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19 May 16 - 01:16 PM (#3791120) Subject: BS: Ukelele masterpiece From: Donuel bohemian rhapsody I do a little Bach pop and folk ukulele how bout chu? |
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19 May 16 - 01:27 PM (#3791125) Subject: RE: BS: Ukelele masterpiece From: Doug Chadwick Why the BS prefix? This belongs well and truly above the line! AS you say, a masterpiece. DC |
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19 May 16 - 03:52 PM (#3791159) Subject: RE: BS: Ukelele masterpiece From: Donuel The ukulele is more primitive than the banjo and thereby relegated by a musical caste system as an untouchable instrument. I think any instrument that Groucho Marx would play is good enough for me. |
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19 May 16 - 04:15 PM (#3791164) Subject: RE: BS: Ukelele masterpiece From: Helen Hi Donuel, I have been learning to pick out tunes on the ukulele, and the first one I learned was a ragtime tune called Dimples, written by L. E. Colburn. (Scroll down the page to find it.) I bought two books a few years ago, called Ragtime Rediscoveries, and Ragtime Rarities. and there are some really good tunes in them. That's where I found the Dimples tune. All of the tunes in the two books are on that site. I decided to buy a uke and try to play it. I have also been trying to learn some of our usual tunes from the regular folk session group. There are other people in our session group who also have one and every now and then we have a ukulele session and it is heaps of fun. A lot of "serious" musicians in the folk scene look down on ukes, but it is a growing movement and it is folk at its best because more and more "non musicians" are discovering how much fun it is to play music, and to be in some sort of musical/social group. There are a huge number of uke classes around here, too, and one of the local uke groups travels around the country and the world to perform. I think that any instrument played by Groucho Marx OR Harpo Marx is good enough for me. A uke is a lot easier to carry than my harp. (Yay for the Marx Brothers!!) Helen |
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19 May 16 - 05:12 PM (#3791176) Subject: RE: BS: Ukelele masterpiece From: Doug Chadwick The ukulele is more primitive than the banjo and thereby relegated by a musical caste system as an untouchable instrument. Spherical objects! Musical snobbery is no better than any other kind of snobbery. Your link belongs above the line. DC |
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19 May 16 - 06:09 PM (#3791185) Subject: RE: Ukelele masterpiece From: Joe Offer Yeah, I think this thread belongs above the line, too, Doug. I've moved it. The performer, Jake Shimabukuro, has a lot of videos available. Apparently, this performance is his TED talk. Not banjo, but I heard a fascinating performance by San Francisco's Steve Baughman on a gourd banjo. Here's Steve playing Mississipi John Hurt's "Payday" And here's Mike Seeger on gourd banjo: With nylon strings, a gourd banjo sounds to me much more like a uke, than a banjo. I gotta add something Steve said that I thought was really interesting - you can shape the gourd by tying rope around it when it's small. Then it will bulge above and below the rope, and it will be compressed where the rope was positioned. |
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19 May 16 - 07:00 PM (#3791191) Subject: RE: Ukelele masterpiece From: Doug Chadwick Thanks Joe. DC |
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19 May 16 - 07:39 PM (#3791192) Subject: RE: Ukelele masterpiece From: Tootler James Hill is also a ukulele master. More of a showman than Jake Shimabukuro. https://youtu.be/1ZlnUbfyV2c Loved the gourd banjo clips but the ukulele is what I play. |
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19 May 16 - 07:48 PM (#3791194) Subject: RE: Ukelele masterpiece From: Helen Thanks for placing this thread above the line, Joe, and also for the gourd banjo links. I had never even heard of that instrument. It has a good sound. I put better strings on my uke. I use the GCEA tuning and I put the low G on because it was doing my head in having what should be the lowest string at a higher pitch than the next string i.e. up, down, up, up. Apart from that, I wanted to pick out tunes so the lowest to highest tuning makes more sense for that. Helen |
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19 May 16 - 08:46 PM (#3791203) Subject: RE: Ukelele masterpiece From: Donuel The uke is so easy to play even laying down in bed playing along with the TV. Mine has some magic ability to always be in tune with anything that is playing. Ragtime is syncopated bad ass and fun. Beethoven and Scott Joplin were not so far apart musically speaking. I use mandolin tuning for the baritone uke. It makes the Suites for cello and violin Partitas easier, or at least almost playable |
