Tenor or Bari for Jazz Combo?

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Hi, I am an amateur singer in an amateur Jazz Combo: Keyboard, bass, flute, drums and me singing. Every second tune is just instrumental though. Now I am in the process of buying a Kala Arched Jazz Tenor satin sunburst JTE-2TS with a pickup. I will have a choice when it arrives to say yes or no after testing it.

I turned to the uke in order to just have fun singing at home. Then I saw the Youtube videos on Jazz uke and the books by Glen Rose. Then the thought popped into my mind to aim for strumming along in the band, later maybe improvising.

So today I wondered: Maybe the instrument is too high/dominant for a jazz band, maybe a more guitar- like baritone uke would be a better match?

I am hesitant to ask the leader as I am just learning my first chords. We play and take turns soloing in the band.

Any experiences/suggestions are appreciated.

Regards,
Ginger
 
It can fit either way. There's a lot of sonic space between the bass and the flute currently being filled by the keyboard. Whatever uke you choose is just going to fill a part of that, so the keyboard will likely have to adjust one way or the other regardless.
 
The Kala Archtop, as are most arch tops, is pretty dead without an amp or mic . As long as the uke is setup right, it'll be a good instrument to learn on. Where did you buy it from? Do you know if they set it up at their shop before shipping?I own a high-end Chennell Archtop and added a K&K pickup just to be heard when playing with a group. By myself, it sounds great.

As for sounding better in a jazz group. Any size instrument would sound good in a J band. It's the jazz chord shapes and tempo that make the difference. Glen has books for both tenor and baritone ukes.

As a beginner, it may be more prudent to learn the basic chords to jam with. Unless you can already play an instrument, it may be awhile before you solo. Being with a group should really help. In the meantime, bring it with you and just play a Z chord to keep rhythm and fill in when the chord shape you can play comes along strum it.. A Z chord is placing your finger lightly over the strings to deaden them and strum to keep the beat going.

The uke is a wonderful instrument to learn and is an incredible jazz instrument. I'm sure it won't take you long before you're stepping in. Main thing is to have fun.
 
Ukes are fun, but they are serious instruments too. :)
Likely a tenor, you can still sprawl in an arm chair & practice, a baritone not so easy. ;)
Like any instrument, it has to be practiced to learn it.

The baritone is normally tuned DGBE, whereas most tenors come tuned re entrant gCEA, but it is easy to put a low G string on to make it linear GCEA.

Another point to think about, as you want to play in a jazz band, there are some steel stringed electric ukes available, might be worth thinking about.
 
Try fiddling around with tunings. A lot of jazz bands used to feature tenor banjos or guitars tuned CGDA, and that tuning also fits well on a tenor or baritone ukulele. You may find that the wider range (an octave and a sixth between low and high) compared to a ukulele (just a 6th) makes it sound "fuller." I have a baritone tuned GDAE which works wonderfully for jazz tunes, and you can cannibalize a set of classical guitar strings to test it out. The tunings are pretty simple to get a sense of, and there's plenty of learning material on the web.

Eddy Davis has a ton of great videos on CGDA tenor banjo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7zji-IkBuI

And him on a uke-like instrument (he calls it a "viola guitar"): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siF0M6v-uAU
 
It can fit either way. There's a lot of sonic space between the bass and the flute currently being filled by the keyboard. Whatever uke you choose is just going to fill a part of that, so the keyboard will likely have to adjust one way or the other regardless.

Thanks, this is encouraging! I went for a Bariton to start with and at the moment I am happy for the lower tuning.
 
The Kala Archtop, as are most arch tops, is pretty dead without an amp or mic . As long as the uke is setup right, it'll be a good instrument to learn on. Where did you buy it from? Do you know if they set it up at their shop before shipping?I own a high-end Chennell Archtop and added a K&K pickup just to be heard when playing with a group. By myself, it sounds great.

As for sounding better in a jazz group. Any size instrument would sound good in a J band. It's the jazz chord shapes and tempo that make the difference. Glen has books for both tenor and baritone ukes.

As a beginner, it may be more prudent to learn the basic chords to jam with. Unless you can already play an instrument, it may be awhile before you solo. Being with a group should really help. In the meantime, bring it with you and just play a Z chord to keep rhythm and fill in when the chord shape you can play comes along strum it.. A Z chord is placing your finger lightly over the strings to deaden them and strum to keep the beat going.

The uke is a wonderful instrument to learn and is an incredible jazz instrument. I'm sure it won't take you long before you're stepping in. Main thing is to have fun.

Hi Patrick,

1. Loudness of arch top: I liked it being quite low without amp, because I live in a flat with thin walls...

2. I didn't buy it yet. I ordered it to test it, but the delivery process became somewhat chaotic, so in the end I had to cancel it, as suddenly they said I couldn't test it before spending the money which was required by me. I bought a Mahalo Baritone after that.

3. Hadn't heard of the Z-chord. Will be of great help, I suppose! :-D

4. I got the Jazz Workbooks by Glen Rose and started training barring...

Ginger
 
Ukes are fun, but they are serious instruments too. :)
Likely a tenor, you can still sprawl in an arm chair & practice, a baritone not so easy. ;)
Like any instrument, it has to be practiced to learn it.

The baritone is normally tuned DGBE, whereas most tenors come tuned re entrant gCEA, but it is easy to put a low G string on to make it linear GCEA.

Another point to think about, as you want to play in a jazz band, there are some steel stringed electric ukes available, might be worth thinking about.


I have started now with a baritone, but, yes, it's bigger and not exactly as handy... :)
 
Try fiddling around with tunings. A lot of jazz bands used to feature tenor banjos or guitars tuned CGDA, and that tuning also fits well on a tenor or baritone ukulele. You may find that the wider range (an octave and a sixth between low and high) compared to a ukulele (just a 6th) makes it sound "fuller." I have a baritone tuned GDAE which works wonderfully for jazz tunes, and you can cannibalize a set of classical guitar strings to test it out. The tunings are pretty simple to get a sense of, and there's plenty of learning material on the web.

Eddy Davis has a ton of great videos on CGDA tenor banjo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7zji-IkBuI

And him on a uke-like instrument (he calls it a "viola guitar"): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siF0M6v-uAU


Only after rereading your post I realize that it may be quite interesting for me, even as a beginner, as I used to play violin, does the tuning GDAE mean, that I could sight read right away? Sounds tempting. But after the soprano and the baritone it would mean all new chords to learn, right? And no book on it by Glen Rose...

But still, great info, thanks!!!!!

Ginger
 
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