The Ukulele Size Debate - Food for Thought

here is some Azo Bell for those of you who might think a soprano uke is somehow "limited".
 
want some more? thought you might.
this with his trusty trio, The Old Spice Boys.
 
To anyone saddened by my remark " anything larger than a soprano is cheating " , it was meant to be funny.
I don't beleive this saddened anyone or ruined the " aloha " here .
( shaking head ) :confused::wtf:
 
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People should play whatever makes them happy.

It is all good.
 
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*looks at the heresy on her wall*

Tenor. Made out of plastic.

2 sopranos, both laminate ('cause I'm assuming laminate wasn't the traditional material either).

1 soprano Ukulele-Like Object, which I'm assuming means that somewhere along the line, it doesn't meet most people's technical definition of a ukulele?

(Has anybody passed out yet?)

:p
 
People have opinions, and some have strong opinions, for whatever reason. I personally don't mind people stating their opinion as fact, in fact I get a kick out of it sometimes. I don't know. I think UU is pretty tame over all. Tame enough that I find myself tip toeing around some topics, and I think that is too bad, when we can't have a rousing discussion sometimes.
 
Guys, maybe consider using a wink emoticon to give your fellow members a clue when you're kidding. Evidently it's not always clear, as some feathers seem to have been ruffled.

Maybe some people's senses of humour are a little underdeveloped... or maybe some of you aren't quite as funny as you think you are. Meh, I don't know.
 
I couldn't play soprano.
I need 15/16 reachable frets.
Most soprano's are 12th fret joins, and many don't have frets over the body, and if they do, they're not really reachable to 16.
 
Choirguy said:
The other thing I would add is that while I am relatively new to the forums (somewhere under or over a year), I have not seen any of the virtuosos who choose to play soprano (or concert) over tenor. It would be hard for a lot of those players to do what they do on a soprano--as many of them play well above the 12th fret.
Click to expand...

I think John King and Ohta San were/are virtuosos (virtuosi?) by anyone's standards. Azo Bell has already been mentioned. James Hill doesn't limit himself to any one size or even form of ukulele. Cliff Edwards, Roy Smeck. The list could, and should, go on and on. So many people's mental list of ukulele players has two people, and we all know who they are. I was the same way!

And it's quite possible to play a soprano or concert above the 12th fret. Buy or borrow one of the thousands of soprano and concert ukuleles with the fret board extending over the body and 15-17 frets or possibly more. For all I know, there's a cutaway soprano out there somewhere. Neither soprano nor concert is an exclusively 12-fret instrument. I wouldn't be surprised if there are 12-fret tenors and baritones, for that matter. I believe Makala Watermans have only 12, and they are instruments, but not particularly musical ones. (Another plug for there to be actual, wooden or laminate sopranos in your music program. Somewhere in one of your classes could be the future John King. I want to hear her!)
 
There was a post here earlier that seemed to be a good example of what Holly was talking about when she began this thread, but it has disappeared. It spoke of the only true path to enlightenment being through the soprano. I think they were joking, but you never know. The rest of the post seemed less "over the top".
 
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buddhuu said:
Guys, maybe consider using a wink emoticon to give your fellow members a clue when you're kidding. Evidently it's not always clear, as some feathers seem to have been ruffled.

Maybe some people's senses of humour are a little underdeveloped... or maybe some of you aren't quite as funny as you think you are. Meh, I don't know.
Click to expand...

buddhuu. This is not a matter of kidding or humour. This is a matter of subjectivity or objectivity. The important thing is not a sense of humour. Just we have to see if it were subujectivity or objectivity. You shoud not ask people to use emoticon when they express subjectivity. And this thread is apparently an attack and a public accusation to Pete.
 
Ziret said:
I think John King and Ohta San were/are virtuosos (virtuosi?) by anyone's standards. Azo Bell has already been mentioned. James Hill doesn't limit himself to any one size or even form of ukulele. Cliff Edwards, Roy Smeck. The list could, and should, go on and on. So many people's mental list of ukulele players has two people, and we all know who they are. I was the same way!
Click to expand...

There's also our own George Elmes, who I think must be the reincarnation of Roy Smeck! :) I find him, and those you mentioned, exceptionally inspiring.
 
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I have posted before,that while Soprano is my personal choice,and favourite,
the player should play the scale and size, that they are most comfortable and
happy with! There is no right or wrong to me, if it's 'right' it just IS and that's
all you need to have!
 
Mivo said:
There's also our own George Elmes, who I think must be the reincarnation of Roy Smeck! :) I find him, and those you mentioned, exceptionally inspiring.
Click to expand...
You're right, how could I forget George, the ukulele player I currently most admire?

I think our ears are so accustomed to hearing the guitar that we often fail to appreciate the ukulele for what it is. What I've noticed, though, is when it's used as an ensemble instrument, as part of a band, the ukulele sound is what is emphasized. After all, if a band wants the guitar sound, they use a guitar.

I've heard a lot of disparagement of the uke by guitar players. One whose advice I sought in purchasing my first uke said, "Just get the cheapest one you can find, they're all crap."

It stands to reason many guitar players and guitar player admirers would want their ukulele to sound like what they are most familiar with. OTOH, quite a few guitar players (George Harrison leaps to mind) don't want to have a little guitar. That love the ukulele sound in its own right.

But I can see reasons why a person would reject the true ukulele sound, and that's OK. I'm glad, though, that there are builders, players, and listeners who still like it, though it does sometimes seem as if that is an increasingly niche opinion.
 
It would sure be a boring world if everybody always liked the same things.

I prefer the baritone uke, because I like instruments with longer scales, lower pitch ranges and deeper resonances that are still not too big, and that I can still reach to play comfortably. I am dithering about whether to get a tenor, which has the same scale as my favorite and most familiar plucked instrument, the mandola. I would tune it like one, which might make it seem redundant, but I do like the softer and purer nylon sound as something different than what I'm used to.

But to me, all these instruments are just pretty soundboxes with strings, and more importantly, tools to make music. Their history may be interesting, but isn't of major importance to me. I rarely listen to recordings of virtuosos on any of the instruments I play, because there isn't enough time and if given the choice, I'd rather be playing or practicing on one of them. I wouldn't fit into the Hawaiian "ukulele culture", which would probably regard me as a heretic anyway. And I always thought "aloha" meant "hello" - I guess it goes deeper than that, but I'm clueless there. (I know, I'm an oddball, what else is new?) I do appreciate this forum, though.

bratsche
 
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