Any Suggestions For A Guitar Player Wanting To Become A Good Ukulele Player?

Hi Folks!
I'm a long time guitar player. I've been playing guitar for 25 years and making my living as a touring, performing singer/songwriter since 1999. I've had my ukulele in my hands for just over 3 weeks total. I got it right before Christmas but then we went on vacation for about 10 days. I absolutely love it and I know that the ukulele will be a better fit as an accompaniment for many of my original songs. I just need to be a better player and I'm hoping for some suggestions to help me with the following questions:

1) What do you suggest I do to become a good ukulele player? For example, last night I found Jake Shimabukuro's videos on the triple strum. I love that and I am hoping for more techniques like that. I don't want to simply play my ukulele like a little guitar. I'm not a flashy guitar player. My songs are in the folk/country vein (think sort of Jerry Jeff Walker, John Prine, Jimmy Buffett, Lyle Lovett, Todd Snider, etc.) and I basically strum and sing. But since I'm starting from scratch on a brand new instrument I would like to do what I can to become as good as I can on that instrument. What things from my guitar playing should I transfer to the ukulele and what things from my guitar playing should I banish from my brain when I pick up my ukulele?

2) Unfortunately, most of my songs are in keys like B, Bb, Ab, etc. (they are in those keys for my voice) and I am having a really hard time with thumb soreness when I play my ukulele in those keys. I use a capo all the time on the guitar but I am committed to not doing so on my ukulele. I am trying to keep my thumb in the "proper" spot on the back of the neck. Will this soreness go away if I just keep at it?

3) I bought what seems like a great ukulele. It's a Mainland, a mahogany tenor with a cut away and a MI-SI Acoustic Trio pickup. I love the sound when I'm playing in keys like C, A, D, etc. but when I am in keys with a lot of barre chords, like B, Ab, etc. the sound seems very muted to me, especially plugged in through my sound system. When I notice that, I pick through each chord to make sure I'm not doing something with my left hand to mute some of the strings and everything seems fine on the neck. Is this just the nature of an ukulele, to sound a bit less open and more muted with barre chords or is something wrong?

I hope that isn't too many questions in one thread. Those are just the three things that have been causing a bit of trouble as I try to make my way from the guitar to the ukulele. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Enjoy the day!
Matt

Download and read the Ukulele for Guitarists and hopefully gives you some ideas. For some reason, barre chords seem problematic for a lot of folks. Either too much pressure or not enough pressure on the strings. BTW, you made an excellent choice for a first instrument.

I think it's important to note: To get the most volume out of your uke strum is to strum at the half-way point of the strings - around the 12th fret. Many guitarist will want to strum over the soundhole, but it sounds better and louder near where the neck and body meet. It's also more comfortable to hold the uke that way.

I had been playing guitar for about 6 years before I picked up the ukulele, and naturally, I had a very guitar-like approach to the uke. Heck, I didn't even bother learning chord names for at least two years! I still referred to the F chord as a C because it's the same form as a C on the guitar. If I saw a D minor in a chord chart, I automatically jumped to 0231 because that's a D minor on the guitar (but a G minor on the uke). This became a problem. One of the first things you need to do in order to become a uke player (instead of a guitarist who has a uke) is to familiarize yourself with the chord names. It's even better once you can sit down and jam with a guitarist, watch their fingers, and play the same chord as them rather than matching their fingerings and playing the wrong chord. If they're playing 320003, you'll eventually be able to play 0232 instinctually and match their G chord. (Does any of that make sense? I'm on a mixture of painkillers and espresso today.)

Also, keep in mind that while the ukulele has a smaller range than the guitar, it's not necessarily more limited! There are certain things you can't do on the guitar that you CAN do on the uke. Check out how far you can stretch your fingers. On the uke, you can barre the strings at the fifth fret and then reach all the way up to the twelfth with your pinkie. So in that sense, scale patterns that you used to play across three or four strings on the guitar can be played across two strings on the uke because your fingers cover a lot more ground on the smaller fretboard.

