Why did you shift from one instrument to the uke, particularly guitar

AndieZ

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It seems lots of guitar players end up becoming uke players. (Although i'm sure there are many more who remain guitar players). Still it would be interesting to know why you quit your first instrument and made the switch.

LIkewise if you came over directly from another instrument.

It doesn't count as so interesting (to me) if the shift happened with a gap of years between or if you never really got going with the first instrument.

I'm more interested in teh situation where one is an accomplished guitarist and dropped it for the uke, or mostly dropped it.
 
I have never been much of a guitar player, so I haven't really abandoned guitar. That said, the only instruments I have ever really gravitated towards are my main instruments (tuba, voice, and now ukulele), and I don't really love playing piano in any sense (nothing wrong with the instrument). The ukulele, for me, is portable and fun--it just makes music enjoyable. That doesn't mean that there is less work, but the practice is less taxing than tuba or voice for me. I don't get to play tuba very often (I need to join a band again) and you can't practice tuba or singing (at my level--operatic tenor) without driving everyone else in the house crazy. I can play ukulele all day, and nobody cares, even at family events.

As for others I have talked to, people are drawn to the social aspects of the ukulele (playing with others), the nylon strings, fewer strings than a guitar, and one fellow just mentioned that he has tendonitis which keeps him from playing the guitar, but the ukulele fits in his hand just fine.
 
Played guitar in my teens and in bands while in college. Somewhere along the way the guitar was lost/stolen 35-40 years ago and never replaced. I became interested in the ukulele 15 - 20 years ago mostly influenced by George Harrison. Many ukuleles later, I tried guitar again, but found it was now too difficult for these old arthritic fingers.
 
Well, I'm a uke player that started guitar a couple of years ago, now added a baritone but haven't dropped any. I'm sure someday I'll find the one I want to play (can play). For now, it's all fun.
 
I never played guitar.

In fact, I was FEELING LIKE I was going to learn Spanish Guitar ... no idea why, and then one day I was on YouTube watching a friend's Uke video ... and noticed to the right Jake Shimabukuro's "My Guitar Gently Weeps" video ... I sat watching it stunned, and weepy.

I bought my first Uke in Nov 2013, and haven't looked back.
 
Although now that i can see the merits of the uke in its own right, I still want to resume learning the guitar when i get back from my travels in about 14 months from now, and I'm slightly afraid that I will lose the interest in doing that. One thing that I'm not really look forward to returning to is the steel strings. I only played with them for about a month before realising i that it was pointless to learn both uke and guitar at the same time. I am a regretting a little that i bought a steel string guitar instead of nylon, as I used to play when i was a kid. I like the sound of nylon string guitars even for rhythm guitar and I find the sound of steel strings when i play it, quite harsh but that just may be my lack of expertise. It's nice that that's not an issue with the uke - though there are other issues - like the lack of volume etc and no low notes but they are not currently a major concern for me.
 
I started playing guitar when I was a teen, and over the years have added banjo, mandolin, bass, and ukulele. While they are each unique, I find the experience with fretted instruments has reduced the learning curve with each new instrument. I love the variety and it has served me well in bands over the years, being able to add the mandolin part in "Losing My Religion" or the banjo part when we covered the Dixie Chicks' version of "Landslide." I was the second guitar in my current band, until the bassist quit suddenly. I switched to bass "until we could find another bassist." That was three years ago!

Learning multiple instruments requires a certain level of commitment. I would rather be making music that doing just about anything else, so I've never seen it as a hardship. Find people to play with-- nothing makes you a better player than playing with others.
 
I've also told my story a number of times, but here it is again. I played guitar for almost 50 years, the last one I bought about 5 years ago was a Fender Telecaster electric, always wanted one. A little over 3 years ago I was leafing through a Musicians Friend catalogue and saw a Mahalo ukulele designed like the Telecaster guitar for $60, I thought it would be cute hanging next to my real Telecaster. About a week later I received the annual announcement of the Los Angeles Music Center Summer Play-Along series, three Saturday sessions of about 4 hours each, which I've attended for guitar a couple of times. This time it was for ukulele. I thought, hey, I have a ukulele, I'll attend.

