Sopranino ukulele

CountryMouse

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I have small hands, and I am thinking eventually of getting a sopranino ukulele. Is this what this is at Elderly Instruments?

I looked at MGM's store, but he doesn't seem to have any. Well, I don't have the funds for one right now anyway.

Ideas? Recommendations? Thoughts?

Thanks!

CountryMouse
 
i.m thinking about getting one of ohanas sopraninos or a flea for my next uke but i am really not sure.
 
Country Mouse-
I own an Ohana SK21, fun uke to play. I ordered mine through MGM on eBay and it came with a case and cord book. I have Fremont strings on mine right now and am happy with the sound. I does sound a lot better to tune it ADF#B though. Let me know if you need more info...
 
Country Mouse-
I own an Ohana SK21, fun uke to play. I ordered mine through MGM on eBay and it came with a case and cord book. I have Fremont strings on mine right now and am happy with the sound. I does sound a lot better to tune it ADF#B though. Let me know if you need more info...

Okay, thanks! I would rather get any ukulele I get from MGM. It'll be a little while before I have enough money for another one, though. :p

If you tune it differently, then are all the chords formed differently? Eep, I just started playing uke about 2 weeks ago! I have quite a few chords memorized now, but certainly not anywhere near all!

CountryMouse
 
yeah, that's the bad part-the chords are formed differently. I'm in the same boat-still learning the basics. One site that is cool is www.chordie.com

Hundreds of songs and there is an option to change to different uke tuning (with diagrams) so it makes it a bit easier. :music:
 
The sopranino at Elderley is a very good price. All the main brands of strings work on a sopranino, but it does sound a lot better tuned up to at least D. Eb is better and F also works well.
 
As a clarification is it not the case that with D tuning all the chords you know will work, in the sense that they'll still be chords in the same relationship to one another, just that they'll be a whole step higher? As if you were playing with a capo at the second fret?

So there's nothing to worry about if you're playing solo.
 
I remember finding another post on here that talked about using hard/extra hard tension strings with a sopranino. I was under the impression that this would make it easier to play it in G,C,E,A tuning. Maybe someone that has done this can chime in?
 
I don't know from tension. But I have the Ohana Sopranino in question, strung with standard Aquilas and it stays in GCEA all the time. I've asked the more experienced players in my jam what they think about the D tuning "controversy" (kidding) with this uke, and everyone agrees it's just perfect in C.

The two leaders of our group bought the same uke after playing mine, and no one plays in D.
 
I bought a Manini (from MGM) recently, and for however much I like it's diminuative size, I fear I'll never be able to play it up-neck as high as I can my soprano. Cowboy-end stuff is great, but I find upneck-land on the sopranino very demanding.
 
How much of a scale difference is there between a soprano and a sopranino? (I googled but really didn't find anything definitive.)

There was a time when 664mm was considered standard scale for classical guitar (the Segovia era, if you will). Then 650mm came into vogue (.55" shorter than 664mm). Now people are clamoring for 640mm like it's some kind of magic bullet that will make it easier to play (.39" shorter than 650mm). That's not even half an inch over the entire VSL (vibrating string length). My 664mm seems just as easy to play as my 650mm, but it's a flamenco with nice low action, which probably helps.

Small hands don't seem to be holding either of these little girls back playing what look like full-size guitars to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njG_dQC-cnk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaHaRUPfKok

I'm just curious as to how much of a benefit in ease of playing the OP would actually get with a sopranino vs. a soprano. Sig says she has a Mahalo, which is on the lower end, so I'm wondering if perhaps the action is too high, making it harder to play.
 
For what its worth, here is a picture of my hand stretched over the fretboard of the Ohana sopranino...
 

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I don't know from tension. But I have the Ohana Sopranino in question, strung with standard Aquilas and it stays in GCEA all the time. I've asked the more experienced players in my jam what they think about the D tuning "controversy" (kidding) with this uke, and everyone agrees it's just perfect in C.

The two leaders of our group bought the same uke after playing mine, and no one plays in D.

Thank you for your input! I think I remember your Amy uke was made with a slightly narrower fretboard? I guess that's part of what my thinking is concerning a sopranino. I don't think I could afford a handcrafted instrument, so possibly a sopranino would be a good idea for me at some point.

I had actually thought of getting a concert ukulele on down the road, but some of the chords I've been trying in the last couple days seem just impossible on a soprano--I don't have hands that big!

CountryMouse
 
How much of a scale difference is there between a soprano and a sopranino? (I googled but really didn't find anything definitive.)

There was a time when 664mm was considered standard scale for classical guitar (the Segovia era, if you will). Then 650mm came into vogue (.55" shorter than 664mm). Now people are clamoring for 640mm like it's some kind of magic bullet that will make it easier to play (.39" shorter than 650mm). That's not even half an inch over the entire VSL (vibrating string length). My 664mm seems just as easy to play as my 650mm, but it's a flamenco with nice low action, which probably helps.

Small hands don't seem to be holding either of these little girls back playing what look like full-size guitars to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njG_dQC-cnk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaHaRUPfKok

I'm just curious as to how much of a benefit in ease of playing the OP would actually get with a sopranino vs. a soprano. Sig says she has a Mahalo, which is on the lower end, so I'm wondering if perhaps the action is too high, making it harder to play.

I'll find out soon if part of the problem is the action, as I'm getting a Makala MK-S dolphin soprano from MGM, who promised to set the action low and make it easy for me to play. However, I still can't stretch my fingers that far for some of the chords.

CountryMouse
 
I'll find out soon if part of the problem is the action, as I'm getting a Makala MK-S dolphin soprano from MGM, who promised to set the action low and make it easy for me to play. However, I still can't stretch my fingers that far for some of the chords.

CountryMouse

With practice, your reach will get better. I was having some trouble in the beginning, but now, it's much easier to get that 5 or 6 fret reach, even on a concert neck.

–Lori
 
I'll find out soon if part of the problem is the action, as I'm getting a Makala MK-S dolphin soprano from MGM, who promised to set the action low and make it easy for me to play. However, I still can't stretch my fingers that far for some of the chords.
I'll be really interested to hear the outcome. Setup is important, and on a lot of the low-end factory models it can really be hit or miss. From everything I've heard, MGM does a great job with that. :)

Like I said, I can play a 664mm guitar with no problems, but I have run up against a few spots in gCEA tabs where I simply can't play all the notes of a chord on my tenor uke (which seems to have decent action) because I just can't reach them all, and I consider that I have fairly large hands. Maybe I could reach them on a soprano, don't know because I don't have one.
 
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