ADF#B questions

GX9901

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U.U. lesson 6 got me thinking about a couple of questions regarding the ADF#B tuning.

1. How does one determine what tuning (C or D) works better for a particular song? I tried playing Schizophrenic Snowflakes on a C-tuned uke and it indeed doesn't sound as good as it does in D tuning. Why is that?

2. Is it healthy for the ukulele and/or its strings to have it's tuning changed between C & D frequently? Is it OK to leave ukes tuned to D-tuning or should it always be brought back down to C-tuning when we're done playing?

Thanks for any insights to these Q's.
 
1. How does one determine what tuning (C or D) works better for a particular song? I tried playing Schizophrenic Snowflakes on a C-tuned uke and it indeed doesn't sound as good as it does in D tuning. Why is that?

My guess would be because the voicing of the chords are different.

2. Is it healthy for the ukulele and/or its strings to have it's tuning changed between C & D frequently? Is it OK to leave ukes tuned to D-tuning or should it always be brought back down to C-tuning when we're done playing?

a) I can't imagine it being good for it but I've seen several responses to similar questions where folk say it's fine. Seems you'd have a certain amount of "settle in" time to me, but I've been wrong before and imagine I will be again.

b) Lots of folks (including me) have one or more ukes that live in D tuning. Shouldn't be a problem.
 
1) When you tune up to a 'D' tuning, you essentially move every note and chord up an entire step... a 'C' chord in 'C' tuning becomes a 'D' chord in 'D' tuning... a B to a C... a G to an A, etc. Songs will, of course, song rather differently if you're playing using the same fingerings in both tunings, as everything is transposed higher.

2) I personally believe it is perfectly fine to change tunings as often as you would like. I've never had strings stretch out too much from being in D to still be taught in C. There really isn't a huge difference between the tension on a C and D tuned set of strings, and since they are nylon, tuning up a step or down a step should be, and isn't as far as I know, a problem. And yes, along the same lines, I believe it is perfectly healthy to leave ukuleles tuned in D tuning... after all, it was the 'traditional' tuning that has been used on ukes for quite a while...
 
Here's my thoughts on Schizophrenic Snowflakes:
I think that when Aldrine was working this arrangement out he had a particular position in mind where he wanted to play the parts. I think his ear told him that it didn't have that sparkle he was looking for. By tuning it up a full step he found those crisp, frosty and schizoid snowflakes he was looking for. Of course most of this response was all dreamed up in my schizophrenic mind.

I don't think it hurts a properly constructed ukulele or the strings to switch between tunings now and then. You may find that when going back down to C tuning after being in D for a few days that your strings may have created a sort of "memory" and for a spell will want to climb back towards D on you. YMMV.
 
he found those crisp, frosty and schizoid snowflakes


Reminds me of happy trees....

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I was a HUGE Bob Ross fan. Every Saturday morning back in the day.

ME TOO! i was too young to actually follow a schedule but i absolutely loved watching him paint whenever someone else found the channel with him on it.... i was 4 i think. i think it's because of him that i started to love art.
 
I don't own a TV but was at a friend's the other day and caught a Bob Ross episode. Lots of fun. It's like magic watching the painting go from vague shapes to realistic (if somewhat romanticized) pictures with just a few more dabs of paint.

Speaking of magic... I used to work at a magic store here in Seattle and we had a guy named Eugene Burger (out of Chicago) come and lecture on several occasions.

(Eugene was once accurately described as a cross between Rasputin and Tinkerbell. If you know him you'd understand.)

When talking about the presentation aspects of magic Eugene always recommended watching Bill Alexander's painting show on PBS for a demonstraton of how to present your stuff with passion.

I like both of them, Bob and Bill.
 
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