how challenging is baritone once you play soprano?

C

Chrisinfp

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 29, 2012
Messages
60
Reaction score
0
I know that the chords are different and its larger but are there any other challenges learning to play baritone ? I've been playing soprano / tenor for 3 years and I'm a competent player but I have no other experiences with instruments. Also, is the sound of the baritone significantly different ? Thanks
 
Chrisinfp said:
I know that the chords are different and its larger but are there any other challenges learning to play baritone ? I've been playing soprano / tenor for 3 years and I'm a competent player but I have no other experiences with instruments. Also, is the sound of the baritone significantly different ? Thanks
Click to expand...

The chord shapes are the same, just a different name. The tenor C chord is now a G on the baritone, so in that respect, you already can play baritone. The scale length is longer so the frets are spaced a little bit farther apart, but not really by much, and you will very quickly adapt.

With a larger body and longer scale, and depending on the tuning you choose, yes, it will sound different. Just as your playing soprano and tenor does now. Some tune to GCEA, but the "standard" DGBE, will be a deeper/lower sound. The dreaded "more guitar" like sound some don't care for is the end result.

Also, the Bari usually comes with two wound bass strings, you can get all unwound, so if that is bothersome to you, that can be an option for you.

Hope this helps.
 
Varies from player to player. Some ukers play everything from sopraninos to baritones and guitars, some settle in on a size that feels most comfortable.
 
If you can play soprano and tenor, you probably won't have a playability problem. But if you don't like the sound of linear tuning, low G/D on baritone, that may be a bigger hurdle.

That is what has stopped me. I have no problem with a guitar, but I don't like playing a linear tuned ukulele. If you don't have your tenor in linear, try it and if you like it, go for the baritone.

John
 
Played all sizes, but now have settled on just soprano and (mostly)baritone and the occasional guitar. To me it's not that hard to adjust to the scale change, tho if I haven't played soprano for a while, I might over-reach for chords for a little bit, until my finger memory adjusts. The different(but same) chord shapes start to stick in your mind pretty quickly but I have been known to accidentally throw in a soprano chord while playing Bari. It's the obscure chords that usually cause me to hesitate. If you don't want to do the mental gymnastics, transpose bari chords into C tuned ones, or buy GCEA Bari strings, or if you're not singing, just play C tuned chords.

As for sound, I think the change in sound is HUGE between tenor and Bari. More than the change in any other size.
 
70sSanO said:
If you can play soprano and tenor, you probably won't have a playability problem. But if you don't like the sound of linear tuning, low G/D on baritone, that may be a bigger hurdle.

That is what has stopped me. I have no problem with a guitar, but I don't like playing a linear tuned ukulele. If you don't have your tenor in linear, try it and if you like it, go for the baritone.

John
Click to expand...
a bari can be tuned reebtrant, both in C amd G
 
strumsilly said:
a bari can be tuned reebtrant, both in C amd G
Click to expand...
A bari can also be restrung with a Venezuelan cuatro string set (D'Addario J98) to GceA or Adf#B for a different re-entrant experience. Or slack the top and bottom strings from DGBE to CGBD for plectrum-banjo tuning. Or just slack the top string to DGBD and play open chords. Or restring in fifths for a quiet mandola. I personally am not enamored of standard bari DGBE because I have enough guitars there already. YMMV.

A bari neck is not *that* much larger than a tenor so you should not have handling problems. The main challenge mirrors git-pickers moving to 'ukes -- adapting between linear and re-entrant. If you fingerpick, everything you learned to do with your plucking thumb in one stringing is WRONG for the other and you must rethink fingerings. For merely strumming, no problem -- the chord forms remain the same. But (counter)melodic picking gets weird.

I am uncertain how to proceed with my current small-voiced bari. It's now in plectrum banjo tuning but I'm not real happy there. I may end up cutting a new nut and saddle and adding a fifth string to double the bottom course in octaves, dD-G-B-e, to give it more of an 'uke sound. As is, I classify my bari as an 'uke-like-object and not an actual 'ukulele.
 
for me bari tires out my hands. especially if playing it strummed which to me sounds bad with linear tuning.
I just use my bari for picking. Sounds like a little guitar, even more so with string squeak if using 2 wounds.
So for me: strumming with soprano, some picking and lots of portability. Bari for classical picking stuff and a nice mellow sound with lots of sustain. I still need a tenor...
 
This may be a silly question, but if I tune a bari for GCEA would I be able to play it like a soprano?
 
