Ukes vs. Guitars

You're welcome. There's a song by Peter Moon called "Guava Jam" which makes for a nice little solo in that style (and Troy also covered it).

Captain America said:

I expect a lot out of my guitar playing; I don't expect so much with the uke.

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To some degree this could also be re-written... Most people expect a lot out of guitar playing; Most people don't expect so much with the uke. Jake routinely talks about the low expectations people have of ukuleles, and I think it is true.

Regardless of how proficient one becomes on the guitar, if the proficiency is not at a professional level, it will never meet expectations. Any trip to Guitar Center with the endless riffs wafting into an insurmountable roar can attest to the competitive nature that guitarist face. Everyone plays guitar and everyone who plays is compared.

After years of playing guitar well enough but not good enough to meet expectations, it is refreshing to play the ukulele. It is easier to play and most people don't realize that a lot of the fingerstyle playing is not that hard if you work within certain keys with semi-open chords. I mean let's face it, even a so-so version of Guitar Gently Weeps on the ukulele impresses people with a Tiny Tim mindset.

John

A common thread is that playing Ukuleles makes you feel better, takes you to a happy place, is easier to handle and the like. While a guitar is more serious, somber, or self involved. Then there is the blues "feeling good was easy Lord, when he sang the blues". I do play the blues on a ukulele, a Baritone is preferred then. I consider the Baritone an almost guitar it's missing the 2 low end strings, however it does make you feel better or is a part of the process.
The ukulele or what ever is a window into the wonderful world of music that stimulates the intellectual and emotional at the same time.

I sucked so bad at guitar that I never practiced enough - a horrible feedback loop. I figured I could either grow a sixth and seventh finger on my left hand or get into the uke. I didn't want to modify half of my gloves so...

70sSanO said:

To some degree this could also be re-written... Most people expect a lot out of guitar playing; Most people don't expect so much with the uke. Jake routinely talks about the low expectations people have of ukuleles, and I think it is true.

Regardless of how proficient one becomes on the guitar, if the proficiency is not at a professional level, it will never meet expectations. Any trip to Guitar Center with the endless riffs wafting into an insurmountable roar can attest to the competitive nature that guitarist face. Everyone plays guitar and everyone who plays is compared.

After years of playing guitar well enough but not good enough to meet expectations, it is refreshing to play the ukulele. It is easier to play and most people don't realize that a lot of the fingerstyle playing is not that hard if you work within certain keys with semi-open chords. I mean let's face it, even a so-so version of Guitar Gently Weeps on the ukulele impresses people with a Tiny Tim mindset.

John

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Please NOTE : The underwritten MAY read as a bit Snarky ....If It does it is not meant to.......'Kay.

And that's right were I part company with the "Little guitar" players who pooh pooh the likes of TT , Formby and Smeck. :biglaugh:
The beauty of the Uke is that it can clearly be played in a number of ways...just like a guitar ....it also can be played in a number of ways ...unlike a guitar ...you could, probably never recreate the triples , fans rolls etc etc on a guitar that you can on a Soprano Uke or a Uke Banjo a la Smeck , Formby etc.....I have no problem with the so called moving on and development of the Uke as it is somehow described....but very often I have a little bet with myself that those who ridicule the playing styles of those mentioned do so because they cannot do them, and possibly don't appreciate the difficulties and complexities inherent.

Pooh Poohing them is a little like a psychiatrist saying that Jung or Freud had no relevance on the development of Trick Cycling.

Don't forget this is coming from the UK where, certainly in my experience, we seem to have a slightly different view of the Uke and it's playing styles . As commented on a couple of times by UU memebers.

Jake Shimabukuro is making his first tour here only this year . I don't think that he is yet a "household" name among the players in UK .

Certainly the ones that I talk with look blank when you mention The Ohta Sans and Shimabukuros (unless they are UU members)

As to Uke vs Guitar :

Guitar , I don't think it is any harder than the uke . You can easily set your own parameters and limitations and excel within them ..(if you want to "excel")

Guitar's just a bit bigger ...the uke is two strings less and starts at the fifth fret of a guitar .

You can boom chikka three chord songs like a Sing and Strum group, finger pick like Jake and crew (In fact I yell at the screen "get a guitar" LOL)
or play classical ...like Kingy and our own Ukeval......

It should not be Versus ....it should ,as has previously been mentioned, as well as ..

