GCEA and DGBE...

DigableKid

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Hey all,

Just speaking my mind here.

I am finally memorizing the bulk of most of the widely used chords for the tune of GCEA...actually I've excelled quite a bit. Now, my wife got me a baritone last Christmas. My dilemma now is to decide on whether or not I want to change the baritone strings to GCEA to put to use what I learned or dauntingly learn new finger placements.

Time is not too much of a concern. Though it does take a lot of time.


Dig
 
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Doesn't hurt to learn the DGBE chords. After all, if you can play in that tuning, you can also magically play the guitar!
 
I would leave the strings as DGBE and learn the new orientation. Never hurts to be versatile.
 
Not sure what you mean by "change the baritone chords to GCEA"...are you talking about restringing the uke and tuning to GCEA?
 
Not sure what you mean by "change the baritone chords to GCEA"...are you talking about restringing the uke and tuning to GCEA?

I think he means "strings," not "chords." Common mistake.
 
Or, just play the same fingering. It'll just sound lower. So if you have a singer you can pick the instrument that fits in the right vocal range and not have to relearn anything.
 
It's easy enough to switch... the chord shapes are the same. It does get confusing sometimes to recall that your G's are now D's for example, but it's easier than it seems.

Or you could just drop a banjo capo on the 5th fret of the baritone and call it a tenor ;)
 
I was thinking about this some more, and here's the thing:

Eventually it comes down to associating a certain sound with a certain position of your fingers. Regardless of key, when you pick up an instrument you are proficient on and comfortable playing you intuit where to put your fingers, and you just start playing.

So, I say go ahead and play the baritone like it's a tenor but tuned like a baritone, eventually when a key change is necessary you will be able to do it without even thinking about it- Just like you already do on the tenor when you realize you can't sing that high, or low, or whatever.

The point isn't what chord you're playing as long as it sounds right with what you're singing- and the chord that came before or after it.
 
Or, just play the same fingering. It'll just sound lower. So if you have a singer you can pick the instrument that fits in the right vocal range and not have to relearn anything.

I know it sounds similar when you play using GCEA placement but something just doesn't sound right. It sounds like you're kinda half steppin' it. So is it true that it just plays the note lower?

Good looking out on the tip though.
 
It's easy enough to switch... the chord shapes are the same. It does get confusing sometimes to recall that your G's are now D's for example, but it's easier than it seems.

Or you could just drop a banjo capo on the 5th fret of the baritone and call it a tenor ;)

Ha!! It does get confusing. Thank god for Sheep Entertainment's chord finder.
 
I restrung mine Gcea, because I'm lazy and I didn't want to confuse my head, and I was just learning uke in the first place. I'm happy with it, but when playing with guitar players, you can't just follow their fingers.
 
I tune the beeritone to dgbd, which makes it easier for some things and harder for other, but the chord shapes themselves are all different, not just shifted around the circle of fifths.

The only time I mess up which chords to play is when I look at someone playing a standard ukulele and start thinking I'm playing one of my gCEA ukes...
 
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