Chrisinfp said:
This may be a silly question, but if I tune a bari for GCEA would I be able to play it like a soprano?
Click to expand...

If you tune it re-entrant C, you'll play exactly in the same key as when you play your soprano -- or any other size -- tuned the same. But as pointed out, any stretches will seem a lot longer.

I play mostly finger style. I love the sound of the baritone tuned linear DGBE (the most common for baritione). But, as with my tenors which are both tuned "low G" (linear C), I tend not to like the linear tuning as much strummed as re-entrant.

Not sure if there are other UU'ers in your area, but when I wanted to test the waters with a baritone, I posted here to see if anybody local to me wanted to swap ukes for a uke and it worked out great.
 
Ukulele Eddie said:
If you tune it re-entrant C, you'll play exactly in the same key as when you play your soprano -- or any other size -- tuned the same. But as pointed out, any stretches will seem a lot longer.
Click to expand...
An exact parallel: my sopranos are the same scale length as my mandolins, and my bari is the same length as my mandola which is tuned a fifth lower than the mandolins. In the same tuning, chord *forms* are the same but their *execution* is quite different due to the longer fretboard.

I am *very* used to playing guitar so moving chord forms between soprano, baritone, and guitar ain't no big thang. Moving 5ths-tuned mando chords to the longer scale is something else entirely. Those stretches are a real challenge. I think going from a larger to a smaller scale is easier than switching from a short soprano to a longer bari or guitar.
 
As for GCEA tuning, I've read it can be used for mandolin as well, anyone have experience with this. I'm trying to learn mandolin and/or baritone without learning new chord structures
 
Soprano and Baritone are the only sizes I play. For some reason I have trouble playing both concert and tenor sizes.
I don't care for gcea tuning on a bari, I like the dgbe tuning, both with high and low d's. A Baritone tuned gcea sounds like it's too large for it's tuning in my opinion.
For the topic starter: chords are different in dgbe tuning, but the shapes are the same. So as long as you play alone it doesn't matter, you could just play it as a soprano. And learning the baritone chords isn't a big deal, it's actually much easier than when you first started to learn chords on your soprano, because you already know the shapes. The chord fingerings are exactly the same, just the name is different.
One more thing: wound strings are a pain, they all were worn through after a five, six weeks on my bari. Try to get a full unwound set (worth from Japan, living waters from the uk, etc)
 
Last edited:
for me this is a simple thing. i like the smaller ukes in Bb or C tuning. i strongly respond to the deeper and lower pitch sound of the baritone and take things from there. if you like the resonance of an instrument you can do something with it.
for what it's worth the smaller 19" baritone scale makes things more comfortable ergonomically. most people don't have trouble with the normal 20" baritone.
 
I didn't think about re-entrant on a baritone. I do have a couple of questions...

If tuned to C, does the C string, especially when played open overpower the other strings?

If tuned to G, high D, is it still a problem?

Thanks!

John
 
ubulele said:
I strongly recommend against getting all unwound strings for a linear bari; the unwound 4th is way too floppy. Yes, the wound strings wear quickly, and they're prone to squeaking. Fortunately, you can order single 3rd and 4th strings. One good unwound option is the Aquila red single 3rds and 4ths (though I've had bad luck with the 4ths snapping on my baris—possibly because my nut slots are a bit too narrow for them). Beware: the regular Aquila red bari sets (89U) come with wound 3rd and 4th strings (unless my info source is mistaken—I've never ordered a full set).
Click to expand...

I agree on the floppy-part, allthough it's a matter of preference, and the living water low D string isn't very floppy, it's fatter than fat though, I guess that's the compromis.
 
Last edited:
it's probably best to think of a bari as a different instrument from the sop/conc/ten and treat it that way. Originally I tried to cram my bari into this other role and never got into playing it. Going back to DGBE and using it differently than my other ukes has given me a reason to play it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
Suggestions for Ukuleles for areas of Challenging Humidity
Replies
7
Views
720
haziz
H
C
suggestions for a moderately challenging piece
Replies
6
Views
290
ChrisCook
C
chiefnoda
TAB: Bach's Prelude in C Minor (BMW 847) (low G; challenging)
Replies
4
Views
235
UkeJordi
U
chiefnoda
TAB: Bach Prelude in C Major from Well-Tempered Clavier (low G; solo, challenging)
Replies
2
Views
239
chiefnoda
chiefnoda
Dan Uke
Ideas for a more challenging season?
2 3 4
Replies
71
Views
4K
Dougf
Dougf
Top Bottom