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19 May 16 - 09:01 PM (#3791208) Subject: RE: Ukelele masterpiece From: Joe Offer What kind of strings are used on a uke? Nylon? What's the standard tuning? Are there other instruments that use the same tuning? Do people change ukulele tunings very much? I'm tempted to learn...it seems so easy. -Joe- |
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19 May 16 - 11:00 PM (#3791220) Subject: RE: Ukelele masterpiece From: Donuel Like banjo there are alternative tunings. The soprano uke's strings are usually nylon. There is also an alto and baritone version. I found a large uke can take Martin wound metal alloy guitar strings on the bottom. On PBS there is a rerun of the 2012 Shimabukuru "Life on four strings" 5/23 - perhaps it is in your neck of the New England woods too. It appears 'Shima" uses the traditional tuning. If you tune in fifths you need very large cello like finger stretches on some things but tuning fourths and a third gives tight harmonies. I am surprised how resonant and vibrato friendly they can be. Small guitars and ukes are more mellow than large guitars. I have a $60 Guitar Center Mitchell (MUB 705) that is exquisitely made. I'm sure one can spend more. With a pick (Ick) they have some volume but why? |
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20 May 16 - 12:25 AM (#3791227) Subject: RE: Ukelele masterpiece From: Helen Hi Joe, I bought some strings which are described as nylgut, whatever that means. I assume that they are a type of nylon which have the mellow quality of gut strings like some of the original harps used (some have metal strings) but with the durability of nylon. The low G string is metal wound over nylgut, but very fine. Someone who recently started coming to our session group has a tenor (I think) uke which he has tuned like a guitar, so it has the unique qualities of a uke but he can swap between guitar and uke without having to do the mental gymnastics associated with changing from one tuning to another. Donuel, you've lost me. I think you might need to explain for me what you mean about tuning in fifths, fourths etc. What is each string tuned to for each type of tuning? What category does the GCEA tuning fit into? Joe, I watched some of James Hill's uke tutorials this morning. I learned a few things I didn't know. I don't know a lot about ukes, because I'm just a dabbler, so I need to know a LOT! :-) Helen |
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20 May 16 - 01:08 AM (#3791231) Subject: RE: Ukelele masterpiece From: Helen Donuel, Sorry, I should have explained. What I meant was, I understand what fifths, fourths, thirds are etc, but I'd like to know what each string is tuned to when you refer to the different tunings, e.g. mine is tuned to GCEA with the G the lowest string, guitars are EADGBE, or DADGAD, etc I haven't really worked out why some people use one tuning and some use another on the uke. I have figured out, over the years of coming to Mudcat, that the DADGAD tuning works well for some tunes or styles of music, or something like that. Not being a guitar player, I didn't investigate that much. I have a very, very old uke book which was given to us as kids - back in the dinosaur age in the middle of last century. The book was old even before we got it. The tuning for the songs in the book is - I think - ADF#B. I know the first note was A. So I am just interested to know which tunings you were referring to. I have discovered from a beginner uke book I bought, that the chord progression for House of the Rising Sun sounds good, and on the GCEA tuning, the chord shapes are easy for a beginner because most of the chords don't need many fingers on the frets. Helen |
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20 May 16 - 01:11 AM (#3791232) Subject: RE: Ukelele masterpiece From: PHJim Joe - Standard tuning nowadays seems to be re-entrant C6 or gCEA, though some folks still use the re-entrant D6 or aDF#B. Some, like Helen suggested, use the linear C6 or GCEA, like the first four strings of a guitar capoed at V. Baritone ukes are tuned DGBE. Nylon strings are nearly always used. I prefer the re-entrant tuning, with the 4th string raised an octave. There are songs that take advantage of this raised 4th string. I play a version of Pete Seeger's "Living In The Country" that can only be played using re-entrant tuning. I am also a clawhammer banjo player, and the 5 string banjo is also a re-entrant tuned instrument. Clawhammer style or up-picked style ukulele realy works well on ukes with a high G. As Helen pointed out in her post above, the re-entrant tuning does rob you of G,G#,A and B, restricting your melody playing somewhat, but it makes for some really nice close chord voicings. Are there other instruments that use the same tuning? A tenor guitar in "Chicago tuning" is tuned like a baritone uke. Nick Reynolds of the original Kingston Trio played a tenor guitar, but usually had it capoed at the fifth fret, making it a linear tuned ukulele with steel strings. He was originally a uke player, so this reduced the learning curve. The Tiple is also tuned similar to a uke. My tiple is a tenor uke sized 14 string instrument made by the Regal company in Chicago. It has four courses tuned gG-cCc-eEe-AA, so uses the same chord shapes and scale patterns as the uke. The banjolele is also tuned the same way as a ukulele. You are right in thinking that to play simple song accompaniments on a uke is pretty easy, but, playing at a higher level, like Jake or James or folks like Marcy Marxer, Gerald Ross, Del Ray or Stu Fuchs, will take a lot of effort and practise. I have changed tuning on one of my ukes to GCEG or open G in order to play some slide, but this is not a common practice. |
