The Great Canadian Tuning Debate

Nice article. I've met a bunch of Canadians at work who come and help us here on certain occasions.
Several learned ukulele in school and still play it into middle age.
 
It is interesting to think what disadvantages tuning in D6 might have. I remember reading this writing and now only skimmed it briefly, but I did not notice the point I am wanting to emphasize. That I happen to think that C6 is much better in general for most of us.

Think in terms of circle of 5ths. C is the most common key in general. Baritone ukulele is tuned in G6 and it is "one hour clockwise from C6". D6 is already 2 hours from C6 clockwise.

That means that playing songs in flat keys ( F/Dm, Bb/Gm, Eb/Cm etc.) is going to be much harder with D6 tuned ukulele. C/Am is quite ok still though.

With C6 tuned uke all keys from 3 flats to 3 sharps are quite easy regarding chording. Having enough open chords etc. for strumming.

For soprano ukulele C6 might be quite low and D6 maybe better soundwise though. Depends of course on strings much too.
 
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I use D6 tuning for some songs as I prefer the chord voicings in these cases. I usually "retune" by a capo on the 2nd fret unless I'm using a soprano where I keep one tuned ADF#B.
 
J. Chalmers Doane was a pioneer as far as ukuleles in Canadian classrooms goes. He prefered D6 tuning and his teaching materals used D6 tuning. Most Canadian clubs and, since the resurgance of popularity of the ukulele, most classrooms today use C6 tuning. Here's a link to an interesting article.
https://www.ukuleleintheclassroom.com/tunings.htm
 
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I like the idea of the D tuning because that means when I'm playing my ukulele I am downtuning and keeping philosophical company with Black Sabbath and Nirvana.
 
It is interesting to think what disadvantages tuning in D6 might have. I remember reading this writing and now only skimmed it briefly, but I did not notice the point I am wanting to emphasize. That I happen to think that C6 is much better in general for most of us.

Perhaps that's the case in the US where traditional musics are less "hip" to play on the uke than IZ and I'm Yours. But I imagine (especially after spending a week with Tobias Elof last month) that D6 is superior if you're playing traditional music that's been based around the fiddle for centuries. D, G, A are some of the main fiddle keys and are easier to play using open strings on a D6 tuned uke than one in C6.

There are always going to be exceptions, but Tobias said that's the reason he plays D6 mainly; he grew up playing in Danish folk jams with fiddlers. If he grew up in Hawai'i he'd probably play C6.
 
Are we sure that the tunings aren’t the same after you apply the exchange rate?
 
A lot of people feel D6 tuning is more appropriate for a tenor size and C6 for concert and soprano. When I play solo and sing I play a half step down F#, B, D#, G# it has a fuller warmer sound an better to sing along with for me , a full step down F, A#, D, G leaves the strings to floppy in my opinion, if I’m playing with others I play in C6 so I’m not a half step down from them.
 
Just keep one uke D, one C and one Eb. George Formby did this (he had many instruments) and just swapped from one to the other.
 
A lot of people feel D6 tuning is more appropriate for a tenor size and C6 for concert and soprano. When I play solo and sing I play a half step down F#, B, D#, G# it has a fuller warmer sound an better to sing along with for me , a full step down F, A#, D, G leaves the strings to floppy in my opinion, if I’m playing with others I play in C6 so I’m not a half step down from them.

I'm curious as to how you would label your tuning. The half step down would be B6 tuning, but I'd be tempted to call the full step down Bb6 tuning and label the strings F,Bb,D,G. A#6 tuning sounds strange to me, but I suppose it is accurate. The theoretical major key with A# as its tonic has the notes A#, B#, C##, D#, E#, F##, G##. This is really awkward to read, so it is usually written as Bb, which has only two flats and is much easier to read.

I am also curious about why people would think that a tenor uke should have a higher D6 tuning than a soprano uke tuned C6. I would think just the opposite.
 
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I'm curious as to how you would label your tuning. The half step down would be B6 tuning, but I'd be tempted to call the full step down Bb6 tuning and label the strings F,Bb,D,G. A#6 tuning sounds strange to me, but I suppose it is accurate. The theoretical major key with A# as its tonic has the notes A#, B#, C##, D#, E#, F##, G##. This is really awkward to read, so it is usually written as Bb, which has only two flats and is much easier to read.

Agreed. A whole tone down is Bb6 tuning. It's very unusual to call it A#6 tuning or refer to a key of A#. Classical musicians will sometimes name a Bb chord A# as it depends on context and how it relates to the adjacent hamonies.

I've taken a tenor down to A6 tuning (down 3 semitones from C6) and found it OK both tonaly and in terms of string tension but I definitely found taking it down to G6 a step too far. I do in fact keep a tenor in G6 tuning but I have suitable strings (Worth Fats in my case). I do think that what is "floppy strings" is a matter of personal choice. I'm not too keen of high string tension where others like it.

I am also curious about why people would think that a tenor uke should have a higher D6 tuning than a soprano uke tuned C6. I would think just the opposite.

Very true larger instruments are better at lower pitch. I have a soprano ukulele in D tuning and most of my others are in C tuning, except one tenor in G and my baritone also in G.

If I want a concert or tenor in D tuning, I use a capo. That way you don't push the tension too high and risk either breaking strings or "popping" the bridge.
 
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