Standard G

I am an experienced guitar player, but I have been learning the Uke for a couple of months. I have seen discussion about tuning with a low g. I want to share my thoughts and invite comments.

1. The high G makes the up strum sound more like the down strum, because both end on a high note. This seems to me to be a positive feature.

2. The high G seems to be underutiliized in finger-picking (as least by beginners, like me). However, it has a value when sing higher register frets with the lower three strings.

3. The high G string permits some interesting chords with open G using higher fretted notes on the lower three strings.

4. The high G does limit the range of the ukulele.

5. In finger-picking when a note goes below middle C, one can fake the missing note by strumming the chord, ignoring the note.

Comments? Am I all wet?

I think you're right on, I don't like the sound of low G...high G sounds like an ukulele!

I prefer high G/re-entrant G too. Definitely sounds happier. Makes a uke sing. Better for simple strummers like me.

The campanella picking that Bill mentioned is one of the neat features of the re-entrant tuning. One of the things you can't do on most guitars, the baroque ones aside. Besides John King's classical performances and book, there is also some material for Irish tunes by Jonathan Lewis (link) that isn't often mentioned.

I prefer the high-g to the low-g, too. It's not that I don't enjoy listening to low-g performances (they are often beautiful), but linear-tuning is just so guitar-y for me. I seem to develop a stronger preferences for the soprano and concert size and can't seem to properly connect to the tenor size (haven't tried anything bigger: I chose the ukulele as my instrument because of the small footprint; otherwise I'd have gone for the guitar as size was one of the core appeals to me when I made the choice).

The "uncommon" re-entrant tuning was also one of the attractions, so for me low-g kind of skips one of the more instrument-defining aspects. It is, to me, part of what makes a ukulele a ukulele. (I think this is probably a controversial view, so I want to add that it's not a challenge, just a subjective take.)

I like reentrant tuning when playing pieces written for it, like books from Rob MacKillop, Susan Howell, Michael Lynch (Ukulele Mike) and others. Renetrant tuning does give the ukulele it's unique sound both fingerpicked but espeically strummed.

I love low G.........so we now have a reason to buy more than one uke. As a guitar player you would recongnize this as GAS around here it is known as UAS.........carry on.

I think that your observations sum it up David. I'm a ukulele player and singer, pure and simple, not a guitar player. I like to get as far from guitars as I can, and re-entrant tuning is not a guitar thing. A lot of the challenge of playing the ukulele for me, is working around the re-entrant tuning and finding ways to do what I want to with it, not just change the tuning to make it easier.

DownUpDave said:

I like reentrant tuning when playing pieces written for it, like books from Rob MacKillop, Susan Howell, Michael Lynch (Ukulele Mike) and others. Renetrant tuning does give the ukulele it's unique sound both fingerpicked but espeically strummed.

I love low G.........so we now have a reason to buy more than one uke. As a guitar player you would recongnize this as GAS around here it is known as UAS.........carry on.

Click to expand...

I agree with DUD1; I like both. I really like the low tones of instruments, but the hi-G sound is more ukulele-ish.

But as one can easily see (below), my Ukes are tuned all over the place. ld:

On more advantage of hi-G. Ukulele Mike teaches Fur Elise. He points out that the the ringing G string in his arrangement is a sound advantage not available with low.G.

I discovered the beginning of Pete Seeger's Living In The Country by accident and realised that the high G was useful as a melody string while finger-picking. This urged me to figure out an approximation of the rest of the tune.