I got online to learn the few chords required, but found that I was having a lot of trouble making the chords on the fretboard. As I researched, I discovered that the Mahalo was a soprano, so I immediately went out and bought a tenor cutaway (my preferred style). Attending the sessions was great, there must have been 200-300 people. At the end of one sessions, they announced that there would be a ukulele flash-mob after the next sessions organized by Cali Rose (a very accomplished uker, her husband is Craig Brandau). I couldn't make it, but I looked her up and discovered she headed uke "classes" twice a week from the Culver City Senior Center. I joined up that day and at my first sessions, realized this is made for me. It's more like a group than classes, there are about 50 regulars, we call ourselves The CC Strummers, and gig often. I also found out about the Westside Ukulele Ensemble, an advanced instrumental group of about 6-8, but after a year, I realized I couldn't keep up, and one member was a jerk to me, so I dropped out.

The timing for The CC Strummers was perfect, I was about to retire and realized plying the uke and going to the twice a week sessions would be a good way to fill my time. I then took up the bass uke from Cali's request to fill in our sound, and it's been great ever since. I haven't touched my guitars since picking up the uke, but since adding the bass, I'm not playing the uke as much either, though I do play when I can to keep my hands on.
 
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After a half-century of being, at best, a mediocre guitarist, I gave the mandolin a try. Liked it a lot, and it led me to tenor guitar and tenor banjo. Found the steel-stringed mandolin, tenor guitar and tenor banjo as tough instruments for travel and hotel stays (it's loud), so I thought I'd experiment taking an inexpensive soprano uke and string it GDAE (mandolin tuning) and use the nylon-stringed uke as a "suitcase mando" when quieter play was needed. The experiment worked out almost too good. It got even wilder after finding banjo-ukes and 6&8-stringed ukes.

Over the last few years there have been (and still are) many ukes that have come-and-gone. Did not find GCEA tuning anywhere near as comfortable as fifths tuning (GDAE, CGDA), so the ukes have all been set up as 'fifths" players. Also, since all my current instruments are tuned in fifths, playing any of them reinforces and improves my ability to play any of the others.
 
I played piano and double bass as a kid, and have been a gigging accordionist for 20 odd years. Tried guitar a couple of times, never seemed to get my fingers round it. Came across ukulele recently and - what the h!! - it looks like a kids toy and you can buy an ok one for pocket money, but in the hands of someone who knows what they are doing oh wow!!!
 
Although now that i can see the merits of the uke in its own right, I still want to resume learning the guitar when i get back from my travels in about 14 months from now, and I'm slightly afraid that I will lose the interest in doing that.

There's always the guitarlele, which is tuned ADGCEA, so more than the chord shapes (some) will transfer directly if you learn the ukulele's fretboard. I'm impressed with how well it combines everything I like about both instrument types (size, happiness, portability of ukuleles, and fullness, six-string techniques, increased relative range of guitars).

Here is the same song played by the same brilliant player, on each instrument type, which I feel illustrates this well:

Ukulele
Guitarlele
Guitar

All three versions are beautiful, and masterfully played. I like the guitarlele version best by a good margin. The guitar is capoed on the 5th fret, but is still bulky and a bit too boomy sounding for me. The ukulele version (while stunning) is tonally more narrow, but I still prefer it to the guitar sound.
 
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Although now that i can see the merits of the uke in its own right, I still want to resume learning the guitar when i get back from my travels in about 14 months from now, and I'm slightly afraid that I will lose the interest in doing that. One thing that I'm not really look forward to returning to is the steel strings. I only played with them for about a month before realising i that it was pointless to learn both uke and guitar at the same time. I am a regretting a little that i bought a steel string guitar instead of nylon, as I used to play when i was a kid. I like the sound of nylon string guitars even for rhythm guitar and I find the sound of steel strings when i play it, quite harsh but that just may be my lack of expertise. It's nice that that's not an issue with the uke - though there are other issues - like the lack of volume etc and no low notes but they are not currently a major concern for me.