The Ukelele..and it's players (me in particular)..in my book (and your views may vary) is/are the most simple, complex, contradictory,paradoxical, mind bogglingly pleasurable, infuriating object in the world. Just like any other instrument . The only difference is that the everybody on here has one and only some have other instruments.

Guess what, they all think the same thing about their weapons of choice . :smileybounce:

I played guitar in my youth, but stopped playing music for many years after college, until I discovered ukulele four years ago. Lately, I've started playing guitar again, but guitars are so big and so much work compared to ukes, that it's been challenging to play both. I think I'm moving towards playing Tenor ukes and smaller guitars like the Cordoba C9 Parlor nylon-string guitar, so they can sort of "meet in the middle", metaphorically speaking.

Steedy said:

I played guitar in my youth, but stopped playing music for many years after college, until I discovered ukulele four years ago. Lately, I've started playing guitar again, but guitars are so big and so much work compared to ukes, that it's been challenging to play both. I think I'm moving towards playing Tenor ukes and smaller guitars like the Cordoba C9 Parlor nylon-string guitar, so they can sort of "meet in the middle", metaphorically speaking.

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Somewhat similar experience to yours...

...before I bought my first uke, I had purchased the Yamaha GL-1 Guitalele, but the fretboard was too cramped for me to play 6-string chords on a 1.75' nut, and still played my full-sized classical from time to time. Then I saw a used Art & Lutherie Ami nylon parlor guitar with a solid cedar top and cherrywood back and sides, and bought that back in Jan'15 at a great price. I love the sound, but it still feels HUGE compared to my ukes. So now I am considering selling it and taking a try at the Cordoba Mini, which is a baritone scale, 6-string guilele, with a full 2" nut width, and it's rumored that you can get a set of strings for standard EADGBE tuning instead of the G-tuning of a Terz guitar or the typical A-tuning of a guitalele.

Not sure yet, because every time I pick up the Ami, and play, the sound and the feel is just off-the-chart amazing to me. I cant fathom how they can make such an amazing instrument for ~$299...

Try as I may, I could never learn the guitar. It's just too big, too heavy, and too far between frets. I love watching a good guitar player, though.
My friend Jay Nunes played guitar until a work accident resulted in a broken hand. The Doc told him he'd never play again. It broke his heart. One day he and his lovely wife Kelly were messing around in Sam Ash Music, she picked up a uke and handed to him. He liked it, and she bought it for him. Soon, the uke was re-habing his hand. The hand totally healed and now not only is he very proficient with the uke (and has UAS), he can play the guitar again, as well as the Ubass I gave him.

I think the reason the ukulele is fun is that it is easy. You can learn three chords in ten minutes, perhaps, and thereby have the ability to accompany the voice with dozens of songs. I know of no other instrument with less barriers to entry. Guitars hurt to play. Accompanying a singer on a piano is complex. Maybe harmonica, but that does require a good ear. My six year old daughter has a repertoire of a handful or two of songs and she sings happy birthday to her classmates. I can play my soprano standing, sitting, or lying down. Even at the intermediate level, strumming and chunking on the uke sounds so good without requiring immense skill. You can put together chord melody arrangements and don't have to even worry about the bass note, the thing that really restricts you on the guitar. It really is a great instrument. And you have the Ohta-sans and the James Hills out there for inspiration and to show just how far it can be taken. Finally, the guitar's territory has been well-staked out. There are already a hundred virtuosos in about any niche you can think of. The ukulele field has a bit more space for you to find your own place.

I can't make a fair comparison. I played guitar since 1961. A lot of it was hard work, and a lot of it was fun. The Uke has been nothing but fun, but I owe it to the guitar playing background. I' m glad I've had both, but medical issues dictate Uke only for the future. I'm happy with that.
I don't really know how to quantify it, but I feel like the Uke is a "happier" instrument.

From Banjo To Uke

I am 73, and got to the point, where I couldn't hold my right hand, in the "claw" position to play clawhammer banjo, without a lot of pain. I also build open back banjos, and have sold on all coasts, of the US and in-between. I've taken all my info, off of the Banjohangout, so I don't get anymore orders. I can hold a pick, to play the uke, without pain, although I don't play oldtime music, anymore. I play classic rock, and some country, but not in public. I don't want anyone to hear me sing,and I really don't play very well. I've only been at it about six months.

bvh

When I retired, and thought that it would be fun to be able to play music and sing, it literally turned into the guitar vs the ukulele, and the ukulele won.

