Low G

RafterGirl

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It seems like a lot of folks use low G on tenors. How does a low G work on a concert?
 
It's a matter of personal preference, but I think it works just fine. In the link in my sig, you can hear me playing a low G Kamaka concert. My low G string of choice is the Fremont Soloist - personally I think non-wound low G sounds awful, and prefer wound strings.
 
I just recently put one on one of my concerts. I'm not sure I'm a fan. For strumming, I would give it a thumbs down overall. Maybe I'm too used to the high G sound but it's not really working for me. It sounds good on some songs but overall I much prefer a high G. I've been trying to learn some finger-picking and I'm going to see how I like it as a picker. I gave it a short try only once so far and it worked better for me as a picker. I just need to spend more time picking with a low G before I make a final decision about how I feel.
 
I have a low G on one of my concerts. It suits that uke really well. I've had one on my other concert, and I prefer high G on that one. Anyway, try it and see. It's only a few dollars wasted if you don't like it.
 
I just recently put one on one of my concerts. I'm not sure I'm a fan. For strumming, I would give it a thumbs down overall. Maybe I'm too used to the high G sound but it's not really working for me. It sounds good on some songs but overall I much prefer a high G. I've been trying to learn some finger-picking and I'm going to see how I like it as a picker. I gave it a short try only once so far and it worked better for me as a picker. I just need to spend more time picking with a low G before I make a final decision about how I feel.
My opinion.
The balanced sound of most uke chords in "standard" gCEA tuning is is my opinion because "open" chords don't have any notes in octaves. The C major being an exception, but it sounds ok because the octave note is the root. Any other note doubled as "bass" does not sound good to me. So in general the sound is bright and happy.

What low G gives is added notes for melody playing that can be really convenient for playing song melodies and also soloing in general. If I did not have a guitar I'd certainly consider getting a low G ukulele.

Even low G does not add things like alternating bass runs and much depth that the guitar has, so I treat them as different instruments. You still need the 2 lower strings and then it is a Guitalele, a different instrument ;)
 
It seems like a lot of folks use low G on tenors. How does a low G work on a concert?

Very well indeed. My Kala concert is fitted with Aquila "reds" and is my instrument of choice for those tabs written for an instrument with a low G.
 
Hi, RafterGirl!

When four four rhythm, we count four like figure 1 below. They are down beats. In ukulele and guitar, we normally play like figure 2, because right hand repeats down and up. In music, no one play down and up on same stress. Basically down is always stronger than up, this is general rule. Otherwise rhythm is broken.



Low G has an advantage of making this good rhythm same as guitar. Actually it is very good for beginners in terms of rhythm.
Israel Kamakawiwo'ole played very nice strumming with his low G ukulele. I like his quite effective strumming. It is worth to try in your concert.
 
I've had Low G on my ukes since I started out, couldn't get on with reentrant, being a melody player, it also increases the range of the uke from two to two & a half octaves.

I had it on soprano too, don't let anyone tell you that it doesn't work, because it does. :)

When I started to do sing & strum is the only time that I put a reentrant on any of my ukes.
Having both, they do sound different strummed, & suit different songs, I believe.
 
How does a low G work on a concert?
In a nutshell: just the same.

Whether and for what you like/need it is another discussion and depends mainly on your personal preferences (as you can see already)
 
My question isn't so much about the benefits of a low G, but whether it's effective on a concert as opposed to a tenor. I have a tenor that I otherwise haven't bonded with size wise, but I still have it in order to try a low G. I've been told that low G works better on a tenor. I have a KoAloha concert, and a cedar/rosewood Loprinzi concert in the works. I could try the low G on that ukulele when I get it, and sell the tenor. However, if low G really is more effective on a tenor, then I'll keep it.

From the responses so far, it seems that people use a low G on concert and even soprano ukes. I've ordered a Fremont Soloist low G. My Loprinzi won't arrive for 6-8 weeks, so I suppose I could see how I like the tenor with the low G in the meantime.
 
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I have low G on my tenor Kamaka and my concert Eastman. Worth clears on the tenor and single Fremont Soloist with Martin 600s on the concert. Aside from the difference in ukuleles, imho no difference in how the low G sounds on either ukulele. ymmv
 
I put low G on all my ukes, even my sopranos, for 2 reasons. 1st, I just think it sounds better. 2nd, I have noticed you can not play the melodies in a lot of uke books without it, its as if the people putting the uke song books together expect you to have low G.
 
I put low G on all my ukes, even my sopranos, for 2 reasons. 1st, I just think it sounds better. 2nd, I have noticed you can not play the melodies in a lot of uke books without it, its as if the people putting the uke song books together expect you to have low G.
Just a tip, if you play melody and you go below the C on a re-entrant strung uke, you can substitute chords for the notes and it sounds very nice. I do it all the time.
 
My experience is a low G does sound better on a tenor. The larger body size resonates more and the longer scale length supports the string tension better. NOTICE that I said better, I did not say low G will not work on a concert. No flaming please from the rabid concert fans:mad::p
 
My question isn't so much about the benefits of a low G, but whether it's effective on a concert as opposed to a tenor.

It's arguably a little low even for a tenor. I think it generally depends on the instrument, is subjective, and hard to generalize. I only ever heard two people who could make low-g work on a soprano in a way that sounded good to me (Otha-San and George Elmes, and the latter rarely uses low-g). I'd just try it and see whether you enjoy it.
 
Yes it works! Some people are just low-G peeps and others just love high-G. I favor low-G on my concert but it doesnt mean I won't break out the high-G soprano sometimes. Some songs just sound better on high-G.
The one thing i really did not like is putting low-G on a soprano... :p

Are you thinking of putting on a wound/metal low-G or a fluorocarbon kind? Cos the latter you might have to carve or file a piece of your uke so it fits in the slot better.
 
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For strumming, I would give it a thumbs down overall.

Thanks for making that point, I'm so accustomed to my own way of playing (which rarely involves straight strumming) that it didn't occur to me to point that out. I'm inclined to agree with your assessment, which I neglected to mention in my previous post. For me, sometimes for strumming low G works as accompaniment to a reentrant uke playing lead, but my primary use of a low G is for playing lead or counterpoint rather than straight strumming. I've found that standard uke chord charts rarely sound good to my ear on low G, particularly if played in a group of mainly reentrant ukes.
 
Are you thinking of putting on a wound/metal low-G or a fluorocarbon kind? Cos the former you might have to carve or file a piece of your uke so it fits in the slot better.

Aren't the unwound low-G strings thicker than wound ones?
 
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