Riverman
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Post by Riverman on Nov 5, 2017 20:03:23 GMT
A friend who came for me for guitar fingerpicking lessons for a while, then dropped out, has recently been in touch. He's taken up the baritone uke, is loving it, and in his wisdom has decided that I'm the only person he trusts to teach him. He's coming for his first "lesson" tomorrow afternoon. Now I have a tenor uke, I participated in and enjoyed ocarolan's workshop at Halifax, and I know how a baritone is tuned...but I've never actually played one... So, apart from being aware that root notes won't always be the lowest note in a chord, do any uke players have any tips to guide me through this minefield? I'm sure I can wing it, at least for a lesson or two...
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Martin
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Post by Martin on Nov 5, 2017 22:41:31 GMT
The Dark Side has claimed another victim....
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Riverman
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Post by Riverman on Nov 5, 2017 23:11:55 GMT
The Dark Side has claimed another victim.... This, from a banjo player...
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ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on Nov 5, 2017 23:27:05 GMT
Riverman - I've never played a baritone uke either Richard. Some people tune them with the 4th string an octave up; most people tune them with the 4th string being the lowest in pitch, ie as per guitar. If you have a tenor uke Richard then presumably your 4th string will be an octave up, though again, low tuning of this string is sometimes done. If your mate capos his baritone at fret 5 then at least you can play at the same pitch, give or take an octave on the 4th string, dependant on how each of you string/tune. You could, of course, buy a baritone uke! www.eaglemusicshop.com/cat/baritone-ukuleles#category_id-283/applied_filters-/order-PLH/page_number-1/items_per_page-24I suppose a better answer might be to be clear with your mate what he wants to play on his baritone. They don't sound particularly uke-like, esp with the low D, so strummage could be a bit odd and fingerstyle runs the risk of sounding like a naff nylon strung guitar with limited bass capability. Maybe there's scope for some pioneering and repertoire developing here. If all else fails, see if you can "convert" him to tenor! Would love to know how this works out - good luck. Keith
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Riverman
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Post by Riverman on Nov 6, 2017 0:20:04 GMT
ocarolan - Thanks Keith. I think he's in the second tuning camp (DGBE not dGBE) and the reason he likes it is that the nylon strings make it a lot easier to play than his Taylor GS Mini (he has quite small hands... ...and found even basic chords like G difficult on the guitar), and given the tuning he already knows a number of the transferable chord shapes. I'm not sure his ear is sufficiently well developed to notice the lack of low root notes - I think, to be honest, he just likes the idea of playing a guitar-like instrument and getting something vaguely musical out of it. I should say that he's in his 70s, and I think he enjoys the sociability of lessons as much as anything. When he contacted me he also mentioned that he likes playing it plugged in, as it's less effort... Should be a fun afternoon! I'll report back at some point...
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Post by scorpiodog on Nov 6, 2017 10:46:48 GMT
Aren't your guitar skills easily transferable to a baritone uke, Richard? More so than a concert or tenor anyway, and especially with the low D. You could just take the low strings off a guitar when you teach him
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Riverman
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Post by Riverman on Nov 6, 2017 12:14:00 GMT
Aren't your guitar skills easily transferable to a baritone uke, Richard? Yes, that's my theory too...until proven wrong!
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Post by guzzler on Nov 9, 2017 14:38:23 GMT
Guitar skills should translate to bari uke easily. Having said that I can happily interchange between guitar, reentrant uke and guitalele but hand me a bari uke and my brain closes down. I end up with fingers flailing about trying to find the missing bass strings. I'm sure you'll have better success though and from what you say your friend will enjoy the lesson anyway. Although many deride the uke it's opened up the world of music to lots of people and I think that's brilliant.
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