- Joined
- Jun 23, 2017
- Messages
- 138
- Reaction score
- 141
Hello Ukulele Underground,
This is my first post here. I have been lurking and just wanted to say how helpful this forum is to a complete ukulele neophyte and share my progress.
I had previously tried to learn, at different times in my life, how to play trumpet, trombone, saxophone, and keyboard but none of those stuck. Never tried to play strings before though.
My stringed instrument adventure started around six months ago:
(April) Bought an acoustic guitar (steel string dreadnought) and was progressing slowly. Had difficulty holding chords on the narrow neck.
(May) Hey! This cheap baritone ukulele looks cool and I can practice in DGBE to get better for the guitar.
(May) Those online ukulele tutorials sure look fun and with lots of my kind of music. The people on the ukulele forums seem nice too. Aloha spirit.
(June) Tried low G (GCEA) Living Water baritone strings but did not like the G booming over every strum. Switched the low G string to a high E string from the Living Water low D (DGBE) set and tuned it to high G. Essentially it is the same setup as the Living Water low G (gCEA) tenor ukulele strings:
1 = 0.57mm, 2 = 0.66mm, 3 = 0.74mm, 4 = 0.62mm
Now I finally had a Hawaiian like (re-entrant) ukulele sound. The string tension is tighter than before but I like the sound.
My first ukulele was the ubiquitous Rogue Baritone RU20 and I like it a lot. I added fret side markers and two guitar strap buttons.
(July) Purchased a BugsGear Concert (Similar to Eddy Finn Beachmaster) plastic ukulele to travel and practice outdoors (early onset UAS). I put some Martin M600 strings on it. This concert size is nice and it sounds loud and clear with the side sound port. I can hold it and strum it without a strap like a ‘real’ ukulele player.
All right, let us learn some first position chord songs. C – cool!, F alright!, G – plink!, G – miss!, G - , okay lets learn some songs without the G chord. Not really, I continued to practice the G chord and could land it reasonably well when I was looking at the fret board. However, by now I could play many other chords without looking and started learning strum patterns.
(August) The BugsGear Concert is my main instrument and I practice every day. Wearing down the plastic frets. Learned a few songs but still cannot land the G chord consistently without looking, aargh! Seems like everyone on YouTube uses the three-finger G chord. Searching on the Ukulele Underground forum and found some references to using a partial barre chord for G. Using only two fingers for the G chord (0232) has unlocked it for me. Now I can hit the G chord at will and on time! I can actually make music now, and play some whole songs without looking! Also fun practicing while watching TV since I do not have to look down for every G chord. Thanks Ukulele Underground!
(September) The Baritone is back to its native low DGBE with Living waters strings. I tend to use the GCEA chords and play in the wrong key to get a feel for the larger scale, because ...
(September) Ordered an Outdoor Ukulele Green Tenor with two strap buttons. Waiting for it to ship. Thanks Ukulele Underground!
-dgame
PS: The acoustic guitar named Pearl; the baritone ukulele named Ruby; and the concert ukulele named Citrine. Waiting for Jade to join the family.
This is my first post here. I have been lurking and just wanted to say how helpful this forum is to a complete ukulele neophyte and share my progress.
I had previously tried to learn, at different times in my life, how to play trumpet, trombone, saxophone, and keyboard but none of those stuck. Never tried to play strings before though.
My stringed instrument adventure started around six months ago:
(April) Bought an acoustic guitar (steel string dreadnought) and was progressing slowly. Had difficulty holding chords on the narrow neck.
(May) Hey! This cheap baritone ukulele looks cool and I can practice in DGBE to get better for the guitar.
(May) Those online ukulele tutorials sure look fun and with lots of my kind of music. The people on the ukulele forums seem nice too. Aloha spirit.
(June) Tried low G (GCEA) Living Water baritone strings but did not like the G booming over every strum. Switched the low G string to a high E string from the Living Water low D (DGBE) set and tuned it to high G. Essentially it is the same setup as the Living Water low G (gCEA) tenor ukulele strings:
1 = 0.57mm, 2 = 0.66mm, 3 = 0.74mm, 4 = 0.62mm
Now I finally had a Hawaiian like (re-entrant) ukulele sound. The string tension is tighter than before but I like the sound.
My first ukulele was the ubiquitous Rogue Baritone RU20 and I like it a lot. I added fret side markers and two guitar strap buttons.
(July) Purchased a BugsGear Concert (Similar to Eddy Finn Beachmaster) plastic ukulele to travel and practice outdoors (early onset UAS). I put some Martin M600 strings on it. This concert size is nice and it sounds loud and clear with the side sound port. I can hold it and strum it without a strap like a ‘real’ ukulele player.
All right, let us learn some first position chord songs. C – cool!, F alright!, G – plink!, G – miss!, G - , okay lets learn some songs without the G chord. Not really, I continued to practice the G chord and could land it reasonably well when I was looking at the fret board. However, by now I could play many other chords without looking and started learning strum patterns.
(August) The BugsGear Concert is my main instrument and I practice every day. Wearing down the plastic frets. Learned a few songs but still cannot land the G chord consistently without looking, aargh! Seems like everyone on YouTube uses the three-finger G chord. Searching on the Ukulele Underground forum and found some references to using a partial barre chord for G. Using only two fingers for the G chord (0232) has unlocked it for me. Now I can hit the G chord at will and on time! I can actually make music now, and play some whole songs without looking! Also fun practicing while watching TV since I do not have to look down for every G chord. Thanks Ukulele Underground!
(September) The Baritone is back to its native low DGBE with Living waters strings. I tend to use the GCEA chords and play in the wrong key to get a feel for the larger scale, because ...
(September) Ordered an Outdoor Ukulele Green Tenor with two strap buttons. Waiting for it to ship. Thanks Ukulele Underground!
-dgame
PS: The acoustic guitar named Pearl; the baritone ukulele named Ruby; and the concert ukulele named Citrine. Waiting for Jade to join the family.