To Chime or Not To Chime

I hope I'm using the right word here - I believe when one fingerpicks or strums the uke high up on the neck and you get that higher resonant sound, its called a chime.

Couple of questions:
1. Is this the right term?
2. When do you decide to use it? And why?
3. When playing on the 10th or higher fret, it seems harder to get the strings to chime, is there a secret to doing this?

Do you mean a harmonic?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6UOypfd00Hw

Not sure what you mean, but typically a soprano uke sounds best (or rather rings out more loudly - "best" is subjective) a little up the neck because the small body resonates those higher notes well. That's one reason why I tune mine a couple of steps higher than the usual GCEA.

Like most audio terms, "chime" is a bit nebulous and hard to pin down.

I think of it as being a higher bell-like sound that is very musical. Similar to a mandolin in sound. I consider Fluorocarbon strings, such as Living Waters, to have a chimey sound compared to the harder, more brittle sound of Nylon strings such as Aquila Nylgut. At least that's my audible mental clip that I hear when I think of chime. That doesn't mean I'm right.

As mentioned in an earlier post, I also think you are referring to harmonics.

A harmonic is a chime-like (bell) sound that happens when you lightly touch an ‘ukulele’s string in a special spot – without actually fretting a note.

There’s a natural harmonic at the 12th fret. It’s a very different sound as compared to normal picking or strumming at the same 12th fret.

There is no natural harmonic at the 10th fret hence you cannot generate the chime sound at all, unless you do an artificial harmonic.

If I’m not wrong, in a ukulele tab, a harmonic note is typically denote by <12> at the respective string. The 12 refers to the 12th fret.

Well I could be entirely off track as I’m not really sure if this is what you are looking for.

Thanks for the responses. However, I’m not asking about harmonics. So sorry I don’t have the right word.

If my right hand plucks over the sound whole, I get a nice tone. But if my right hand moves up towards the tuning pegs, and plucks just above the body of the uke, I get a different tone. More “chimey”.

Again I apologize for not knowing the correct term. I find the sound quite charming.

about2 said:

Thanks for the responses. However, I’m not asking about harmonics. So sorry I don’t have the right word.

If my right hand plucks over the sound whole, I get a nice tone. But if my right hand moves up towards the tuning pegs, and plucks just above the body of the uke, I get a different tone. More “chimey”.

Again I apologize for not knowing the correct term. I find the sound quite charming.

Click to expand...

I see. My personal experience is that the chimey spot is at the middle of the string length. As my uke is connected at the 12th fret to the neck, that sweet spot is around the 14th fret if strum or pick as open note. If I need a softer sound with less sustain, I would strum or pick closer to the bridge.

I'm going to oversimplify things here, but...

about2 said:

1. Is this the right term?

Click to expand...

Yes. Generally speaking, when you pluck a string, the harmonics with nodes at the point along the string where you pluck are dampened. When you pluck halfway along the vibrating length, the even-numbered harmonics are dampened. The "chime" you hear is the result of the relative emphasis on the fundamental and odd-numbered harmonics.

about2 said:

2. When do you decide to use it? And why?

Click to expand...

You use it when you want to emphasize the fundamental or increase dynamic range, warmth and tone separation. Most strumming takes place at this position for these reasons, but fingerpicking along this part has a higher skill floor.

about2 said:

3. When playing on the 10th or higher fret, it seems harder to get the strings to chime, is there a secret to doing this?

Click to expand...

There are several factors, namely the short length of the vibrating part of the string impeding the propagation of higher harmonics (material strings do not behave like you might expect ideal strings to) and the doubly short length of the midpoint of the vibrating part requiring much more precise placement of the point of right hand release. Practice your scales s l o w l y if you want good tone across the strings at the 10th fret and above.