Early Music

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Iza

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Does anybody else think that medieval and renaissance music sounds really good on the ukulele? I heard Tourdion by Wilfried Welti on YouTube and bought the e-book with the tabs just for this song, as it is one of my favourites. Unfortunately I couldn't play all of it yet, it's difficult for me. :( But I can play Greensleeves and Scarborough Fair just fine. :cool: Can you suggest any medieval tunes for me? I'm not a total beginner but I'm not a good player either.
 
janeray1940 said:
Tony Mizen's book From Lute to Uke would be my recommendation - he also has a few other classical books that are worth checking out. His arrangements are really nice!
Click to expand...

YES
This is exactly what I was looking for.
Time to save some money.
Thanks.
 
I have Tony Mizen's book. It's very good but I haven't played it much. I play a lot of early music on recorder but I use the uke primarily for singing. I sing songs from the 17th & 18th century and have my 8 string uke tuned like a Renaissance Guitar.
 
I always get a kick out of these threads. Everyone seems to buy a (Hawaiian) ukulele, and then tries to play Jazz or Rock or Baroque or Gypsy or God only knows what else. I wonder if even Hawaiians are playing the music of the islands.

Now don’t get me wrong . . . of course it’s okay. Play what ever you like, but I just find it amusing. :eek:ld:
 
Amazon has been pushing that book on me for months and I've been ignoring them. :eek: I don't think I'm ready skill-wise to take the plunge, but after watching that beautiful performance by Wilfried Welti it's now on my ukulele bucket list.
 
What is amusing about it?

I'm currently messing around with both nagauta songs and maskandi Zulu music on the uke, sounds good!

Down Up Dick said:
I always get a kick out of these threads. Everyone seems to buy a (Hawaiian) ukulele, and then tries to play Jazz or Rock or Baroque or Gypsy or God only knows what else. I wonder if even Hawaiians are playing the music of the islands.

Now don’t get me wrong . . . of course it’s okay. Play what ever you like, but I just find it amusing. :eek:ld:
Click to expand...
 
Do you play or high-g or low-g? Note, there are probably more things out there for low-g. I'm working on Tell me Daphne by Byrd and Espanoleta by Gaspar Sanz. The best way to find them is with a web search...

-- Gary
 
Bill1 said:
https://www.hobgoblin.com/local/sales/products/GM07010/1000-english-country-dance/

This book has 1000 tunes some dating from 1000 years ago. It has reproductions of "The English Dancemaster" 1651 Edition by John Playford, its hard to find anything more authentic than a copy of the original. The old notation is fun to work out. As well as many other fine old tunes in the original arrangement. There are very few tunes which you wont be able to play on your uke, most notes in between D4 and G5 and fit well on a re-entrant GCEA ukulele fretboard. It will keep you busy for years if you can find a copy.
Click to expand...

It's kind of fun to work out the dances too!

-- Gary
 
Down Up Dick said:
I always get a kick out of these threads. Everyone seems to buy a (Hawaiian) ukulele, and then tries to play Jazz or Rock or Baroque or Gypsy or God only knows what else. I wonder if even Hawaiians are playing the music of the islands.

Now don’t get me wrong . . . of course it’s okay. Play what ever you like, but I just find it amusing. :eek:ld:
Click to expand...

But it looks a bit like a renaissance guitar, at least to my inexperienced eyes. xD And I like how it sounds with punk. Almost anything, really. And experimenting is fun.

Camsuke said:
http://ukeclassicaltabs.blogspot.com.au/
https://renaissance-ukukele.blogspot.com.au/
Click to expand...

Thanks! I also found this https://pdfminstrel.wordpress.com :D
I play high g, but I'm considering switching it to low... Or putting a capo on my guitar. It works fine, at least for the easier tunes.

Bill1 said:
https://www.hobgoblin.com/local/sales/products/GM07010/1000-english-country-dance/

This book has 1000 tunes some dating from 1000 years ago. It has reproductions of "The English Dancemaster" 1651 Edition by John Playford, its hard to find anything more authentic than a copy of the original. The old notation is fun to work out. As well as many other fine old tunes in the original arrangement. There are very few tunes which you wont be able to play on your uke, most notes in between D4 and G5 and fit well on a re-entrant GCEA ukulele fretboard. It will keep you busy for years if you can find a copy.
Click to expand...

