ADF#B vs GCEA

Ok I got a bunch of vintage sheet music last week and bypassed alot of stuff that was in the ADF#B tuning cuz I dont feel like I am ready to cloud the mind with different chord names/shapes....its hard enough trying to remember a few 2nd position gCEA. I don't know how you folks do it!!!!!

Some of the songs I got were in that ADF#B tuning cuz I liked the pretty pictures on the cover!!!!
Inside they have the fingering positions but without the chord names, as I am looking at them the shapes look like ones I know, so I pick up a normal tuned (gCEA) uke and start playing and these songs sound ok to me being played that way.

Why is that????
Why does an "F,G7,Dm" shape work on both tunings but sound different.

I tuned one of my Ukes to that Canadian tuning and the songs sound the same just higher. It's nice that the fingerings are there with out the chord names as not to confuse me.

Just an observation.....

Both tunings have the same intervals. All your familiar gCEA chord shapes will work in the ADF#B tuning, but will be named a whole tone higher (F shape becomes G, etc.).

Renaissance-Man said:

Both tunings have the same intervals. All your familiar gCEA chord shapes will work in the ADF#B tuning, but will be named a whole tone higher (F shape becomes G, etc.).

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To further elaborate on this, the ADF#B tuning is the equivalent of putting a capo on the second fret of a GCEA-tuned uke. The chord shapes stay the same but everything plays a whole tone higher. (Remember that F is a half tone above E rather than a whole tone, which is why it's ADF#B instead of ADFB.)

I play in "C" and I've got some old sheet music showing "D" tuning chord windows. They have the chord name over the top of the widow. I like that. It give me the option to ignore the window, and just play the named chord as I know it, or ignore the chord name, and play the shapes as indicated by the window. Instant transposing!

Ukantor.

ukantor said:

Instant transposing!

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Ha! Love that!

ukantor said:

I play in "C" and I've got some old sheet music showing "D" tuning chord windows. They have the chord name over the top of the widow. I like that. It give me the option to ignore the window, and just play the named chord as I know it, or ignore the chord name, and play the shapes as indicated by the window. Instant transposing!

Ukantor.

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I learned to play using books from the 20s and they are all printed using D tuning. I played that way for about three years. Now everyone is printing songs using C tuning, which I have been forced to adopt if I want learn new songs and play with others. I have since felt a few screws pop loose in my brain because of it, but it seems to be working to my benefit. And since C is lower than D, its much easier to sing!!:shaka:

It is really interesting to play along with someone else who is using the "other" tuning. I use gcea, and I love the sound that results when I play with a friend who uses adf#b. We are playing the same chords, in the same key (natch), but because my chords are formed differently from his, the combined sound is richer, more complex.

Ukantor.

freedive135 said:

Ok I got a bunch of vintage sheet music last week and bypassed alot of stuff that was in the ADF#B tuning cuz I dont feel like I am ready to cloud the mind with different chord names/shapes....its hard enough trying to remember a few 2nd position gCEA. ...

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You can play those songs by looking at the chord names or playing the fingering. As someone said it's like putting a capo on the second fret on a GCEA.

It's the tonal relationship between the notes each string makes that determines the required fingering for a given chord type. As long as those stay they same but just get higher or lower together the chords shapes for the chord types Major, Minor 7th, etc. stay the same. For example an F7 2313 moved up to 4535 becomes a G7 up two more 6757 become a A7.

For example a Baritone Uke has the same tonal relationship between the strings, except it is tuned 5 setps (frets) lower than a GCEA uke. So you use the same fingering for the chord types but it make a differenet tonal sound G vs C for example. Play the soprano C 0003 chord fingering on a Baritone gives you a G chord. Both ar Major chords.

If you look at the Chromatic scale you see G is 5 notes (Steps) lower than C. Go right to left to go down, left to right to go up.

A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G#

Hope that helps some.

Ukuleleblues said:

...it is tuned 5 setps (frets) lower than a GCEA...

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That's five half-steps. Each fret is a half-step, not a whole step.

Yup, baby steps...

On the same lines. I brought some D'addario strings today and they come in B F# D A so am i right in thinking A=D D=C F#=E and finally B=A.

thanks,

Howlin Hobbit said:

That's five half-steps. Each fret is a half-step, not a whole step.

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Sorry, I messed up, I meant HALF steps. Thanks for the catch.

Uh, A=D?

mippy said:

On the same lines. I brought some D'addario strings today and they come in B F# D A so am i right in thinking A=D D=C F#=E and finally B=A.

thanks,

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Wouldn't it be,
(4th String) B = A
(3rd String) F# = E
(2nd String) D= C
(1st String ) A = g not D

freedive135 said:

Why is that????
Why does an "F,G7,Dm" shape work on both tunings but sound different.

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Here comes that dang music theory again.