I recently strung my Tenor Uke with heavier
strings and tuned it in 5th's CGDA so
I could learn to play Jigs -hornpipes etc.
without wearing my fretting hand out with all
of the repitition needed for learning the tunes.
I have had a carpal tunnel operation in the
past due to many years of playing other instruments (mainly guitar and bass
.
The Uke sounds amazing tuned this way.
Has anyone else tried this out?.
This experiment was practice until my tenor
banjo arrives.
But I've come to enjoy playing it so much I keep it beside me almost all of the time even while driving,
I play it while hung up in traffic.
Ukestrum, Wow, practicing in traffic ? That's a first for me
Most ITM banjo players tend to tune GDAE. This enables tunes to be fingered the same as mandolin and fiddle. The only player of note I know of using CGDA tuning is Gerry O'Connor.
Not sure why Gerry prefers this, I'm imagining it's tone related.
Greetings Stratfoyle
I meant hung up in a traffic jam . Full stop.
I'm working on talking on a cellphone while driving fast
paying a hornpipe and eating a big Mac burger.
But I need more experience.
ukestrum.
p.s. of course the fingering could be the same
for tunes played in the G tuning although in another key.
The tuning came about by trying to get the right
tension on the strings so the low end didn't flap out. I used the 4th thru 1st strings of a classical set. Thanks for the reply
I played a soprano uke instead of my tenor banjo for three months because i had broken my wrist wasn't able to cope with the banjo, i tuned same as a banjo though, its fun to mess around with but i never play it seriously! One of the strings is broken now though, I wonder if would i be able to string it with mandolin strings instead, would that work?
I don't think so -too much tension that little
uke would self- destruct.
There ought to be a mixture of Uke strings to
use so you can tune it D A F# B
Maybe a soprano set and change out the high
4th string with a gauge slighty larger than the
3rd.
My tenor Uke can hold its own playing
with a guitar.
I play a banjo uke tuned that way. It's great fun! Although when I'm in a traffic jam, I play flute along to the CD's - but being right hand drive vehicle I have to wind the window down to make it fit. It gets some weird looks from other people...
I've recently purchased what was sold as a ukelele fingerboard ( nicely inlayed ) which was the same scale length as a europaen mandola ( as opposed to what people now call a tenor mandola ).
This will do very nicely for a mandola project I have in hand. However a uke is not made for wire strings, so better to have a purpose-built instrument if you want an irish uke, then wreck yours by restringing.
For those in the UK, as the regulations regarding hand-held mobile phone use in cars are being stiffened up, playing a musical instrument in the same situation might be treated with similar severity; I recommend only when stationary and not near a police vehicle !
"better to have a purpose-built instrument if you want an irish uke, than wreck yours by restringing"
No reason why it should wreck the instrument, so long as you choose the appropriate string gauges for the scale length and tuning - and stick to nylon/gut strings.
New-strings - DEFINITELY don't use mandolin strings on a ukulele - it would fold double with the tension. If you were to have an instrument custom built to take steel strings, would it still be a ukulele? Double up the strings and it becomes a mandolin, just shaped like a ukulele.
The Portuguese cavaquinho (the ancestor of, and very similar in form to the ukulele) is steel-strung, typically with 4 single strings.
GERMAN POLICE NAB MOTORIST PLAYING FLUTE
Thursday, September 11, 2003 Posted: 1:23 AM EDT (0523 GMT)
BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) -- German police caught a man playing the flute with both hands as he sped through traffic at 130 kph (80 mph) on a busy highway, police said on Wednesday.
"He was leaning back in the seat and steering the car with his knees and feet," said Johann Bohnert, a spokesman for police in the town of Traunstein near the Austrian border.
"He looked like he'd had practice."
He now faces a fine of 50 euros ($56).
The 52-year-old from Salzburg in Austria, birthplace of Mozart, the composer whose works include the opera "The Magic Flute," told police he was not actually blowing the instrument.
"He said he was just practicing fingerings," said Bohnert.
