Ukulele players out there? (Page 2 of 5)

<table border="0" align="center" width="90%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td class="SmallText"><b>upyerkilt wrote on Sat, 13 January 2007 13&#58;17</b></td></tr><tr><td class="quote">

Like the guitar I cheat on the uke with chords, I think E is hard to do too so I just leave out the bottom string, like I do wit hthe chord B on the guitar,lol

<img src="images/smiley_icons/icon_lol.gif" border=0 alt="Laughing">
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E is really tough. I think harder than B on a guitar even though you only have one string to bar. Try this though:

Get your left wrist up at the level of the headstock and out in front in a Larry Grayson (Ostentatiously homosexual TV presenter of the 1970s and 80s for those too young, cool or American to remember him) sort of stance. Now "Bar" ONLY the A string with your index finger but do it backwards so that you are pointing with your index finger towards the floor rather than the ceiling as you would with a guitar. The side of your fingertip is touching the strings so your cuticle gets sore and your wicklows go crazy but the bone structure of your hand means you have a solid lock on the strings.

Your knuckles at the hand end of your fingers are now quite a long way off the fret board and it is pretty easy to form the rest of the E chord with fingers 2,3 and 4 because they are coming in from a nice high angle. This leaves your index finger tucked underneath the other three which forms a structural lock on the Bar.

It hurts the knuckles on your index finger like a complete b*stard for the first few hundred times but you get a nice clean chord and eventually you get used to it.

I also play the A based Bar chords (Bb, B, etc.) differently. I have the index finger the guitar way up but I bar the E and A strings only with the tip of it. Again this is very painful until your joints get accustoned to it but it works really well.

If anyone can't understand what I'm on about, say so and I'll post photographs.

Word of warning: I have long bendy fingers. Your experience may differ.  <img src="images/smiley_icons/icon_smile.gif" border=0 alt="Smile">

Let me know how you get on with it. It does hurt like a tw*t to start with.

Hi tim

It is a wee Mahalo I got too.
But now I have been playing it quite a lot I thin ki should get a bigger one with wire strings but cannot find one for under £50 yet ( the limit my wife will pay for my birthday)
I got 27 days to find one now or she might end up buying me something I dont want ( again!!!  <img src="images/smiley_icons/icon_lol.gif" border=0 alt="Laughing">  <img src="images/smiley_icons/icon_lol.gif" border=0 alt="Laughing">  I am so glad she doesnt read in here)

Ken

<table border="0" align="center" width="90%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td class="SmallText"><b>Quote:</b></td></tr><tr><td class="quote">

be aware that a concert uke has the same scale length as a soprano meaning it's no easier for the fat fingered. Strangely enough they do feel easier though but I suspect it's psychological.
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What about this then?

"...Concert Ukes have a lot more room on the fretboard for my "10 thumbs"

<a href="http://www.ukuleleworld.com/uw_con.html" target="_blank">http://www.ukuleleworld.com/uw_con.html</a>

Just curious.

Best,

Tim

Mm. Curious <img src="images/smiley_icons/icon_smile.gif" border=0 alt="Smile"> <img src="images/smiley_icons/icon_biggrin.gif" border=0 alt="Very Happy">

I'll have to try a compariosn test at a shop, I think.

Cheers,

Tim

while i am only 14 ive been playing ukulele for many years now. i own 2 ukes and my father owns several as well. i recently purchased my first electric/acoustic ukulele, the oscar schmidt ou14e and was pleased with its quality for only $140-$180 U.S. its sounds great acoustic or electric. i also recommend lanikai or bushman ukes and i find the concert size most enjoyable. as for uke books jumpin' jim offers a wide variety from campfire country songs to beautiful sophisticated hawaiian pieces he is the best provider

I've played guitar and a few other instruments for years. Usually teach myself. I've been playing uke for about 9 months now. It's the first axe I've learned with help from the WWW, namely chordie.com and some discussion groups. Wow!, it sure cuts down the learning curve. Chordie's been my main teacher. I just pick a song I like and use the fingering charts to learn new chords. If the 1st set of chords it too tough I try another key! Perfect. I've learned 5 times as many chords as I ever did on guitar. Uke's so much easier to play!