Nice! And I'd like to get used to reading notes, cause now I mostly read tabs... I know how to read music, I just have a long time to do it...

sculptor said:
Do you play or high-g or low-g? Note, there are probably more things out there for low-g. I'm working on Tell me Daphne by Byrd and Espanoleta by Gaspar Sanz. The best way to find them is with a web search...

-- Gary
Click to expand...

High, but I have a guitar and a capo too. xD

Camsuke said:
I tabbed "Espanoleta" a while back, it works quite nicely in high g. Just drop me a PM if you'd like a copy.
Click to expand...

Ok, I will, thank you!
 
I tuned my soprano Brueko a full step down to F A# D G. I use the same chord shapes as standard tuning. Early music sounds wonderful with a deeper, more mellow tone.

I used this digital tuner to get in the tone ballpark - click Full Step Down on Alternative Tunings
http://www.get-tuned.com/html5-ukulele-tuner.php

and the G setting on my Reverb tuner to finish tuning.
 
Last edited:
ubulele said:
A small correction: although electronic tuners tend to show only sharp names, not flat ones, the open strings of fleas tunings are normally considered to play sixth chords, and thus the tuning F A# D G is better known as Bb tuning: F Bb D G (= Bb6). Bb is by far the more common spelling for that pitch—of course, the correct spelling always depends on context. In the case of tuning, you're talking about dropping the common C tuning by a whole step, and thus, as with the other three tuning pitches, the spelling should drop by one letter, not two, so Bb is the more correct spelling.

If the tuning were based on A#6, the spelling would be E# A# Cx Fx (x represents a double-sharp)—yucko! The key of A#, if it existed in standard notation, which it doesn't, would have 11 sharps: three sharp notes, four double-sharps. A#6 is a valid chord—usually occurring as a passing chord—but you'll rarely encounter it in the popular keys, unlike Bb6, which you often see in keys like Bb and F.

I mention this because I see Bb tuning misspelled so often, primarily due to the sharp bias of tuners. I regret if people think I'm making a mountain of a molehill; I'm just trying to clarify why it's Bb instead of A# and why it matters.
Click to expand...

Going by the link in my post, it is showing on that site as F4 A#3 D4 G4. And, you are right - it shows that when # is enabled. When b is enabled, it show as F4 Bb3 D4 G4.

When I tune it on the Reverb tuner, it shows as A#when it gets into the green (correctly tuned) zone.

In any case, it sounds really good, and it was thanks to another UU poster that I tried that tuning. Mizell's The Bear Dance and Welti's Andantino by Carulli are particularly nice with that tuning.
 
Last edited:
Bill1 said:
https://www.hobgoblin.com/local/sales/products/GM07010/1000-english-country-dance/

This book has 1000 tunes some dating from 1000 years ago. It has reproductions of "The English Dancemaster" 1651 Edition by John Playford, its hard to find anything more authentic than a copy of the original. The old notation is fun to work out. As well as many other fine old tunes in the original arrangement. There are very few tunes which you wont be able to play on your uke, most notes in between D4 and G5 and fit well on a re-entrant GCEA ukulele fretboard. It will keep you busy for years if you can find a copy.
Click to expand...

I have that book and have had it for some years now, long before I got a ukulele. It's a fabulous resource if you're interested in traditional dance tunes. It has a facsimile of the first edition of Playford's Dancing Master from 1651 and a facsimile of the songs from the Beggar's Opera (without the bass lines). Most of the tunes are current though.

If you specifically want Playford tunes, this is an excellent resource: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Playfords-...47304&sr=8-4&keywords=playford+dancing+master it says for violin but is fine for any melody instrument. The link is for Amazon UK but it's likely available elsewhere. I have a copy and it's an excellent resource.

If you are going to play traditional dance tunes on soprano ukulele, I suggest you tune your uke ADF#B as the typical Range is from D4 to B5 and you quite often need that B5 note which is not there on a 12 fret uke tuned GCEA. Concert and tenor ukuleles with more frets will have the range available.
 
