DGBE strings for a Tenor?

I've been playing Uke for about a year now and recently saw something about special string sets for Tenor Ukes that allow you to have a linear DGBE tuning.

My music theory knowledge is very limited, but this sounds like it would allow a Tenor Uke to be tuned the same as strings 1-4 on guitar.

If this is the case, would the chord shapes on a DGBE tenor be different than one tuned to GCEA? My gut says yes.... And if so, then guitar tabs could be used to play on Uke? Finger picking wouldn't work as 2 stings are missing, but I would think chords would work.

I'm asking all of this for 2 mains reasons:
1. I would like to hear what a tenor sounds like with this lower range of strings.
2. Guitar tabs are much more available than Uke tabs.

I'm interested to see if my theorizing is correct or if I'm completely lost.

Thanks,

It's certainly more common to do reentrant DGBE on tenor than linear. For example: http://forum.ukulele-underground.com/showthread.php?105713-Tenor-DGBE-tuning

Chord shapes are the same as GCEA but they are called different names. 0003 is C major on GCEA but G major on DGBE. This does make guitar tabs play in the same key as a DGBE tuned uke. But keep in mind a few other things:
1. Guitar tab will work for a reentrant DGBE too.
2. you can use a guitar tab on a GCEA uke as well - it's just that the uke will be playing in a different key.
3. Guitar tab assumes strings 5 and 6 are there so depending on the piece, it may or may not translate well directly to uke

Jim Hanks said:

It's certainly more common to do reentrant DGBE on tenor than linear. For example: http://forum.ukulele-underground.com/showthread.php?105713-Tenor-DGBE-tuning

Chord shapes are the same as GCEA but they are called different names. 0003 is C major on GCEA but G major on DGBE. This does make guitar tabs play in the same key as a DGBE tuned uke. But keep in mind a few other things:
1. Guitar tab will work for a reentrant DGBE too.
2. you can use a guitar tab on a GCEA uke as well - it's just that the uke will be playing in a different key.
3. Guitar tab assumes strings 5 and 6 are there so depending on the piece, it may or may not translate well directly to uke

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Your link didn't work for me. but

I have two tenors and one of them might just work for dGBE tuning. Do you think South Coast would be the place to inquire about this?

Let me try again:
http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?105713-Tenor-DGBE-tuning

Southcoast is a great option for tenor dGBE, also Living Water.
Southcoast HU-NW: http://www.southcoastukes.com/ukulele.htm
Living water tenor custom: http://www.kenmiddleton.co.uk/Pages/LWS.aspx

Craig Chee And Sarah Maisel collaborated with GHS strings to develope a set of Bari-tenor re-entrant strings.

I purchased this set when they were touring the UK.
Craig plays his Tenor strung this way. Sounds fantastic. (They both did!)




This is the package. It shows all 3 sets that they have produced together.

I am yet to try them personally as I don't have a tenor at the moment!

I sent an email to Southcoast about this and I guess I got confused as I referred to this a "D" tuning, when it should have been termed "G" tuning.

I think from looking at your question, that confusion comes in over the name of the tunings, in other words, the key you're tuning to. Look again on our "Quick Guide" (on the String Sets page) and check out point #2. That explains things briefly - the full musical explanation is on the Terminology page should you ever need it.

The "shortcut" to knowing the name of your key is that it's also the name of your 3rd string (click on the diagram of a Uke on the same page). So if I'm reading you correctly, it sound like you're looking for reentrant Key of G for a 17" scale. We do have those, and you have a choice of tensions.

Check back on the part I referenced above, and then feel free to get get back to me with any further questions.

Thanks for the inquiry -

Dirk Wormhoudt
the Southcoast Ukulele & Guitar Company

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I reread the whole page on strings and Tips and... well everything, and got a much better view of the different tunings. However I also read abut open "C" tuning of a tenor and thought I'd fool around with that for a while before I bought another set of strings. My SAS has gotten out of control.

1

cre8tive1 said:

I've been playing Uke for about a year now and recently saw something about special string sets for Tenor Ukes that allow you to have a linear DGBE tuning.

My music theory knowledge is very limited, but this sounds like it would allow a Tenor Uke to be tuned the same as strings 1-4 on guitar.

If this is the case, would the chord shapes on a DGBE tenor be different than one tuned to GCEA? My gut says yes.... And if so, then guitar tabs could be used to play on Uke? Finger picking wouldn't work as 2 stings are missing, but I would think chords would work.

I'm asking all of this for 2 mains reasons:
1. I would like to hear what a tenor sounds like with this lower range of strings.
2. Guitar tabs are much more available than Uke tabs.

I'm interested to see if my theorizing is correct or if I'm completely lost.

Thanks,

Click to expand...

If you're going to tune a tenor DGBE, I recommend you tune it reentrant. I have a friend who has her tenor tuned linear DGBE using a set of baritone strings and it's very quiet and sounds lifeless to me.

I have my tenors tuned reentrant DGBE and I am very happy with them. I've also had a fair amount of positive comment on the tone.

There are reentrant DGBE sets available for tenors. Someone has already mentioned Southcoast whose strings get a lot of positive comment on this forum. I don't use them because being in the UK they work out somewhat expensive. They are more expensive than most but then by the time you add overseas shipping costs they work out roughly 4x that of a set of most other reputable brands which is more than I'm prepared to pay.

