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[Kill.kenada]

Hi,
I'm looking to buy a ukulele.

I've never played one before, but I'm competant with guitar. Are they drastically different and if so, are they easy to learn how to play?
I've been reading up on them and there are a few different types. Like tenor, baritone and soprano.

What are the differences between them all?

Thankyou x

[Ballard]

They're as different as two fretted, hollow-body, acoustic string instruments could be. Knowing how to play guitar won't help you at all with ukelele unless your fingerstyle is decent.

Tenor, baritone, and soprano tell you the relative pitch of the instrument. A baritone will emit lower pitched sounds than a soprano, etc.

They're no easier or harder to learn than any instrument, really.

[Johnny C]

It's important to find one that tunes and strings properly though. A lot of ukes you can find for cheap are just shitty toys, really.

[Kill.kenada]

Right, I was gonna be quite weary of that

How much will I be looking to spend and can you reccomend any brand names?

Also, baritone Ukes are apparently tuned to the top 4 strings on the guitar. Surely this makes transfering guitar knowledge easy?

[Ballard]

Well, sure, but then you're just playing a baritone guitar.

[Kill.kenada]

Ok, so my next question is, what's the difference between playing a guitar and playing a uke?

[michaelicious]

How badass you look, basically.

[Spluff]

Playing a uke is traditionally a strumming experience, there's no melody in there.

Alternatively, you can do as I did and buy a cheapo $20 ukelele, tune it to DGBE and then use it as a portable guitar. It's actually got a pretty cool sound to it.

[ViolentDove]

"Playing a uke is traditionally a strumming experience, there's no melody in there."

This is not true.

I give you Azo Bell and the Old Spice Boys covering a Django Reinhardt tune for example, here.

Edit: Er...in retrospect, if you're talking about characteristics of traditional Ukelele music rather than the Uk being incapable of melody, then maybe you're right? Anyhow, Azo is still an awesome Uk player.   

[Spluff]

Key word - traditionally.

It's quite possible to do other things with it, just like its possible to play a guitar with a bow a la jimmy page.

[cmalberg]

You want to watch for a solid connection from the neck to the body, solid bridge, and preferably not plastic strings. You can find chords at the links posted below. For beginners, you can get a good Makala tenor for around $60, but I would be hesitant to pay less. It also depends on your style of playing. If you plan on using a pick (and get very, very soft and thin picks) you don't have to worry too much about body reverb in my experience. Give it a little knock, and if it sounds like knocking on a door thats what you want. If you plan on finger strumming, you will have a gentler sound and either need to give it a little more oomph or buy one with a better body sound.

As for stringing, no on transferring from guitar. Chords are significantly different. If you aren't really that familiar with playing fretted instruments, buy a bari (larger frets). If you are comfortable playing frets and can handle smaller spaces without any issues, definitely get a tenor.

And feel free to contact me if you have any questions.



http://nfo.net/usa/uke2.html

[mcoo]

one of the biggest differences is that instead of the strings being (low)G,C,E,A they are (high)G,C,E,A   I bought my ukulele for about $150 almost a year ago.  It was very easy to learn, there are some basic lessons on the internet, but all you really need is a chord chart

[ALoveSupreme]

all you really need is a chord chart

If you've already figured out guitar chords and their proper names, teaching yourself the different chords with their names on the uke should be fairly simple.  Not the same, but the process will be there.

[dalconnsuch]

ummmm


FUCK the ukulafuck



unless your a jimmy buffet fuck

[valley_parade]

Tell us how you really feel.

[Chrasstor]

I just didn't want to see this thread die without a picture of:









Carry on.

[dougless]

They're as different as two fretted, hollow-body, acoustic string instruments could be. Knowing how to play guitar won't help you at all with ukelele unless your fingerstyle is decent.

Tenor, baritone, and soprano tell you the relative pitch of the instrument. A baritone will emit lower pitched sounds than a soprano, etc.

They're no easier or harder to learn than any instrument, really.

I disagree with you.

There are several ways to tune a ukulele, and one of the most common ways is GCEA.
Essentially this is the same as putting capo on your fifth fret and ripping off your top two strings, Big E and A.

Therefor, a D chord shape on a ukulele is G.  An A shape is a D.  You can even do 'bar' chords on a ukulele.

I don't think Ballard knows what he's talking about....

...it dosn't have to be a Bari, either. You can have this tuning with a Sap, or a Tenor.
Trust me, I play uke more than I play guitar now-a-days.
 
pick a uke up and have fun with it!

[Kill.kenada]

haha
Shall do!

Can you reccomend any particular brands for beginners?

[malevis]

Ok, obviously you're not in dire need of inspiration as you're already getting a ukulele, but anything on the topic deserves this.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=O9mEKMz2Pvo

[dougless]

haha
Shall do!

Can you reccomend any particular brands for beginners?

for a beginer? Hmm. I had a really crapper sopranno uke for a long time, and i dont even remember the brand.  But it went out of tune WAY too much.
Granted, most ukes will go out of tune fairly easily anyways. But my roommate has a Mahalo uke, and it's actually pretty good. Cheap ($35 bucks or something), but sounds decent and feels good.

Right now I have a Hula Uke, but it was a bit pricey for a beginner.

Hopefully that helps a bit!

[carrotosaurus]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=O9mEKMz2Pvo

That's not a uke. That's a cavaquinho...