JoeJazz2000
Well-known member
I just received my my translucent blue Makala Waterman soprano uke. I really like it. It has the pros and cons of plastic ukuleles which you can read about all over this forum and elsewhere on the web, so I don't want to review it here. What I want to comment on is how it's affected my uke playing, in particular, my struggle with the soprano.
After owning tenor, concert, and soprano sized ukes, all of which I enjoy, I'm pretty sure the concert size is the one for me. I picked up a soprano pineapple a couple of years back when Lanakai was blowing them out of the supply chain to make room for the Tuna Ukes, then about to debut. I never expected it to supplant my concerts as my favorites, but I never expected to suck so badly on the thing. My first uke was a concert, and now I have two of those. After playing guitar seriously for 50 years, I took to the uke quickly. I knew the chords and how to fret notes and chords; I primarily needed to alter left-hand positions and learn the wonderful rhythm tricks that uke players employ (still working on that). These were not small tasks, and for me took a lot of work.
But my soprano playing was so abysmal I found myself practicing the soprano more than the others, more of a challenge. I missed notes (usually sharp) on chord changes, got my fingers tangled up on otherwise playable first-position chords, and messed up my strums by catching my right hand index finger in the strings on both up (more often) and down strokes. I don't have small hands or fingers, but I see others online with what seem to be normal to large size hands executing well on soprano. I've practiced lighter strums and watching my chord changes more carefully and it's helped. In particular, a careful positioning of the uke against my body, slightly high with a strap, has really helped the strumming issue.
But over the course of two days the Waterman has come to feel very comfortable in my hands and many of the cramped-finger chord changes seem much more accessible. An online demonstrator said the neck profile was a take on another Makala model. I don't expect access to the whole fingerboard of a soprano, but I'd like to play first-position chords cleanly and smoothly, with some ventures up to the fifth fret or so, and I'm doing it much better on the Waterman. Maybe I should have been accumulating Makalas instead of Lanakais all this time.
I like the bright, chirpy tone of the soprano, as a change from the other sizes, and I wanted to play it tolerably well. Maybe with this Waterman, I will improve. If anyone else has struggled but continued with soprano for its own sake, I like to hear your thoughts on it.
After owning tenor, concert, and soprano sized ukes, all of which I enjoy, I'm pretty sure the concert size is the one for me. I picked up a soprano pineapple a couple of years back when Lanakai was blowing them out of the supply chain to make room for the Tuna Ukes, then about to debut. I never expected it to supplant my concerts as my favorites, but I never expected to suck so badly on the thing. My first uke was a concert, and now I have two of those. After playing guitar seriously for 50 years, I took to the uke quickly. I knew the chords and how to fret notes and chords; I primarily needed to alter left-hand positions and learn the wonderful rhythm tricks that uke players employ (still working on that). These were not small tasks, and for me took a lot of work.
But my soprano playing was so abysmal I found myself practicing the soprano more than the others, more of a challenge. I missed notes (usually sharp) on chord changes, got my fingers tangled up on otherwise playable first-position chords, and messed up my strums by catching my right hand index finger in the strings on both up (more often) and down strokes. I don't have small hands or fingers, but I see others online with what seem to be normal to large size hands executing well on soprano. I've practiced lighter strums and watching my chord changes more carefully and it's helped. In particular, a careful positioning of the uke against my body, slightly high with a strap, has really helped the strumming issue.
But over the course of two days the Waterman has come to feel very comfortable in my hands and many of the cramped-finger chord changes seem much more accessible. An online demonstrator said the neck profile was a take on another Makala model. I don't expect access to the whole fingerboard of a soprano, but I'd like to play first-position chords cleanly and smoothly, with some ventures up to the fifth fret or so, and I'm doing it much better on the Waterman. Maybe I should have been accumulating Makalas instead of Lanakais all this time.
I like the bright, chirpy tone of the soprano, as a change from the other sizes, and I wanted to play it tolerably well. Maybe with this Waterman, I will improve. If anyone else has struggled but continued with soprano for its own sake, I like to hear your thoughts on it.