Down Up Dick said:
I always get a kick out of these threads. Everyone seems to buy a (Hawaiian) ukulele, and then tries to play Jazz or Rock or Baroque or Gypsy or God only knows what else. I wonder if even Hawaiians are playing the music of the islands.

Now don’t get me wrong . . . of course it’s okay. Play what ever you like, but I just find it amusing. :eek:ld:
Click to expand...

The Ukulele is just a variant of a number of small guitar like instruments that have been around for a long time. It has the advantage of ready availability and a decent instrument is a lot cheaper than a reproduction of a period instrument. My 8 string uke cost me 120GBP. A reproduction Renaissance Guitar will cost about 1500GBP. They both use the same tuning.
 
Tootler said:
The Ukulele is just a variant of a number of small guitar like instruments that have been around for a long time. It has the advantage of ready availability and a decent instrument is a lot cheaper than a reproduction of a period instrument. My 8 string uke cost me 120GBP. A reproduction Renaissance Guitar will cost about 1500GBP. They both use the same tuning.
Click to expand...

Yes, of course. And one can play “Asleep in the Deep” on a piccolo if he/she feels like it. We are smack in the middle of the “do whatever the heck ya wanna do” age. And if one comments on the fitness of things, he/she is an out of step old fogey.

I suppose all this freedom of choice may be improving the ukulele’s acceptance as a musical instrument, but I still find some of the choices amusing.

And, yes, I am an old fogey! :eek:ld:
 
Hello Tootler,

You're right, the eight string tenor is the perfect cheap alternative to the pricey renaissance guitar. I bought my Baton Rouge just to get closer to the renaissance sound, and was very happy to get a decent instrument in the price range you mention —120 to 180 £, or €.
That said, it sounds a bit thinny and makes me really carving for a real renaissance guitar, because that —not so— diminutive instrument features a string length closer to a baritone than a tenor...
And, from what I may know of, the 8th string baritone is a rare beast, and a quite expensive one.

So, for someone really interested in the renaissance guitar repertoire, it may be wise to save money for the real thing, an 8 stringer being cool but quickly unsatisfying when you become really involved in that special repertoire.

Just my 2 cents.
regards,
Gilles
 
Down Up Dick said:
Yes, of course. And one can play “Asleep in the Deep” on a piccolo if he/she feels like it. We are smack in the middle of the “do whatever the heck ya wanna do” age. And if one comments on the fitness of things, he/she is an out of step old fogey.

I suppose all this freedom of choice may be improving the ukulele’s acceptance as a musical instrument, but I still find some of the choices amusing.

And, yes, I am an old fogey! :eek:ld:
Click to expand...

The ukulele was being used for music other than Hawaiian quite early on, in fact once it took hold after being demonstrated on the US mainland in the early 1900s. Sheet music of popular songs of the 1920s used to have ukulele chord symbols on them so folk using the ukulele to accompany popular song is nothing new.

gilles T said:
Hello Tootler,

You're right, the eight string tenor is the perfect cheap alternative to the pricey renaissance guitar. I bought my Baton Rouge just to get closer to the renaissance sound, and was very happy to get a decent instrument in the price range you mention —120 to 180 £, or €.
That said, it sounds a bit thinny and makes me really carving for a real renaissance guitar, because that —not so— diminutive instrument features a string length closer to a baritone than a tenor...
And, from what I may know of, the 8th string baritone is a rare beast, and a quite expensive one.

So, for someone really interested in the renaissance guitar repertoire, it may be wise to save money for the real thing, an 8 stringer being cool but quickly unsatisfying when you become really involved in that special repertoire.

Just my 2 cents.
regards,
Gilles
Click to expand...

Kala make an 8 string Baritone and I did a quick check and it seems to be selling here in the UK for around 300 GBP. More than a Baton Rouge 8 string tenor but still a very reasonable price. My 8 string is a Baton Rouge and I have Living Water fluorocarbon strings on it, very different from the gut strings of a Renaissance Guitar and that will affect the tone. I'm more interested in using mine to accompany popular song of the era - mainly broadsides - than the more formal repertoire. I did consider getting a Mandola and retuning it DGBE as an affordable alternative to a Renaissance cittern but I find the 8 string tenor an acceptable compromise for what I want and it works very nicely for accompanying traditional song as well.
 
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