I build small instruments - mainly ukes out
of mahogany.
Recently I played a five string fender electric
mandolin. single strings not doubled.
Tuned C G D A E
Gets the mandola range and the fiddle/mandolin
range.
Anyway I'm thinking about building A Tenor Uke
with 5 strings and put a pick-up in the bridge.
What do you think?
oldstrings -- I've been following James Hills online video career for a while. He's great. I wonder -- any relation to the Paganini of the Hornpipe? Hmmm.
I regularly play uke at a certain session in South London. I play backing on it. I use a baritone tuned “normally” (D G B E).
The volume and timbre are perfect for accompanying a small bunch, say two or three, of melody instruments but it can also hold its own at all full on session of twenty players including bodhrans!
The uke has many fab sounds. Quietly arpeggiated it sounds serenely harp-like, spanked big time it delivers a good percussive edge. Strummed with the thumb (or for more strident sounds the nails and fingers) it can add subtle support. Sometimes it can provide a banjo-like twang impression to the general proceedings. It seems to be accepted, even the most staunch of ITM purists!
The overall effect is much more polite than the dreaded six-string devil (S.S.D.). Real uke players never say the “G” word! The horrid “ching, ching” of the S.S.D. doesn’t happen due to the nylon (or better still, gut) strings and lack of pleccy. Also due to the lack of the “bass” strings of the guitar that nasty strummy bassy blur is avoided.
Also with the baritone the bottom string is D with lends to a percussion with a pedal (or drone) effect and next string up of course is G and again this is mostly handy for a lot of ITM (!).
I also use a tenor uke sometimes tuned normally i.e. G C E A which provides a G drone on the bottom string and occasionally my treble tuned re-entrant G C E A (“re-entrant” means the “low” string, in this case G is thin and tuned an octave higher than you would expect- it gives the uke an even more defined “plunka, plunka” sound!).
I cannot emphasize how much more unobtrusive these instruments are for backing than the afore mentioned S.S.D. Also I can easily carry all three ukes in their cases (and an Evening Standard) from my house to the pub without getting a hernia (and very often back again). And finally ukuleles can’t help put a smile on the faces of people with their intrinsic humour and Viv Stanshall-ness.
I'm heartened to know there are other people
in this world that have a fondness for this
diminutive -maligned-and totally misunderstood
instrument. Not to mention all the laughter and
the jokes. " you spend half of your time out of
tune and the other half tuning"
Don't be too hard on the guitar. It definetly has
a place in music
ukestrum.
What gauge strings are you using on your
Baritone-- strings 4321
Tenor-- strings 4321
My first string keeps breaking
The Celtic Uke
The Celtic Uke
I recently strung my Tenor Uke with heavier
strings and tuned it in 5th's CGDA so
I could learn to play Jigs -hornpipes etc.
without wearing my fretting hand out with all
of the repitition needed for learning the tunes.
I have had a carpal tunnel operation in the
past due to many years of playing other instruments (mainly guitar and bass
.
The Uke sounds amazing tuned this way.
Has anyone else tried this out?.
This experiment was practice until my tenor
banjo arrives.
But I've come to enjoy playing it so much I keep it beside me almost all of the time even while driving,
I play it while hung up in traffic.
ukestrum
# Posted on February 23rd 2007 by ukestrum
Re: The Celtic Uke
Ukestrum, Wow, practicing in traffic ? That's a first for me
Most ITM banjo players tend to tune GDAE. This enables tunes to be fingered the same as mandolin and fiddle. The only player of note I know of using CGDA tuning is Gerry O'Connor.
Not sure why Gerry prefers this, I'm imagining it's tone related.
Anyhow, good luck and enjoy playing.
# Posted on February 23rd 2007 by Strathfoyle
Re: The Celtic Uke
Greetings Stratfoyle
I meant hung up in a traffic jam . Full stop.
I'm working on talking on a cellphone while driving fast
paying a hornpipe and eating a big Mac burger.
