NUD/FUD - First Uke Day - Kala KA-SCG

I finally got my Kala from HMS/The Ukulele Site. Well worth the wait. It looks, plays, and sounds great. I'll definitely buy from them again if I decide to get a tenor down the road. Also, I don't know if it was a mistake or if they were being nice, but it came with a case.

I'm new to the uke, but I've played guitar for 20 years. I didn't realize this until I started playing mine, tonight... It's basically the DGBE strings of a guitar, but a 4th higher. Of course the high G makes the voicings sound different, but it's nice not having to learn all new chords and scales.

I thought it would look good next to my Taylor 314ce.

Nice guitar, I love Taylors!
Aren't Kalas nice ukes?
Congrats!

Congrats. I too came from the guitar to the ukulele. Interesting that you didn't know the string equivalency. I did know of that before I got my first uke and actually practiced for the eventual ukulele purchase by using a capo at fifth fret on my guitar and playing only the top four strings. I don't play my guitar anymore.

One of my selling points about ukulele to middle school students is that if they can master the material they have been given, they will have a head start on guitar should they choose to pursue it someday. No, the ukulele is not a training device for a guitar--but there are still a lot of people in our culture that want to learn how to play guitar, and a recent app said that 90% of the people that start guitar abandon it very quickly (my guess would be that they do so with the F chord, which most of us--Soprano, Concert, and Tenor--think of as B-flat).

So...welcome to ukulele and the forums; and just enjoy the stuffing out of all of your instruments!

JohnM2001 said:

Nice uke! Funny, when coming to uke from guitar, the soprano's small size was difficult, as it seemed so tiny. Now, a month in, playing uke almost exclusively, the soprano size is still small for me, but fun, and I'm getting used to it. But man, when I went back to guitar, it felt massive!

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Thanks! I actually went with a concert because I figured the soprano would be too small.

Choirguy said:

One of my selling points about ukulele to middle school students is that if they can master the material they have been given, they will have a head start on guitar should they choose to pursue it someday. No, the ukulele is not a training device for a guitar--but there are still a lot of people in our culture that want to learn how to play guitar, and a recent app said that 90% of the people that start guitar abandon it very quickly (my guess would be that they do so with the F chord, which most of us--Soprano, Concert, and Tenor--think of as B-flat).

So...welcome to ukulele and the forums; and just enjoy the stuffing out of all of your instruments!

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The F barre chord is definitely a pain to learn. I think most kids quit music in general due to the lack of commitment and patience, and guitar just happens to be the most popular and affordable starter instrument. It's easy to get frustrated on guitar, though. I still hate the first position E/G# on guitar, and it's a chord I have to play frequently.

Congratulations and welcome to the uke. Given your background, you'll be making fine music in no time. Enjoy!

Choirguy said:

... and a recent app said that 90% of the people that start guitar abandon it very quickly (my guess would be that they do so with the F chord, which most of us--Soprano, Concert, and Tenor--think of as B-flat).

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I already felt like giving up when I got to the middle/ring/pinky version of the G chord! I think steel strings with their high tension are generally challenging, and the string spacing is so narrow. Even on my guitar with a 1.75" (44.something mm) nut, wider than the nuts that most acoustic guitars have. I found it tricky to play, and I'm perfectly fine with ukes that have 35 and 36mm nuts. Classical guitars with their 52mm nuts have too wide fretboards for me. I still like my guitar, but I find ukuleles a lot more fun and relaxing to play, and more accessible. There's also too much boom (low end) in guitars for me. Just a preferential thing, but yes, I favor the sound of ukes.

Welcome to the forum and the ukulele community, Bones! Happy you joined us! Smart move to buy your first uke from a place that performs setups!