat thing is going to be (even more) out of tune for a week as the strings stretch. 
|
|
#
¿
Nov 10, 2018 20:36
|
|
|
Barre chords on the first fret can suck my mass-produced nut.   ewe2 posted:Here's a great resource for Beatles songs for the ukulele. Edit: Oh, they're just really makeshift charts. I was hoping for lead sheets for some reason. 
Siivola fucked around with this message at 19:01 on Dec 9, 2018 |
|
#
¿
Dec 9, 2018 18:47
|
|
|
I originally got my uke to learn folk and historical music, but got distracted at some point and never did. But I want to try again, so do you guys have any recs for songbooks to look at? I know Tony Mizen and Rob MacKillop have both arranged classical and other music for the uke, are their books any good? Siivola fucked around with this message at 13:29 on Jan 16, 2020 |
|
#
¿
Jan 16, 2020 11:09
|
|
|
Huxley posted:Describe folk and historical. Do you want to play irish jigs and reels or Neil Young? Bach's cello suites? I have a few uke-specific PDFs floating around my computer.  However, I'd really prefer a printed book since music is one of my few excuses to get off the computer.Edit: Thanks for the links nonetheless!
|
|
#
¿
Jan 17, 2020 17:50
|
|
|
Someone talk me out of buying a solid top 8-string. My soprano is kinda small and I'd like a bit more everything in the sound.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 22, 2020 15:38
|
|
|
bees everywhere posted:If you get a decent tenor ukulele with some Aquila Nylgut strings you might get all the sound you've been looking for. Sopranos are great for strumming chords but I would say a tenor is more versatile. Personally I have been eye-balling some 5-string tenors to get some more oomph from the G string.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 23, 2020 19:30
|
|
|
Aw man, I want a uke group too.  But that sounds cool! What kind of stuff do you use the uke for?
|
|
#
¿
Apr 6, 2021 19:22
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 10:49 |
|
|
That sounds like a good time!
|
|
#
¿
Oct 10, 2021 09:20
|
|