2nd uke baritone vs low g tenor

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morgensd

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I'm starting to think about purchasing a second uke. I have a Mainland mahogany tenor with re-entrant tuning which I love but I want my next uke to be tuned with a low g. But I also love the deeper tones of the baritone uke. I'm leaning a bit towards the bari. I know I'll have to transpose if I want to play with others. I think I can manage but would be interested to hear from others who play bari at jams. What kind of difficulties do you run into? Even if you can transpose on the fly do you end up having to transpose to more difficult chords? Which would you choose? Thanks for your advice!
 
The chords are fingered differently but a C chord is still a C chord no matter how it's fingered on different instruments. There is no "transposing", only knowing your chords. Lots of us play both guitar and uke with no issue.

The only issue at jams might be if songs sheets with chords/lyrics are handed out with chord diagrams for GCEA and you don't know the fingering for those chords on the bari. Maybe bring a printout of bari chords so you can quickly refer to any you're not familiar with?
 
Different keys are easier or harder on a baritone than are easier or harder on a tenor. For example, playing in C on a baritone is like playing in F on a tenor, and playing in F on a baritone is like playing in Bb on a tenor. A Bb chord on a baritone is like playing an Eb chord on a tenor. On the other hand, playing in G on a baritone is like playing in C on a tenor, playing in A on a baritone is like playing in D on a tenor, and playing in E (a difficult key for tenors) on a baritone is like playing in A on a tenor.

I have a baritone that I play a lot but I only recently began playing one in a group setting. At first, I would transpose the chords in writing on the sheet music I was using. For example, where the sheet music indicated a C chord, i would write F to remind myself to make the tenor uke F chord shape in order to play a C on a baritone. I recently started doing that in my head instead of on the sheet music, and I haven't run into any major problems.

As for choosing between a baritone and a low G tenor, a baritone will sound more different than your re-entrant tenor than a low g tenor will. Only you can really decide which sound you prefer, but if you live anywhere near a shop that sells ukuleles, it would probably help you to decide to compare playing a baritone with playing a low-g tenor to get a sense of the sound difference.

Good luck with your decision.
 
Hey morgensd,

from everything you have written above my own advice would be to get yourself a baritone with either a low or high (re-entrant)D.

I think the baritone is a lovely, rich and flexible instrument which will provide you with more options re musicality, arranging and general playing as a complement to your high-G tenor than would a low G tenor.

As far as playing with other folks goes - as itsme said -it's not transposing because you're not changing key, you're playing exactly the same chords, but on a baritone the shapes are different, that's all, and Mark above pointed to some of them.

Just learn your baritone chord shapes and you're away. Plenty of free charts online you can download/print. Cheers!
 
I'll focus on the re-entrant issue. IMHO it's re-entrance, especially the high bottom string, that makes an instrument tuned mostly in fourths an 'uke. (A charango re-enters at the middle course, so it's *almost* an 'uke.) Linear tuning, like a low bottom string and no other re-entrance, turns it into a small guitar. Linear tuning is easier for an old guitarist (like me) to fingerpick melodically while re-entrant tuning makes for more interesting strumming and surprising picking. (Some of those notes come from strange angles!) So, for the lo-G-tenor vs hi-D-bari question, you get to decide whether you'd rather play a large 'uke or a small guitar. Or both.
 
I will likely end up with a tenor guitar tuned gCEA to get a lower, guitar-like sound. Some have a uke-sized fretboard, including the new Ibanez,
which is 1 3/8".
 
I just purchased a set of low g gcea strings for baritone tuned an octave lower.

The strings are made by Guadalupe strings and are awesome.

They are tuned like and sound like the low gcea notes on a classical guitar they are all wound strings and provide a nice low register but with the same tuning and fingering.

I hope to do a video demo by the weekend but either way I highly recommend these strings.
 
Yes, I misspoke. Technically, not transposing but rather different shapes for the same chords. However, it's functionally the same as keeping the gcea chord names and transposing. If I see a D chord on the page, I can either think "D DGBE chord shape" or "G GCEA chord shape"

So any suggestions for baritone Ukers under $200?
 
Lots of bari's under $200. Here's a solid mahogany topped model that is hard to beat in that price range. http://www.theukulelesite.com/cordoba-20bm-solid-mahogany-baritone-package.html

a brighter sounding Cordoba $9 over your limit: http://www.theukulelesite.com/cordoba-22b-solid-spruce-top-baritone.html
The same for this Kala: http://www.theukulelesite.com/kala-solid-spruce-top-baritone-gloss-finish.html
The Ohana version of that $179 Cordoba. Likely made in the same factory: http://www.ebay.com/itm/MIM-Ohana-B...Setup-w-Aquilas-Ukulele-Uke-172-/171688657761
An all solid mahogany Kala with slotted headstock and tortoise binding for $75 over: http://www.theukulelesite.com/kala-all-solid-mahogany-baritone.html

Also I suggest you consider two other things: 1. using a WTB ad in the Marketplace for one or more of the baritones above, or slightly better ones. You may end up with a like new, better quality used model and still stay in your price range. 2. Consider a nice vintage baritone. May require some attention, may not. Lots of wonderful vintage bari's such as Harmony and Silvertone, to name just two brands, in your price range and many of them sound great.
 
Last edited:
morgensd said:
Yes, I misspoke. Technically, not transposing but rather different shapes for the same chords. However, it's functionally the same as keeping the gcea chord names and transposing. If I see a D chord on the page, I can either think "D DGBE chord shape" or "G GCEA chord shape"

So any suggestions for baritone Ukers under $200?
Click to expand...

