Confession

plunker

plunker

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My name is Plunker and I treat my uke like a Pseudo guitar sometimes. There I said it and I feel better.

Yes ,it is a tenor tuned to a low "G".

I played trombone from middle school through 1st year of college and then got real stupid in college and put it down. I can find the horn but i can't find the lip. A while back my wife bought me a uke and the rest is history. But I still envied the guys who played guitar in high school.
I guess the uke sometimes is my effort to relive that.

Say what you want, but my couselor has told me to apply the "Popillian Theroy.

I yam what I yam, and that is all that I yam.

First esposed by that great philospher... Popeye the Sailor.
 
Well, I guess, you'll have to get another tuned re entrant, just to keep the balance in your life, & then maybe a soprano, or a concert..... :)
 
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Confession is good for the soul they do say and i confess i am right beside you and i use my ukes as a pseudo guitar pretty much all the time. I couldn't strum a song to save my life and the traditional strumming sing-along style is not my thing at all. My favorite uke is a mini guitar in rosewood and spruce and it rings forever. I play 100% fingerstyle, mostly classical guitar music adapted to the uke and i love it.

I guess i'm saying there should be no rules plunker, just enjoy it man!
 
There's no shame in that.

I often use guitar as a pseudo-ukulele and vice versa. TomAto, TomaTO, same same.

I had wanted to learn guitar, and often envied guitarists.
But the learning curve to play 6 strings was a bit too great to keep me motivated in the early days.

I got into ukulele, because I genuinely loved its sound. The song that made me do it was that Israel's cover of Somewhere over the rainbow that everyone knows. And guess what? He plays low-G.

Ukulele led to the wonderful thing that is Baritone ukulele, which seemed like a perfect solution to my guitar dilemma.

And eventually... I actually learned to play guitar. It is just a baritone ukulele with 2 more strings.


Today I can say I play guitar and ukulele with equal proficiency.

But do you know what? I don't think either is a better or lesser instrument than the other. I enjoy and love both.
They are both beautiful instruments and different scenarios call for different instruments!

I see absolutely no shame in playing an ukulele like it is a guitar.
In my eyes, guitars are just bigger ukuleles with 6 strings.
 
As long as you are having fun, strum on! (PS, your lip is still there. Get that trombone out and start playing or you'll have to turn in your low brass card of coolness).
 
Agree with Kissing on this. The guitar just seemed too overwhelming and the uke is easier to manage. Especially if you have smaller hands. Plus it's fun and happy. It's hard to be unhappy when playing a uke!

kissing said:
I had wanted to learn guitar, and often envied guitarists.
But the learning curve to play 6 strings was a bit too great to keep me motivated in the early days.
Click to expand...
 
I am a card carrying member of the same club plunker. I prefer tenor and low G for that guitar like sound. I acquired a couple baritones which are even more guitar like in their sound. Now I am getting the new Pono UL4 20 which is a tenor.........guitar. There I said it out loud, no shame. I think of it as a bigger baritone uke with 4 strings of steel instead of nylon, they are tuned the same.

All that being said I had a ball playing my soprano last night. It sounds like a ukulele, it is music and it is all good
 
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I prefer a low-g tenor's sound as well. Although, I like and play reentrant tenors and sopranos, too.

For those who really want to skate close to a guitar, without going over the edge, Jay Lichty has made a new archtop uke (Baby Bard Archtop uke), with metal strings in a scale longer that a baritone. It sounds amazing.

http://lichtyguitars.com/2016/03/17/baby-bard-archtop-ukulele-u104/
Archtop-Baby-Bard-U104-21.jpg
 
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Good to hear I have so much company. I have a re entrant tenor and a Baritone as well. The low G is a Pono MDX with a pick up. This is my go to uke. I bought a Roland portable amp for it. Lotsa of fun. I tell people that I was going to play guitar but I didn't have enough fingers. I really enjoy the Uke, figuring out songs form easy piano sheet music, and some of what I can find on the site here. I bought a blues book, and traded it. Wish I hadn't.
Confession is good for the soul. Thanks to you all.
 
Hi, my name is Gary and I used to play the trombone.

And I have a uke tuned low G in the collection.
 
plunker said:
My name is Plunker and I treat my uke like a Pseudo guitar sometimes. There I said it and I feel better.

Yes ,it is a tenor tuned to a low "G".
Click to expand...

Next try a soprano in low G. I followed the master there (Ohta San), and never came back.
 
Started playing the trombone in grade school 75-77 or so and quit soon after as I couldn't reach the E? I believe (slide out). That and draining spit from brass wasn't key on my list of things most wanted to experience even as a child.

Just down tuned my soprano stick to eDGB to rock out some power chords through my Digitech RP 360. Further down tuned with an emulated pitch shifter. I do not know what this talk about using a ukulele like a guitar could possibly mean. ;)

~peace~
 
Hi plunker,
I played trombone in elementary school through jr high school. I think I remember quitting because I didn't like the teacher. Guess I thought he was they only brass instrument teacher in our town.
I did like marching in the front of the marching band, tho!
Try one of your tenors strung up in re-entrant bari tuning. It's a blast. GHS has the strings.
 
I still play my trombone, but this is one valved rather than slide. It is silver and brand new. I got it as a trade for some western art work I had been given.(sweet deal-sweet sound) I also have an E flat wrap around bass that belonged to an uncle. He played it in a Salvation Army band in Pittsburgh, Pa., 92 years ago. On New Year's Eve, they impact the neighborhood like no ukulele, guitar, mandolin or banjo in my collection.! BUT.....when it comes to trippin' on my motorcycle, two soft packed travel ukes, tuned linear and reentrant with PEGHEDS and aquila reds are unbeatable. I wonder how many uke players ride a bike and carry at least one on a day trip or more days compared to those who ride and pack a trombone..
 
Nickie said:
Hi plunker,
I played trombone in elementary school through jr high school. I think I remember quitting because I didn't like the teacher. Guess I thought he was they only brass instrument teacher in our town.
I did like marching in the front of the marching band, tho!
Try one of your tenors strung up in re-entrant bari tuning. It's a blast. GHS has the strings.
Click to expand...

I started playing in elementary school (1960) on the recommendation of a docotr as a breathing exercise for a very serious asthma condition I had. Played through middle school, played in marching band, concert band, stage band, formed a dixie land bank for a school talent show and even played in a quartet playing Baroque music. When I got into college I was in orchestra. Then I joined a fraternanty in college. Maybe not animal house but certainly tried hard to be that way. No place for a T bone in that mess. Please explain the tuning I though Baris (at least mine) are strung linear.
 
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I will admit to using my 5-string banjo as a pseudo-ukulele when I didn't have a uke handy. There are a few tunes that I always play on the ukulele in our jug band and if I'm at a rehearsal without a uke, assuming the banjo is in open G tuning (gDGBD), I will tune the banjo 1st string up to E and put a capo at the fifth fret and play my ukulele licks, avoiding the fifth string.

Most of the swing chords I play on guitar use the 2nd,3rd,4th and 6th strings. When I'm playing the ukulele, I can move the 6th string position to the first string, then transpose up accordingly. For example, a D7 on guitar is 5X453X. If I move the 6th string position to the 1st string, I get an A two octaves higher than the one on the bass string. On the ukulele this would be 4535 and, transposed would be a G7, so I suppose I'm using my ukulele as a pseudo guitar.
 
I am totally impressed. When I jump from the tenor to the Bari, I just play the same fingering. I usually play alone so it dosen't matter.
 
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