High or low G for beginner?

strumsilly

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a young man [13] who is very interested in music will be getting a tenor from me. should I string it with a high or low g for a beginner? it is high g now. Does it even matter?
 
For a beginner I would start with high G. Only because most music is for it. (But I fingerpick. What do I know?)
 
I'd start with reentrant rather than low G for a couple of reasons - first, as Sukie mentioned there are a lot more resources available for it, but also because a lot of strumming/beginner material doesn't sound right on low G unless one has the knowledge to look for alternate chord inversions. With low G, that 4th string is always going to produce the dominant note, and if it's not the root of the chord it may sound somehow "wrong." It certainly did to me when I was starting out! This especially applies if one is playing low G but is playing the same material in a group of others who are playing reentrant.
 
Go with the high G. I think it just has the classic ukulele sound. I play with low G sometimes, but to me, it sounds more like a small guitar rather than a ukulele.
 
I feel that the high G string is where the real magic of a ukulele lives. Otherwise, it's just a stunted guitar with a capo. lol
 
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