Ukulele Eddie
Well-known member
In the year I've been playing, I've gravitated from tenor to concert because it feels more comfortable for me to play. Even though I love Ukes with depth to their lower registers, I never spent anytime learning much about Baritones because I didn't want to have to learn all new chord shapes. However, I was really taken with the sound of the baritone at Jake Shimabukuro's concert I recently attended. So I managed to borrow a baritone Uke for a day to play around with it. I always thought I'd have to learn all new chords to play the few songs I know. As I first started to noodle with it, I found myself playing one of the songs I know (Will You Love Me Tomorrow) using the same finger positions I use on my GCEA ukes. To my surprise, it sounded fine, just lower. Wait! How can this be?
Without any musical background, I simply couldn't understand why I didn't need to play a baritone C and F and G7, etc. I'm using the same finger positions but playing completely different chords. By using the same finger positions I've learned, I'm actually playing G and C and D7, etc. on the baritone. Why does this sound right?
I wrote the chords out for the song and then looked up the corresponding baritone chords for the same finger positions. Then, mapped them out using the Circle of Fifths. Well, tickle me pink, all I've done is "accidentally" transpose the song from the key of C6 to G6 (is this down a fourth?), right? I had no idea I could play songs I already knew on the Baritone without learning new chord shapes. Intriguing.
So I tried several songs (don't know all that many yet) and most sounded fine. However, a few sounded really terrible and unrecognizable. Haven't quite figured out why it works with some songs but not others. But I'm eager to continue to baby step my way into music theory. Having a financial/analytical mindset and not so much natural "feel" for music (I work pretty hard for the modicum of progress I've made!), I keep finding myself asking, "why?" certain musical things work the way they do.
Somewhat similar to the Baritone experience, I recently put a low G on my Clara just to experiment. Some songs I know sound fantastic, others sound like crap.
So, are there any tips on how to have an inkling which songs will sound good or bad in an alternate tuning, or does one simply need to try it?
Any recommended reads for tip-toeing my way into basic music theory?
Thanks, Eddie
Without any musical background, I simply couldn't understand why I didn't need to play a baritone C and F and G7, etc. I'm using the same finger positions but playing completely different chords. By using the same finger positions I've learned, I'm actually playing G and C and D7, etc. on the baritone. Why does this sound right?
I wrote the chords out for the song and then looked up the corresponding baritone chords for the same finger positions. Then, mapped them out using the Circle of Fifths. Well, tickle me pink, all I've done is "accidentally" transpose the song from the key of C6 to G6 (is this down a fourth?), right? I had no idea I could play songs I already knew on the Baritone without learning new chord shapes. Intriguing.
So I tried several songs (don't know all that many yet) and most sounded fine. However, a few sounded really terrible and unrecognizable. Haven't quite figured out why it works with some songs but not others. But I'm eager to continue to baby step my way into music theory. Having a financial/analytical mindset and not so much natural "feel" for music (I work pretty hard for the modicum of progress I've made!), I keep finding myself asking, "why?" certain musical things work the way they do.
Somewhat similar to the Baritone experience, I recently put a low G on my Clara just to experiment. Some songs I know sound fantastic, others sound like crap.
So, are there any tips on how to have an inkling which songs will sound good or bad in an alternate tuning, or does one simply need to try it?
Any recommended reads for tip-toeing my way into basic music theory?
Thanks, Eddie