If you're using re-entrant tuning, that's an even better way to pull yourself out of the guitarist's mindset. The tuning of what SHOULD be the lowest string on the uke is actually only a step down from the highest string now! You lose the lower octave, but gain a whole new repertoire of finger patterns now that you can play melody lines across the first and fourth strings.

For me, the best introduction to some of the techniques that are unique to the ukulele was learning how to play "Guava Jam" (a traditional-sounding slack-key kinda thing). This will have you doing huge finger stretches and using the high G to its potential in no time. Check out Aldrine's video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cja2yJRMz0 and Dominator's tab: http://dominator.ukeland.com/Images/guava_jam.pdf

I hope this is of some help to you! Your own results may vary, but it's cool that you want to get into the ukulele mindset instead of just playing guitar stuff on the uke. Good luck, and enjoy UU!

Here's a idea as well, If you like Bb tune your uke down a half step, play ukulele "C" and you are in "B", tuned down a full step and you are "Bb".
I too played guitar and was a strummer. At first I struggled with the chords, but now I just seem to play shapes on both. I have also worked hard on playing some melodies on the uke.
It seems easier to play single note melodies on the uke. What is really cool is that Now I can play some really cool music on the guitar as well. The uke has definitely helped me be a better musician.

Thanks Everyone! I really appreciate the replies!

Kanaka916 said:

Download and read the Ukulele for Guitarists and hopefully gives you some ideas. For some reason, barre chords seem problematic for a lot of folks. Either too much pressure or not enough pressure on the strings. BTW, you made an excellent choice for a first instrument.

Click to expand...

Thanks Kanaka916! I appreciate the link. Good stuff there! All of my trouble is with the barre chords. I can play all of the "non-barre" chords that I've encountered so far with no problems. As for the Mainland, I bought it after lurking here and reading all of the good reviews!

UKISOCIETY said:

I think it's important to note: To get the most volume out of your uke strum is to strum at the half-way point of the strings - around the 12th fret. Many guitarist will want to strum over the soundhole, but it sounds better and louder near where the neck and body meet. It's also more comfortable to hold the uke that way.

Click to expand...

UKISOCIETY,
I've been trying to be a stickler about using "proper" strumming technique but if I don't catch myself I'll find my right hand drifting down toward the sound hole. I appreciate the reminder.

haole said:

For me, the best introduction to some of the techniques that are unique to the ukulele was learning how to play "Guava Jam" (a traditional-sounding slack-key kinda thing).

Click to expand...

haole!
Thanks for all the advice. I'm glad to hear there is hope for guitarists switching to ukulele. So far I've been good about being sure about the chord I'm playing on the ukulele. It's taken a ton of transposing for me to figure out, for example, that when I capo my guitar on 4 and play an Am that I'm really playing a C#m. I am using a low G. I tried it first with the high G but that was really screwing me up!

I love the Guava Jam song! Thanks for the link to the tab too. That will keep me busy! It's perfect! Adding techniques like Aldrine uses in Guava Jam to my playing will make me feel like I'm playing an ukulele instead of substituting the ukulele for my guitar.

SailingUke said:

Here's a idea as well, If you like Bb tune your uke down a half step, play ukulele "C" and you are in "B", tuned down a full step and you are "Bb".
I too played guitar and was a strummer. At first I struggled with the chords, but now I just seem to play shapes on both. I have also worked hard on playing some melodies on the uke.
It seems easier to play single note melodies on the uke. What is really cool is that Now I can play some really cool music on the guitar as well. The uke has definitely helped me be a better musician.

Click to expand...

Sailing Uke,
I never thought of tuning down. That would solve some of my barre chord trouble! I'm worried that it might cause some other trouble though. I'll probably just keep toughing it out and hope that my thumb gets used to the abuse! I do need to start playing some melodies too!

Thanks again for all the help!
Matt