But I need more experience.
ukestrum.
p.s. of course the fingering could be the same
for tunes played in the G tuning although in another key.
The tuning came about by trying to get the right
tension on the strings so the low end didn't flap out. I used the 4th thru 1st strings of a classical set. Thanks for the reply
# Posted on February 23rd 2007 by ukestrum
Re: The Celtic Uke
Inspire yourself with this, ukestrum:
http://www.jakeshimabukuro.com/videos.php
I'd be interested in hearing him play a few reels and jigs, or even a slow air.
# Posted on February 23rd 2007 by Tracie
Re: The Celtic Uke
I played a soprano uke instead of my tenor banjo for three months because i had broken my wrist wasn't able to cope with the banjo, i tuned same as a banjo though, its fun to mess around with but i never play it seriously! One of the strings is broken now though, I wonder if would i be able to string it with mandolin strings instead, would that work?
# Posted on February 24th 2007 by tnoumarap
Re: The Celtic Uke
I don't think so -too much tension that little
uke would self- destruct.
There ought to be a mixture of Uke strings to
use so you can tune it D A F# B
Maybe a soprano set and change out the high
4th string with a gauge slighty larger than the
3rd.
My tenor Uke can hold its own playing
with a guitar.
# Posted on February 24th 2007 by ukestrum
Re: The Celtic Uke
I play a banjo uke tuned that way. It's great fun! Although when I'm in a traffic jam, I play flute along to the CD's - but being right hand drive vehicle I have to wind the window down to make it fit. It gets some weird looks from other people...
# Posted on February 24th 2007 by Wurzel
Re: The Celtic Uke
And does it cause flashing blue lights?
# Posted on February 24th 2007 by Trevor Jennings
Re: The Celtic Uke
Not yet....
# Posted on February 24th 2007 by Wurzel
Re: The Celtic Uke
I've recently purchased what was sold as a ukelele fingerboard ( nicely inlayed ) which was the same scale length as a europaen mandola ( as opposed to what people now call a tenor mandola ).
This will do very nicely for a mandola project I have in hand. However a uke is not made for wire strings, so better to have a purpose-built instrument if you want an irish uke, then wreck yours by restringing.
For those in the UK, as the regulations regarding hand-held mobile phone use in cars are being stiffened up, playing a musical instrument in the same situation might be treated with similar severity; I recommend only when stationary and not near a police vehicle !
# Posted on February 24th 2007 by Guernsey Pete
Re: The Celtic Uke
Thanks for the link, Tracie. That man is totally brilliant!!!
# Posted on February 24th 2007 by ethical blend
Re: The Celtic Uke
Here's our local boy, James Hill.
http://www.ukulelejames.com/listen_PLII.htm
# Posted on February 24th 2007 by oldstrings
Re: The Celtic Uke
"better to have a purpose-built instrument if you want an irish uke, than wreck yours by restringing"
No reason why it should wreck the instrument, so long as you choose the appropriate string gauges for the scale length and tuning - and stick to nylon/gut strings.
New-strings - DEFINITELY don't use mandolin strings on a ukulele - it would fold double with the tension. If you were to have an instrument custom built to take steel strings, would it still be a ukulele? Double up the strings and it becomes a mandolin, just shaped like a ukulele.
The Portuguese cavaquinho (the ancestor of, and very similar in form to the ukulele) is steel-strung, typically with 4 single strings.
# Posted on February 24th 2007 by CreadurMawnOrganig
Re: The Celtic Uke
GERMAN POLICE NAB MOTORIST PLAYING FLUTE
Thursday, September 11, 2003 Posted: 1:23 AM EDT (0523 GMT)
BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) -- German police caught a man playing the flute with both hands as he sped through traffic at 130 kph (80 mph) on a busy highway, police said on Wednesday.
"He was leaning back in the seat and steering the car with his knees and feet," said Johann Bohnert, a spokesman for police in the town of Traunstein near the Austrian border.
"He looked like he'd had practice."
He now faces a fine of 50 euros ($56).
