A question of scale

deejayen

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I’m a guitarist looking to buy my first uke, and doing a fair amount of research before buying.

I’ve noticed that often when I see photos of soprano or concert ukes they appear to be bigger than they actually are! This is especially true with arty photographs showing off fancy builds with flash woods. Without a visual reference my eyes seem to imagine they’re looking at something roughly guitar-sized, but each time I see a uke in a music shop I’m reminded how dinky they actually are.

I suppose I just need to see and play a few to get used to them, and to be able to easily differentiate between a soprano and a concert.
 
Generally speaking, the soprano is the 'original' sized
ukulele (and naturally,the choice of gentlemen) The
Concert is a couple of inches longer and suits many
players,and the tenor is slightly bigger again. The
baritone is getting on for a half sized guitar,and is
tuned the same as the top four strings of a guitar,
where soprano,concert and tenor are usually tuned
g-C-E-A. Plenty of advice about tuning online,and
a few tuners too; but as you have worked out, your
best option is to get among a few ukes in a decent
shop or supplier,and try out what feels best for you!
Good hunting and enjoy the discovery!
 
There are several sizes of ukuleles including sopranino, soprano, concert, tenor, and baritone. Scale lengths vary by size and maker:

Sopranino - Approx 11"
Soprano - Approx 13"
Concert - Approx 15"
Tenor - Approx 17"
Baritone - Usually 19" or 20"

Coming from a guitar background, you might like a baritone with the longer scale length. Baritones are usually tuned DGBE like a guitar but many tune them up to GCEA like all of the other ukulele sizes.

Try them all if possible. You'll find a size that best suits you.
 
Many modern sopranos have a scale around 13.625-13.75 inches or so.

As you get deeper into ukulele you'll also find there are long neck models - e.g. concert neck/scale on a soprano body.

Like WhenDogsSing said, if you can, try them all to find the one that best suits you.
 
Thanks for all the info. Possibly because I'm a guitarist, it's the soprano size which appeals the most, although no doubt a concert's 'long neck' would make some chords easier to play.

What I was trying to say is that looking at pictures of ukes is like something of an optical illusion. Maybe I'm alone in this, but to me they often look 'normal' size, but in reality they're tiny. Perhaps it's the wood grain which gives that effect.
 
What I was trying to say is that looking at pictures of ukes is like something of an optical illusion.

You're right. Without something else in the picture to reference scale, it's hard to determine actual size. Savvy sellers have some sort of background in these pictures to give context.
 
I suggest you go to YouTube and search for ukulele videos for the size in which you are interested, seeing them in action should really help.

When I started playing ukulele 18 months ago after playing guitar for almost 50 years, I found that the first uke I bought, a soprano without knowing anything about ukes, turned out to be too small for my medium sized hands. When I did a little research and learned about sizes, I decided tenor was the right size for me. It didn't take long to get used to different finger configurations for the gCEA chords. Now I only have tenor cutaways (and u-basses). I've applied myself to the uke more in the last 18 months than I did my guitars in 20 years, in fact, I haven't touched my guitars since starting the uke.
 
I found that the first uke I bought, a soprano without knowing anything about ukes

This brings up a question I have (sort of related to the topic of this post):

Where does the ukulele naming convention come from?

Other instruments come in "sizes", and are named after their voice range - e.g. baritone sax. The physical size is a secondary characteristic, but it is the pitch that defines the instrument name.

Ukuleles are the exception, and an inconsistent one at that. If the convention were consistent, the "concert" would be called "alto" instead. Baritone, tenor, alto, soprano are voices - concert is not. But, these names do not refer to pitch on the ukulele, as they are all voiced the same - except for the baritone, another inconsistency.

So does anyone know a bit of history about ukulele naming conventions?

Another inconsistency: gCEA is used to describe the standard ukulele re-entrant tuning with a high-G. Yet the "g" in gCEA is lower case. Low-g, linear tuning is spelled GCEA, with an upper case "G" representing the lower sounding string. More confusion.
 
Thanks for all the info. Possibly because I'm a guitarist, it's the soprano size which appeals the most, although no doubt a concert's 'long neck' would make some chords easier to play.

What I was trying to say is that looking at pictures of ukes is like something of an optical illusion. Maybe I'm alone in this, but to me they often look 'normal' size, but in reality they're tiny. Perhaps it's the wood grain which gives that effect.


I'm a guitar player, too. I started with a soprano, and I love it. It's not that big of deal to go from guitar to a soprano uke, unless you have huge hands. You can also get a long neck soparano....which has the concert size neck.
 
It depends on the sound of the instrument and the size of your mitts and fingers. While someone like me could play a Soprano...it is not comfortable...so I go with long necks!

my concerts have a 17" scale while my tenor has a 19" one!
 
This brings up a question I have (sort of related to the topic of this post):

Where does the ukulele naming convention come from?

Other instruments come in "sizes", and are named after their voice range - e.g. baritone sax. The physical size is a secondary characteristic, but it is the pitch that defines the instrument name.

Ukuleles are the exception, and an inconsistent one at that. If the convention were consistent, the "concert" would be called "alto" instead. Baritone, tenor, alto, soprano are voices - concert is not. But, these names do not refer to pitch on the ukulele, as they are all voiced the same - except for the baritone, another inconsistency.

So does anyone know a bit of history about ukulele naming conventions?

Another inconsistency: gCEA is used to describe the standard ukulele re-entrant tuning with a high-G. Yet the "g" in gCEA is lower case. Low-g, linear tuning is spelled GCEA, with an upper case "G" representing the lower sounding string. More confusion.

Alto technically...concert is a more of a misnomer...or better yet "aka".
 
As a reformed guitarist, I understand some of your confusion.

I have (as most Ukers do) many ukuleles now. I really, really like the tiny ones, as in pocket ukulele size. BUT they kind of only sound good when you are the only instrument playing. I play in a band-amplified, and soprano ukes just have a hard time with intonation and mixing well with other instruments. Thus, I have relegated to playing a Concert scale Uke in the band.

But when I'm home I almost always pick up a little one and strum with a BIG smile. You need to start handling some ukuleles, your preference with come out. A lot of guitarists like Tenor scale, you might as well. I dunno.

Let us know what you end up doing!
 
I am an unreformed banjo player. You are getting a banjo player's opinion here.

The notion a standard range in the naming nomenclature of ukulele is ridiculous. In standard tunings the Soprano, Concert and Tenor have the same musical range.

As was noted previously here scale lengths vary about 2" per size. S 13.5", C 15.5", T 17.5". Clearly not metric. The real difference is in the number of frets available to each size of ukulele. S 12 on the neck, C 14 frets on the neck, - 5 on sound box; T 14 frets on neck, ~7 Fretson sound box. YMMV.

Most duffers never play too far up the neck, an octave is sufficient. For musicians (who might play in concert), 14 Frets is the minimum you can get by with. This is for reentrant tunings. I think the difference in Concerts and tenors is more of an acoustical design issue?

I am a musician, if that's compatible with being a banjo player! I have S C T ukuleles. They all have a minimum of 14 frets.
 
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