Or to put it differently, the same shapes give different chords. As you say, the same shape as a G in GCEA is a D in DGBE. In fact, a "quick and dirty" way to create a chord chart for a baritone is to write the baritone chord names on a GCEA chord chart alongside or under the GCEA chord names.
 
My perspective is a bit different. As a mandolin, tenor guitar and tenor banjo player before I added ukulele, I prefer fifths tuning (GDAE, CGDA). My steel-stringed tenor guitar and banjo are tuned CGDA. To keep things easy, my baritone (and almost all the others) uke is also tuned CGDA. I like the deeper tones.

As far as jamming with others, it depends on the jam. If it is a uke-only jam, handouts with tabs will be meaningless and folk will look at you strangely when your left hand is positioned differently than everyone else (even though the result is essentially the same). If jamming with mixed instruments, then employing the correct chords will be all that matters as everyone "experiments" a bit anyway.

The fretboard spacing between nylon-stringed tenor uke and steel-stringed tenor guitar may seem rather large. Would seriously suggest (if the OP is not also a guitar player) handling a tenor guitar fir a while before buying one. The feel is radically different compared to a tenor uke.

For the above reason only, would suggest getting a baritone uke first (The Kala KA-B is a bargain) and experimenting with various tunings. The nylon-string feel would be familiar adjusting to the slightly larger fret spacing woukd not be as dramatic as with a tenor guitar.
 
Sent you a PM. I don't know what side of Indy you are on, but I have a Bari (that is right at your $200 price point) and low G tenor. I wouldn't mind meeting you somewhere so you could give them both a trial.
 
PhilUSAFRet said:
Lots of bari's under $200. Here's a solid mahogany topped model that is hard to beat in that price range. http://www.theukulelesite.com/cordoba-20bm-solid-mahogany-baritone-package.html

a brighter sounding Cordoba $9 over your limit: http://www.theukulelesite.com/cordoba-22b-solid-spruce-top-baritone.html
The same for this Kala: http://www.theukulelesite.com/kala-solid-spruce-top-baritone-gloss-finish.html
The Ohana version of that $179 Cordoba. Likely made in the same factory: http://www.ebay.com/itm/MIM-Ohana-B...Setup-w-Aquilas-Ukulele-Uke-172-/171688657761
An all solid mahogany Kala with slotted headstock and tortoise binding for $75 over: http://www.theukulelesite.com/kala-all-solid-mahogany-baritone.html

Also I suggest you consider two other things: 1. using a WTB ad in the Marketplace for one or more of the baritones above, or slightly better ones. You may end up with a like new, better quality used model and still stay in your price range. 2. Consider a nice vintage baritone. May require some attention, may not. Lots of wonderful vintage bari's such as Harmony and Silvertone, to name just two brands, in your price range and many of them sound great.
Click to expand...

Hi, I would add the Kala K-AB baritone from Hawaii Music Supply which is a better sounding ukulele than the Ohana
or Cordoba. Price is 139.00 and they do a complete professional set up which is very very important
 

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Norman2 said:
Hi, I would add the Kala K-AB baritone from Hawaii Music Supply which is a better sounding ukulele than the Ohana
or Cordoba. Price is 139.00 and they do a complete professional set up which is very very important
Click to expand...

Would have to disagree with you on that Kala K-AB all laminate sounding as good as those solid topped models. May sound good for an all laminate model though, just not in the same league as the others. Just my take on it.
 
ubulele said:
Slight correction: the model number is properly "KA-B".

And I'd be surprised if it sounds better than either the Cordoba or Ohana Phil recommended, since they both have solid tops rather than being all-laminate like the KA-B. I have a well-seasoned KA-B, and I think it sounds great for what it is, but I wouldn't pit it against a decent solid-top similarly seasoned. Of course, I think both Cordoba and Ohana both sell cheaper all-laminate models, and against them you might well prefer a KA-B.
Click to expand...

You can be surprised but I have an Ohana solid top baritone and it does not sound better than my Kala Laminate.
Almost all the guys I play with confirm this. But some people like brunettes and others like blonds.
Norman2
 
snip...
mds725 said:
As for choosing between a baritone and a low G tenor, a baritone will sound more different than your re-entrant tenor than a low g tenor will. Only you can really decide which sound you prefer, but if you live anywhere near a shop that sells ukuleles, it would probably help you to decide to compare playing a baritone with playing a low-g tenor to get a sense of the sound difference.

Good luck with your decision.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I found the bari sounded too much like a classical guitar for my liking. If you like that, it's fine, but if you're not expecting it, it's something to get used to, or choose between. Also the scale length is longer on a bari, and it has a wider nut and neck profile. The best thing you could do is try some out as above, either at a shop or from others. If that's not possible, order from somewhere with a good return policy. :eek:
 
Thanks to everyone for the advice and instrument recommendations. I'm a guitar player so the scale length of a bari or even a tenor guitar shouldn't be a problem. I'm going to spend some time checking out videos on line to get a feel for the sound of some of these ukes until I get a chance to try a few out.

Dave
 
morgensd said:
Thanks to everyone for the advice and instrument recommendations. I'm a guitar player so the scale length of a bari or even a tenor guitar shouldn't be a problem. I'm going to spend some time checking out videos on line to get a feel for the sound of some of these ukes until I get a chance to try a few out.

Dave
Click to expand...

Ahhh...Guitar player. Many of us here also started on 6-strings decades ago and just evolved into the 4-string-based world of mandolin, tenor guitar, tenor banjo and ukulele.

If tenor guitar becomes the choice, there are also tenor guitar forums out there. The Mandolin Cafe has a great tenor guitar sub-forum (am there a lot). There's even a "Tenor Guitar and Baritone Ukulele" group on Facebook.
 
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