The Uke is easier for me to play with a bad left wrist. I still have one guitar, a nice Lariivee parlour, which I play occasionally and an Appalachian Dulcimer, which is sort of my meditation instrument, but playing Ukes has opened up a new and valued world of new friends that I have never had with other instruments.

CactusWren said:

I think the reason the ukulele is fun is that it is easy. You can learn three chords in ten minutes, perhaps, and thereby have the ability to accompany the voice with dozens of songs. I know of no other instrument with less barriers to entry...

Maybe harmonica, but that does require a good ear.

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I would modify that first statement. The ukulele is relatively easy to get started on. There's more to it than just chords. You need to co-ordinate both hands and to be able to play rhythmically. That doesn't always come easy and takes practice.

Harmonica is also relatively easy to get started. I don't think it requires an especially good ear. You need do to be able to hold a tune and almost everyone can do that if they put their mind to it.

I started playing the uke about 3 years ago and find playing it and interacting with the other players is really fun I picked up a guitar for the 1st time about a year ago. I don't find it any harder to play than the uke but I find I have more fun playing with other ukers.

I have been playing uke for about two years and recently bought a Cordoba Mini, a baritone ukulele sized guitarlele. This is the first time trying the six-strings. I think having the uke background really helps to learn this more guitar-like instrument, especially since it is tuned in A to A. I really enjoy the deeper fuller sound with bass strings compared to my soprano uke. I'm spending time mostly trying to learn the new instrument but occasionally keeping up with my uke and find it still very pleasant. I do play piano as well and all my instruments sound beautiful in its own unique voice. Maybe after a couple of years playing this mini guitar, I might want to buy a nicer ukulele or I might be interested in a real guitar, I don't know

When I first started playing ukulele, I figured that someday when I learned enough, I'd switch off and play guitar. So, to aid me in that dream, I bought a baritone Uke and figured (again) that, when I learned to play it, I'd be two thirds on the way to a guitar.

However, since that time, I've been telling myself and others how much I liked banjos. I even bought a coupla Banjoleles. And now I have a mini banjo, and, if and when I learn to play it, I'm gonna get a really one.

Sometimes I wonder how good I'd have been if I'da stuck to the trumpet--too late now I guess. ld:

I'm a long time uke player and just started guitar last year (after a failed attempt as a kid). It came along at the right time. I don't know how else to put it. I don't play or write the same way on either, and I'm ok with that. As long as I treat them as uke and guitar, 2 instruments that are different, not better or worse, all goes well. I do think all the uke playing helped me pick up guitar, but only in that I already knew strumming patterns, could strum and sing at the same time, etc. It didn't help much with learning chords - I had to start at the beginning with that so I wouldn't try to compare/relate them. I like both.

I played guitar for around 15 years. Got my first uke and kept my guitar for a while until it just wasn't played any more. It felt kinda wrong at first when I sold my guitar and only had a uke, as a lot of the music I like is guitar based. That soon changed and I'm perfectly happy with the ukulele as my only instrument now. The few times I have picked up or even looked at a guitar they just seem so massive now, don't think I'll ever go back! I must admit I do think my wife would rather I still play guitar, I reckon she thought I was way cooler with the longer hair and acoustic guitar!

I have played guitar since my teens. Now i'm mid way through my 30's. I have taught, played in small time bands, went through an electric phase then full time acoustic settling with one decent acoustic and a Strat that hardly sees daylight.

4 years ago i tried something different... ukulele! I picked it up pretty quick although (still) lacking a ukulele specific repertoire of songs i have enjoyed it immensely. That said i quit for a year only coming back 9 months ago for keeps this time. I sold all my decent ukuleles to invest in a one off acoustic guitar which i still have.

Whatever instrument you play, you know that rare time when you really get lost in what your playing? Completely carried away? This was rare with guitar, i had to be really nailing a complicated piece. On ukulele i'm just enjoying the sound and well... my most complicated ukulele piece is the magic ukulele waltz but... i get that lost in what i'm playing carried away thing with some basic tunes. I just love the sound. Its not even a K brand sound... its humble M brands.

Case in point. This weekend my wife, 2 young daughters and i visited the ruins of an Abbey. A beautiful historical place. I, brought my Makala MK C concert... and sat playing there. Some ukulele type zen right there. My fussy all solid guitar never leaves the house. I play at service station car parks when we are travelling, out and about locally... pretty much anywhere. Its such a fun instrument. Not an all serious guitar.