Transpose or Tune Down?

ash13brook

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I mostly am a Bb singer. I do, however, sing some songs in C, depending on how they lie within the scale.
Playing in C is so easy, though, that I wonder if I should just tune down a whole, or even a half step to accomodate my singing or just bite the bullet and learn to play in Bb?

Thanks,
Matt
 
To me I would rather stay on normal tuning

You are only talking about a whole tone down.

I took voice lessons and increased my range over 6 months.
So I would imagine you could train your voice to go up a tone.

An alternative is to transpose. In fact you might find with practice that you can transpose on sight.

Lastly chordie.com has a great library of songs and you can change to ukulele and transpose then print a nice songsheet

Also on the iPhone an app called amazing Amazing slowdowner can not only transpose your songs from iTunes but also slow down and even loop.
 
I mostly am a Bb singer. I do, however, sing some songs in C, depending on how they lie within the scale.
Playing in C is so easy, though, that I wonder if I should just tune down a whole, or even a half step to accomodate my singing or just bite the bullet and learn to play in Bb?

Thanks,
Matt

If your instrument will tune down sufficiently and still sound OK with the strings that are fitted, that's probably the simplest choice. There's no real benefit, apart from a modicum of self-satisfaction if you succeed, in learning to play in an "awkward" key if you don't have to.

Having tuned down, of course, you'll either need to re-tune or use a capo should you find yourself in a play-along scenario with other ukuleles.

Alternatively, you could try capo'ing up two frets and playing in "A" shapes ... just a thought ;)

:music:
 
Tenor was made for Bb tuning. :p
Ok, that's not entirely true but it's still my favorite tenor tuning.
 
I have a tenor Fluke in A6 tuning, i.e., a minor-3rd down from GCEA for anything I do vocally.

Specifically E4-A3-C#4-F#4.

I am using the Martin M620 strings, and if this tuning is your target, with a brand NEW set of M620s, you NEVER tune beyond, otherwise the strings will be stretched too far and sound like rubber bands if first settled and stretched to C6 or Bb tuning...

I dont care to transpose and play the C6 chord shapes. I never sing in group settings, and if I am going to record myself and play other instruments in multi-tracking, for some things I might transpose, like for playing bass which is pretty easy, or otherwise use a software pitch-shifting plugin in my DAW program.

If I am playing in a group setting, I will use one of my other ukes that is tuned GCEA so I dont have to worry about it.

Yes, I am lazy. I want to make music, not endlessly gyrate the Circle of Fifths.

I've studied music my whole life since I am 7 yrs old (48 now), both in school and on my own, and really I am much more an auditory learner and player, and have only small reasons for bothering with documentation, and prefer to rely on my memory and keep my brain sharp by using it instead of a transposing slide-rule...

Also, if I want to use my Fluke in A6 tuning with a group, I can always just put a capo on the 3rd fret and !viola! C6 tuning :)
 
Tenor was made for Bb tuning. :p
Ok, that's not entirely true but it's still my favorite tenor tuning.
Why is Bb thy favorite, pray tell?

Do you use a capo when playing with a group? Or.....?

Is your Bb uke's #4 low g or hi?

++++++++++++++

11th commandment: try to B#, always B natural, NEVER Bb !!
 
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I made myself learn Bb, as some songs work best for me in that key. You can get some very nice voicing that way, at least on soprano which is what I play. For Eb I almost always use 3336 rather than 3331, and Ebm sounds very good fingered 3326 if you need an Eb/Ebm change.

One of the good things is that almost all the chords you use are closed shapes (no open strings), which makes damping using finger pressure alone a cinch (literally).

So I'd persevere. If your action is high at the nut get that sorted though, otherwise playing in Bb is a misery.
 
Why is Bb thy favorite, pray tell?
Do you use a capo when playing with a group? Or.....?
Is your Bb uke's #4 low g or hi?
++++++++++++++
11th commandment: try to B#, always B natural, NEVER Bb !!
My tenors are tuned reentrant (high f). I like the lower tension and the softer tone. I do not play in a group but if I did I would probably take a C tuned uke - unless it was a jazz group in which case I'd take the Bb uke and read off trumpet charts. But I have also used a capo on occasion for projects that needed it.
 
It is your ukulele--do what you want. I play with others and spend most of my time on a GCEA fretboard and alternative tunings would require more thinking in group settings than I want to commit to. I want to focus on the printed melody--to sing--rather than thinking about what C looks like on a ukulele tuned to a different key.
 
(grinning)
The best part is that you'll have to purchase another 'ukulele and tune it specifically for this song.
Next you'll have to find some songs in other keys so you have justification for purchasing another 'ukulele.
I can't believe this solution hasn't been suggested yet.
:D :rolleyes:
 
(grinning)
The best part is that you'll have to purchase another 'ukulele and tune it specifically for this song.
Next you'll have to find some songs in other keys so you have justification for purchasing another 'ukulele.
I can't believe this solution hasn't been suggested yet.
:D :rolleyes:

These are in fact some of the the motivators for why I have more than two dozen ukes as the moment...

- most ukes are in varitions of the GCEA-intervals modified-fourths tunings, but in different keys +/- a RANGE of semitones in variation

- other ukes are an perfect fifths tunings, CGDA, GDAE, and others are in perfect fourths tunings, BEAD, EADG

- the above are all also in variations of linear and re-entrant setups, and nearly every uke has different strings to accommodate it's tuning, scale length, tension and tone as I prefer..


some might ask 'whaddya need all that for?'

1. for my song-writng, different tunings SOUND and PLAY differently from each other, and provide inspiration across a much wider spectrum

2. because I am at least partly insane or OCD, and don't do anything half-assed, it's 'all or nothing", 'deep-dive into the rabbit hole or stay home', and staying in one tuning is boring to me :) besides the fact that it excites my brain and keeps the synapses from falling into atrophy
 
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uh ... chord chopping = chord damping?

@ubulele & Jim H - liked your Bb replies muchly.
 
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