Aquila make a reentrant DGBE tenor set. I ordered some from Aquila. They came with a red G rather than a wound G. I tried them on my Fluke and was not entirely happy with them. They would not fit my Bruko as both the bridge and nut slots needed widening. I have also tried Worth CF strings. The "F" is for "fat" and they are sold as a high tension set for GCEA but tuned to DGBE the work fine for me. (You can also get a brown equivalent, BF). Living Water offer reentrant tenor DGBE set as a "custom" set for about £1 more than their regular strings, so there are several choices available for tuning tenors DGBE. (There's nothing wrong with the Aquila strings, btw. Just not my personal preference. I like Aquila Nylguts on my banjo uke)

To answer your question on tabs etc. You can use guitar tabs and chord diagrams but be prepared to make some mods as you don't have the 5th and 6th strings available and your D string is an octave higher. I use Ultimate Guitar a lot for chord sheets and find it useful to hover the mouse over the chords to get a chord diagram and mostly just ignore the 5th and 6th strings. Very useful as a quick check, especially for less common chords. I've also used guitar tutorials on You Tube a couple of times for particular songs and found those useful but you do have to be prepared to adapt. Treat them as a starting point, particularly as I said above, anything on the D string will be an octave higher and that may not always work.

I have Aquila linear dGBE on my tenor, and also have one dGBe (low d on both side and pull the #1 string up a whole step.. Try a G7 as 3-4-3-3.
C7 as 2-3-1-3 and D7 as 4-5-3-5, . It's a whole 'nother breed of cat.

Gordon Mark playing tenor tuned as a baritone

Even though Gordon Mark is known as a baritone player ( and a heck of player as that!) here's a video of Gordon playing a regular KoAloha tenor tuned DGBE-just like a linear tuned baritone). I had seen this video for yeas and just assumed that he was playing a specially made custom KoAloha baritone. But nope. Double checked with KoAloha and this is just the regular tenor tuned as a Bari. Lovely lovely tone on this as well! I keep praying that KoAloha will make a baritone but this video proves you do not have to wait for that day!
http://youtu.be/GwkO33PuHmA

cre8tive1 said:

2. Guitar tabs are much more available than Uke tabs.

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There might be more ukulele tabs than guitar tabs that only use four strings.

Thank you for posting the link to that video, Roddy.
I like that sound. Did KoAloha tell you what strings were used?

Gordon Mark string mystery

Futurethink said:

Thank you for posting the link to that video, Roddy.
I like that sound. Did KoAloha tell you what strings were used?

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No they didn't know. But it appears that he's using two wound strings on the D and G and nylon on the B and E. I've tried using a wound for the G and then regular Worths for the GB &E but they are too unstable and don't stay in tune very long. Maybe Craig Chee's strings and a wound D might work. Gordon Mark sounds absolutely beautiful on this. I couldn't believe it was a tenor. If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears

roddy said:

Even though Gordon Mark is known as a baritone player ( and a heck of player as that!) here's a video of Gordon playing a regular KoAloha tenor tuned DGBE-just like a linear tuned baritone). I had seen this video for yeas and just assumed that he was playing a specially made custom KoAloha baritone. But nope. Double checked with KoAloha and this is just the regular tenor tuned as a Bari. Lovely lovely tone on this as well! I keep praying that KoAloha will make a baritone but this video proves you do not have to wait for that day!
http://youtu.be/GwkO33PuHmA

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Absolutely incredible.

That's an excellent example of how a top quality musician can make the most of a sub optimal tuning. Listen to that D string; it sounds noticeably quieter than the other three to me but he is able to make the most of it because of his musicianship. If an average player played that instrument I suspect it would sound nowhere near as good and the weakness of the low D would come out.

roddy said:

I've tried using a wound for the G and then regular Worths for the GB &E but they are too unstable and don't stay in tune very long.

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I use Worth strings on my tenors - all tuned DGBE and I have no trouble with them holding their tuning - once they have settled, of course.

I just dug out some baritone strings and put them on a tenor...linear DGBE tuning. I simply cannot believe the sound! So sweet, so mellow, and the horrible tenor string tension is gone! Wonder why I never tried it before....I guess the idea seemed too crazy to even cross my mind. I have had re-entrant G tuning on a tenor before, but never with a low D. Wow...video will be made!

G6 tenor Ukulele Project

drbekken said:

I just dug out some baritone strings and put them on a tenor...linear DGBE tuning. I simply cannot believe the sound! So sweet, so mellow, and the horrible tenor string tension is gone! Wonder why I never tried it before....I guess the idea seemed too crazy to even cross my mind. I have had re-entrant G tuning on a tenor before, but never with a low D. Wow...video will be made!

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Awesome! Looks like we've got a little science fair/uke fair
Project going. Looking forward to seeing and hearing what others come up with. I'm going to give it another try with the Worth Browns on my KoAloha tenor. This baritone tuning just seems a perfect match for a KoAloha tenor. In any case, it's interesting to note the high level of interest in G6 tenor tuning these days.

Bill1 said:

If you are doing experiments, think about this tuning progression DGBE - FBbDG-GCEA. FBbDG is half way and may be worth a listen on the way.

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I've tried this before. It's Bb6 tuning I guess and sounds great. This is a resonant deep option if you are playing solo. The problem is when you want to play with others. When I tune down to a low F I lose track of what the chords actually are.

https://youtu.be/-uyyDXTl6dA

Makala tenor ukulele With GHS baritone strings, linear DGBE tuning. The strings are old; I took them off a derelict baritone. Still, it sounds quite nice. No wonder that tuning sounds so good when a player like Gordon Mark Plays a top notch instrument.

roddy said:

I've tried this before. It's Bb6 tuning I guess and sounds great. This is a resonant deep option if you are playing solo. The problem is when you want to play with others. When I tune down to a low F I lose track of what the chords actually are.

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Bb tuning is great. When you want to play with others, either play with a jazz ensemble whose horns are also in Bb - or slap a capo on 2nd fret and you're in C.