My journey has been a bit similar, except i tried learning nylon String guitar first. I tried a few times, starting about 14 years ago, and it never took. One attempt 10 years ago lead to my then 12 year old son taking up guitar and never looking back.

I started drums when i was 12, and have been of and on again with that most of my life, but I wanted a melodic,harmonic instrument i could play and enjoy by myself. Drumming by oneself gets old pretty quickly, at least for me, and a convenient band is not always at hand.

So I took up the Uke in 2009, after searching youtube for "classical music ukulele". I have not given up on the Uke, and never will.

I have tried re starting my journey on guitar several times since i started Uke, but until this spring i never made much progress. I have tried alternate tunings, cut capos, and every way i could try to make it easier. Every attempt brought some value and benefit, but i always went back to uke for most of my playing. But I just love how the guitar sounds too, and i want to be able to play that, and not forsake the Uke. in fact, as I being to record my original songs, I will make use of both instruments. Along with some drums too.

You may find the string spacing and neck of the steel string easier than a Classical guitar, or the wider string spacing of the classical may feel more similar to the Uke. For me, a nylon string guitar with a narrower neck than a classical has proved best.

if you want to try guitar again from a Uke perspective, take a try at the Yamaha Guitalele, or the Cordoba Protege 1/4 size classical guitar.

I tried the Guitalele a few times during my Uke journey, and i never quite got it, but it was not the instrument. I may get one again soon, or the Protege. I was just not ready to commit to learning guitar yet.

Playing Uke has helped me get ready for guitar, but i did not start Uke as a pathway to the guitar,but it has kind of worked that way for me. maybe it will for you too!

:)

Tom
 
In the past I played a couple of different woodwinds. The flute wasn't very satisfying but recorder was. However a good wooden recorder just required too much consistency to fit my life. Now, there is something about the ukulele that makes it fun to play. I have never desired to play the guitar. Maybe it's the sound, the size or the typical music but it just leaves me cold. I'm quite amused that there is some assumption out there that ukulele players are somehow automatically attracted to the guitar. I think it's akin to the assumption by guitar players that ukuleles are bad toy versions of guitars.

-- Gary
 
I started playing the ukulele (soprano, cos in the UKuey UK that's all there was !!) in 1970ish, I then wanted to try the guitar as there was one around the house , then I had piano lessons for three years ...then I stopped playing piano in 1980 , carried on with guitar and uke (banjo uke only) as a sort of vaguely in the background sort of hobby thing...got a keyboard in 1995......then suddenly wanted a yuke again and got one in 2000 and a harmonica which I took to,then in 2011 piano accordion , ( 4 to date !!) , 5 string Banjo, Mandolin, 2012 single row melodeon (Cajun Accordion to those across the pond)then a rest until this year Tenor Banjo,both tunings C and G , tin whistle and vilioliolinfiddle...still play the uke as well....I must be doing it ass backwards lol.......:) By the way this ain't a brag a simple statement of fact ...I'm utter crap at all them as well....lol. Always played in my on company until 2008 and then got a geetar buddy (the most indispensible learning and developmental tool)and discovered ..hey I'm not utter crap....just crap....

Cheers.
 
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As with some of the other responders, I didn't "switch" to ukulele, it was more of an expansion. After the best part of 50 years of guitar I wasn't about to give it up, but having "found" claw-hammer (via 5-string banjo), then the concept of campanella-style, both using the re-entrant tuning on the ukulele, it seemed like a natural progression.

I already had the left-hand dexterity and the right-hand accuracy so it was mostly just a case of learning some new repertoire ... then along came tuning a ukulele in 5th's which led to a mandolin (and mandola) ... which rekindled long-dormant interests in bass and electric guitars ... somewhere along the line an Appalachian dulcimer and a balalaika sneaked in, then a couple more ukuleles and guitars ... and a whole raft of miscellaneous woodwind ... definitely Instrument Acquisition Syndrome :music:
 
My journey has been a bit similar, except i tried learning nylon String guitar first. I tried a few times, starting about 14 years ago, and it never took. One attempt 10 years ago lead to my then 12 year old son taking up guitar and never looking back.