I've got a Bushman Jenny concert that really love and a Mahalo soprano that I leave at school to play for my fourth graders. Any other teachers out there? Besides playing for fun, I'm hoping to collect some songs that help with teaching. I have a few to share if you'd like to trade.

Hello Crystals - Perhaps this is the ukulele site you are searching for:

<a href="http://www.alligatorboogaloo.com/uke/tabs.html" target="_blank">http://www.alligatorboogaloo.com/uke/tabs.html</a>

Another great uke site (with nifty chord animation for Beatle's songs) is here:

<a href="http://www.beatlesite.info/" target="_blank">http://www.beatlesite.info/</a>

I got dragged to the music shop a couple of weeks ago to be "supportive" of my boyfriend's banjo obsession.  On what we considered at the time to be a silly little whim, we dinked around with ukuleles for a second before walking out the door.  We spotted a gorgeous banjo uke made by a local (seattle) artisan and fell in love.  The sound was awesome and we kind of just giggled about it and continued out the door.  A week later (after my own obsessive fit) he took me back to the music shop and I agonized for a while until I eventually picked out a lovely little Lanikai concert uke, nixing (for now) that fantastic banjo uke (don't you wish you could buy them all???).  I've been playing for exactly four days now and having a grand old time with it.  We'll see what happens.

My dad was a beautiful slack key guitarist before he passed away, and the official family legend is that he taught himself the ukulele, then went on to guitar, finally broaching the gap to slack key.  I grew up around strings, and since I was always surrounded by my very musical extended family Hawaiian family, I've always felt a bit odd that I never bothered to take up an instrument.  My pipe dream is to follow in Dad's footsteps with the uke > guitar > slack key gig, though I'm quite content with the ukulele I have now.  She's really quite a peach and I hope I can give her a good home with lots of love and attention.  <img src="images/smiley_icons/icon_smile.gif" border=0 alt="Smile">

Also, my boyfriend's banjo should be arriving on Monday.  He's been seriously jealous of my little Lanikai beauty, though.

Uke greetings from Greece! Been playing for about a year and a half and loving it! Also made my very own ukestick which u can check out here <a href="http&#58;&#47;&#47;ezfolk.com/audio/absurdus_delirium" target="_blank">http://ezfolk.com/audio/absurdus_delirium</a>! Did you know that you can also play clawhammer banjo style on the uke? There are a lot of us out there and gaining momentum as we go!

Cheers,

absurdus

I've been playing guitar for years but not as much as I'd like as of late because of a spinal problem that left my hands a bit numb.

I was at the local music store looking at a Fender Eric Johnson Strat (I love that neck) but it's not time to dole out that kind of money at the moment and I have a Tele and two other strats plus a hand full of other stuff.......

Anyway. I saw this lonely little instrument in the corner with some mandolins so I picked it up.

It felt right but someone must have broke a string because the third string was wound (duh) it's a Lanikai UL-21T tenor and it looks and feels to be made well. It was 99 bucks so I said what the hell and took it to the salesman. I asked what kind of deal I could get with a new set of strings cause someone put the wound third on it.

He checked and said....."did you know that the third string was supposed to be wound?

Of course I said no but he said..."We don't make much on this but I'll give you the Uke and a new set of strings for the $99."

What the hell it's something I can take to work and fool around with.

I brought it home, checked on the computer...found dozens of site and lo and behold, I love this thing.

Playing the guitar made it easy once I picked up the tuning and a few chords and I found it's made my guitar playing fun again.

It's also made me go back and study music theory and reading music ....which is a good thing.

I've started a section on my message board for Ukulele with links to site on its history, musicians and free on line lessons.

http://www.revsroadhouse.com/viewforum.php?f=38

Amen,
Reverend Colin