Best Keys

kypfer said:

In my experience (too long to admit !!) succeeding or not with a barre chord can simply be the difference between "sitting up properly" and slouching around trying to look "cool".

Sit up in a chair without arms (a stool can be good if it's the correct height) and adjust your strap to get your instrument in the right place on your torso. You'll know it's in the right place 'cos your thumb will fall naturally to the back of the neck (not alongside it) and you'll be able to barre with little or no effort ... try it

You may well not be able to see the fret markers on the fingerboard at this point ... that's why a lot of instruments have dots on the side of the neck

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Ya know, kypfer, you're absolutely correct. I have not been following your advice for a long time (never) even though I knew it was correct.

I play lots of instruments, but, except for my tuba, I usually play them standing and moving around the room. They're wind instruments, and I stand for better breath control. However, I sit with my stringed instruments. I have a good, one armed chair and a really nice stool, and slouching with my feet on a foot stool is my main mode of operation. I do it for comfort and not for looking cool. In no position could I look cool--that ship has sailed.

I really agree that I will fret better with better posture, and I'm gonna think of you every time I chew myself out for slouching. Thanks for your good advice.

ld:

Bill1 said:

I have looked the list of ukes in the signature of the OP. Great selection of tunings. Bb is not easy in GCEA or DGBE tuning. I tried to pick one of the ukes to tune Bb, FBbDG, but could not work out which one would be best. I think a concert size would be the best size. Old fingers will have trouble with barre chords, but if you have a mix of tunings to pick from, you may not need to use barre chords. A good selection is G Bb C and D tuning. Keys with Bb do not require barre chords on a Bb tuned uke, so when you sing a tune that needs Bb, pick up the Bb tuned uke. You will be in good company if you do this, it is what George Formby did, so it is not a new idea.

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Hi, Bill1, I had a Uke in FBbDG, but changed it for various reasons. I mostly tune for the keys of the music I have. I have a lotta C, D, F and G music from the other instruments I play. Most of my Uke music is in those keys too. I think most of my problem with Bb and other chords comes from negativity and stubbornness.

I've been lucky and mostly successful with my instruments over the years, but less so with the Ukes and banjos. They're coming along, but slowly . . . slowly . . . slowly. I'm not so usta that. I've only had three real failures: The French horn (because it's a French horn), the Euphonium (my embouchure was too old for the high notes) and my keyboard (I just couldn't play melodies and chords at the same time.). I don't seem to have that problem with the stringed instruments though. It's mostly my horrible memory that's slowin' me down.

Anyway, I'm pretty much in an upward, positive period lately, and I'm learning and even remembering stuff! Thanks for your advice though, and I have some info for you: Old age is the pits!

ld:

It never occurred to me to have a uke tuned one fret low for playing in flat keys. I'm surprised that I hadn't thought of it, since I played mandolin in a bluegrass group for a number of years with a lead singer who loved flat keys. He and the banjo player slapped on a capo and I grabbed my "flat key mandolin", tuned GbDbAbEb (one fret low) and felt quite comfortable. You couldn't see the capo, but it was there.

I am experimenting every day, but so far :
Bb is the best, it allow me to go up through all the song modulations and down quite easily and I didn't find yet a song I can't sing in that key, G is second.
C is ok, but sometimes too high or too low. Quite strangely, D works fine. A is good too.
F depends... sometimes I love it, sometimes I can't get the pitch. If I take a melody low, sometimes it becomes too low if descending, and too high if ascending if I sing one octave higher.
E is a mess... not the chord to play... that I figured out, but I can't get the pitch singing. Too low or too high.

My favourite (not surprising I think 'cause it is the corrispondant minor of Bb) is by far Gm. Love minor keys and Gm is so easy for me to sing along.