Baritone question

I've just tried a down tuned tenor in dGBE to see if I like it, & it isn't for me as I need that low D for the tunes I like/want to play.

However, I think it could be useful to leave the tenor tuned to dGBE for strumming as it has quite a nice tone to it.

Six months into my uke journey now, & I'm still experimenting.

uke1950 said:

I've just tried a down tuned tenor in dGBE to see if I like it, & it isn't for me as I need that low D for the tunes I like/want to play.

However, I think it could be useful to leave the tenor tuned to dGBE for strumming as it has quite a nice tone to it.

Six months into my uke journey now, & I'm still experimenting.

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Try it with a low D (G) string. Depending upon your Uke it might work fine. I kind of like my dGBE tenors as they have a 'Uke' sound to them. I generally play my concerts as Low G, but am thinking about changing one to hi G just to have both. I'm a little over a year into my uke journy and having fun.

Your choice of tuning should really depend on how you're using your uke. If you're using your bari as part of an ensemble, you should consider "standard" bari uke tuning - DGBE. And, you should consider playing it more like a rhythm guitar than a re-entrant ukulele. Don't worry about it sounding like a tenor guitar instead of a baritone ukulele. Bari uke still has a distinct sound. Tenor guitars use steel strings. Bari ukes use "nylon" strings. Even the wound strings on a bari have a polymer core. Tenor guitars are traditionally tuned in 5th like a four string banjo or a mandolin, so the chord forms are quite different and have different voicings from even a steel string guitar. Tenor guitars usually have a slightly bigger body which combined with steel strings makes them much louder than a bari uke. That makes them to loud to blend well acoustically with ukuleles.

When I play with my ukulele friends I like to play bari uke in "standard" non-reentrant tuning to COMPLIMENT what they are playing. Non-reentrant tuning lets me fill a niche not covered by the other ukes. If someone else is playing bari in standard tuning, then I'll play my acoustic bass (gasp!) or my soprano in D (aDF#B). That way each instrument that we add to the ensemble adds to the overall sound.

If you play bari primarily as a solo instrument all bets are off. Tune it however it sounds good to you. If you sing, tune it in a key that makes the easy chords easy to sing with without having to use a capo. Use re-entrant tuning if you want it to sound more ukulele like and if you'll be using ukulele strumming techniques like claw hammer, split strumming, etc.