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20 May 16 - 03:35 AM (#3791240) Subject: RE: Ukelele masterpiece From: Will Fly Here's my mate Richard Durrant playing some Bach on his uke - worth a listen. The music kicks in about 1 min in. Richard Durrant - Bach |
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20 May 16 - 10:35 AM (#3791324) Subject: RE: Ukelele masterpiece From: leeneia thanks for the links. |
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20 May 16 - 11:22 AM (#3791332) Subject: RE: Ukelele masterpiece From: GUEST Will, I only met the once but I remember RD from years back. I'd not that long (lets say 2 years) been trying to play (GDAE tuned) tenor banjo and this guy said he had only just started and asked to look at my instruments (the other was a mandolin banjo). He then proceeded to do all sorts up the neck - things I'd not fathom say 20 years on... I guess it's that classical guitar training... And I'd guess he'd excel at any fretted strings. Nice chap though. I seem to remember we did get a version of Captain Pugwash/Trumpet Hornpipe that worked as a one off in the bar. |
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20 May 16 - 11:49 AM (#3791339) Subject: RE: Ukelele masterpiece From: Will Fly Richard's a great player out of the ordinary - one who excels at many stringed instruments. His repertoire is not quite what you'd expect from a classical guitar and cello graduate from the Royal College of Music! And his concerts are always packed full of interesting audio and visual effects. |
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20 May 16 - 11:52 AM (#3791340) Subject: RE: Ukelele masterpiece From: GUEST Hadn't realised he also plays cello... !!! |
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20 May 16 - 03:13 PM (#3791361) Subject: RE: Ukelele masterpiece From: Helen Thanks for the link to RD's Bach performance, Will. Brilliant! |
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22 May 16 - 10:28 AM (#3791526) Subject: RE: Ukelele masterpiece From: PHJim A mistake in my last post. The tiple has only ten strings, not 14. I was thinking of the banduria. |
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22 May 16 - 04:39 PM (#3791584) Subject: RE: Ukelele masterpiece From: Donuel RD's ascending stretto in double time is more exciting than as written. Perhaps that is what Bach intended because his wife transcribed the existing original we use today. |
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22 May 16 - 10:14 PM (#3791628) Subject: RE: Ukelele masterpiece From: JennieG Ukuleles are fun. I started playing a cheapie soprano uke several years ago when a broken wrist limited my guitar playing for a while. A couple of years after we moved here to the Small Smoke a local uke group started and I was right in there. Still have the soprano (thinking of putting new strings on it with a low G, I have played one and like the effect), and also have a tenor tuned to C6, and a baritone tuned to the top four strings of a guitar, DGBE. Since shoulder surgery a couple of years ago - a legacy of the fall which broke my wrist in the first place - I find the smaller stretch is easier, so sadly my poor guitars aren't touched much now. I do miss them, though. |
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23 May 16 - 02:45 PM (#3791676) Subject: RE: Ukelele masterpiece From: Helen Hi JennieG. I seem to remember that you are from Sydney. Which Small Smoke are you living in now? Is it Newcastle? Helen in Nukes |
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24 May 16 - 01:25 AM (#3791758) Subject: RE: Ukelele masterpiece From: JennieG No, Helen - we're in Tamworth, a much Smaller Smoke than Sydney! We've been here for six years now, and really like it. |
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24 May 16 - 01:32 AM (#3791759) Subject: RE: Ukelele masterpiece From: Helen Hi Jennie, A Smaller Smoke than Newcastle too. It's a nice town. Glad to hear the ukulele scene is flourishing there too. Helen |
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24 May 16 - 03:57 PM (#3791953) Subject: RE: Ukelele masterpiece From: Donuel Thanks for the You tube of the Bach suite. Also a cello player, my uke version is now more exciting. |