The 52-year-old from Salzburg in Austria, birthplace of Mozart, the composer whose works include the opera "The Magic Flute," told police he was not actually blowing the instrument.
"He said he was just practicing fingerings," said Bohnert.
# Posted on February 24th 2007 by mcswiss
Re: The Celtic Uke
50 euros is a snip. Perhaps the cops were still unused to the euro and left a nought off.
# Posted on February 24th 2007 by nicholas
Re: The Celtic Uke
I build small instruments - mainly ukes out
of mahogany.
Recently I played a five string fender electric
mandolin. single strings not doubled.
Tuned C G D A E
Gets the mandola range and the fiddle/mandolin
range.
Anyway I'm thinking about building A Tenor Uke
with 5 strings and put a pick-up in the bridge.
What do you think?
ukestrum
# Posted on February 24th 2007 by ukestrum
Re: The Celtic Uke
Good grief there's some talented uke players around!. Thanks oldstrings - another brilliant musician.
Does yer heart good don't it?
# Posted on February 25th 2007 by ethical blend
Re: The Celtic Uke
oldstrings -- I've been following James Hills online video career for a while. He's great. I wonder -- any relation to the Paganini of the Hornpipe? Hmmm.
# Posted on February 25th 2007 by fidkid
The Ukulele in ITM (cont'd...)
I regularly play uke at a certain session in South London. I play backing on it. I use a baritone tuned “normally” (D G B E).
The volume and timbre are perfect for accompanying a small bunch, say two or three, of melody instruments but it can also hold its own at all full on session of twenty players including bodhrans!
The uke has many fab sounds. Quietly arpeggiated it sounds serenely harp-like, spanked big time it delivers a good percussive edge. Strummed with the thumb (or for more strident sounds the nails and fingers) it can add subtle support. Sometimes it can provide a banjo-like twang impression to the general proceedings. It seems to be accepted, even the most staunch of ITM purists!
The overall effect is much more polite than the dreaded six-string devil (S.S.D.). Real uke players never say the “G” word! The horrid “ching, ching” of the S.S.D. doesn’t happen due to the nylon (or better still, gut) strings and lack of pleccy. Also due to the lack of the “bass” strings of the guitar that nasty strummy bassy blur is avoided.
Also with the baritone the bottom string is D with lends to a percussion with a pedal (or drone) effect and next string up of course is G and again this is mostly handy for a lot of ITM (!).
I also use a tenor uke sometimes tuned normally i.e. G C E A which provides a G drone on the bottom string and occasionally my treble tuned re-entrant G C E A (“re-entrant” means the “low” string, in this case G is thin and tuned an octave higher than you would expect- it gives the uke an even more defined “plunka, plunka” sound!).
I cannot emphasize how much more unobtrusive these instruments are for backing than the afore mentioned S.S.D. Also I can easily carry all three ukes in their cases (and an Evening Standard) from my house to the pub without getting a hernia (and very often back again). And finally ukuleles can’t help put a smile on the faces of people with their intrinsic humour and Viv Stanshall-ness.
# Posted on February 26th 2007 by yhaalhouse
Re: The Ukulele in ITM (cont'd...)
Dont make me P- UKE
The only reason that you feel an acceptacnce towards your uke playing is because it lack the acoustic volume of the wonderfull GUITAR
# Posted on February 26th 2007 by session savage
Re: The Celtic Uke
yhaalhouse,
I'm heartened to know there are other people
in this world that have a fondness for this
diminutive -maligned-and totally misunderstood
instrument. Not to mention all the laughter and
the jokes. " you spend half of your time out of
tune and the other half tuning"
Don't be too hard on the guitar. It definetly has
a place in music
ukestrum.
What gauge strings are you using on your
Baritone-- strings 4321
Tenor-- strings 4321
My first string keeps breaking
# Posted on February 27th 2007 by ukestrum
Re: The Celtic Uke
Any Celtic Charango players in this forum ?
see - http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/12863/comments#comment265059
# Posted on March 8th 2007 by Naoise