I started drums when i was 12, and have been of and on again with that most of my life, but I wanted a melodic,harmonic instrument i could play and enjoy by myself. Drumming by oneself gets old pretty quickly, at least for me, and a convenient band is not always at hand.

So I took up the Uke in 2009, after searching youtube for "classical music ukulele". I have not given up on the Uke, and never will.

I have tried re starting my journey on guitar several times since i started Uke, but until this spring i never made much progress. I have tried alternate tunings, cut capos, and every way i could try to make it easier. Every attempt brought some value and benefit, but i always went back to uke for most of my playing. But I just love how the guitar sounds too, and i want to be able to play that, and not forsake the Uke. in fact, as I being to record my original songs, I will make use of both instruments. Along with some drums too.

You may find the string spacing and neck of the steel string easier than a Classical guitar, or the wider string spacing of the classical may feel more similar to the Uke. For me, a nylon string guitar with a narrower neck than a classical has proved best.

if you want to try guitar again from a Uke perspective, take a try at the Yamaha Guitalele, or the Cordoba Protege 1/4 size classical guitar.

I tried the Guitalele a few times during my Uke journey, and i never quite got it, but it was not the instrument. I may get one again soon, or the Protege. I was just not ready to commit to learning guitar yet.

Playing Uke has helped me get ready for guitar, but i did not start Uke as a pathway to the guitar,but it has kind of worked that way for me. maybe it will for you too!

:)

Tom

What's your difficulty with the guitar? You seem to prefer the uke except for the guitar's tone.

I actually fine nylon guitar easier to play than steel strings on every point you mention. It was also my first guitar but I was about 7 and kept it til i was 28 when Qantas smashed it but i didn't do a lot with it in the preceding years.
 
I own a guitar, have practiced the same ~5 songs sporadically for the last 15 years.
I never became any good at it, and learned very few songs from the top down.

I got courious and bought a ukulele, and now I play that way often than the guitar.
To be honest, I think I find it easier. With a nylon string guitar, I feel that I need to focus a lot on finger play and muting the strings so it doesn't sound so messy, and steel strings are just a bit hard when you have lots of breaks from playing. On a ukulele you can get away with just strumming. Also a lot of chords are easier with just four strings. This means that learning a song from top down is quicker, which is encouraging.
I still like the guitar, and I might get a better one some day, but right now the ukulele is just convenient.
 
I originally started playing guitar when I was 12 or 13. The instrument was my choice: I had wanted to play guitar since I was a small child. My parents were very much into classical pedagogy, so I dove into the deep end and started by taking classes at a local community college. By the time I was in my late teens, I was accomplished enough to continue on and get an A.A. degree in music. A full-tuition academic scholarship and a few performance scholarships definitely helped.

Towards the end of my degree, I had a recital where I crashed and burned. Hard. The piece was a solo guitar rendition of "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring." It was so bad, I was nearly crying by the end of it. My teachers tried to salvage it. My theory professor gave me a lot of one-on-one pep talks, and my guitar teacher put me into an ensemble. But I had lost my confidence. Outside of two or three minor sit-ins with church bands, I haven't performed publicly since. I've done other music related projects, including helping score a movie, but playing in front of a crowd just hasn't happened.

After that A.A. was done, I took a year off and then switched my focus to mass communications with the intention of working in radio. If I wasn't able to perform on stage, at least I could play music and perform on the air. Unfortunately, the new millenium wasn't kind to the DJ, and now I'm out of that altogether, too.

Even though I had issues with performance, I still wanted to play.I can't remember *what* prompted me to look into the ukulele, but I started watching a lot of Jake Shimabakuro and John King's ukulele videos. I was so enchanted, I purchased a nice little concert Samick UK-50 off of amazon in October 2008. I had either a gift card or store credit for most of the price, so I only paid a few dollars extra.

Since that point, I've alternated between ukulele and guitar. More time has definitely been spent with ukulele, though. It's been a real esteem booster, especially since it's so rare to find someone who can play one.
 
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