open-road-matt
Active member
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
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