voice/instrument contrast

binky

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i have a soprano that i'd been using for a long time, and am not planning to buying a new one in the near future. It's a soprano --so its expected to be the highest sounding, right? its also tuned in GCEA

i like to sing along to the playing but my voice is low, i also noticed that i cant "sing along" with most artists except creed, nickelback (but very hard to imitate), and the likes

so strumming my soprano makes my subconscious to "par" with the highness of the instrument but i cant possibly reach that high with my voice.



any advice would very much appreciated :)
 
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Its not the size of the instrument, rather the KEY you're playing in. Focus on that and you shouldn't have a problem.[video]http://ukuleleunderground.com/2010/08/uke-minutes-96-how-to-figure-out-the-key-of-a-song/[/video]
 
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Thanks for the thread. Thanks for the link. I am just now getting it together enough to realize that I need to figure out what key I sing in and how to identfy what key the song is in so this came at the perfect time for me.

Roxhum
 
Its true that its the key that is key (pun intended), but that said, a larger instrument will also naturally have more bass, and a baritone tuned like a guitar is 5 frets lower on all strings. I often play my baritone (solo) without transposing the chords, and that automatically makes it in a lower key than if I played it on the ukulele. It fits my voice better that way, I think.

As far as not being able to afford a baritone, do what I did for my first baritone. I picked up an old kid's guitar from the thrift store for $10. I have another that I only payed $5 for. Take off the bottom two strings, refile the nut so the strings are equally spaced and play your new $10 baritone. With the larger body, even a cheap instrument sounds surprisingly good. Kids guitars usually are smaller than full size guitars and everyone I have picked up had the exact same scale as a baritone uke.

You could also just buy the $29 Rogue baritone from musiciansfriend.com. It has gotten some pretty good reports, as far as sound, but I think some have also not been happy with it.
 
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You'll need to find the right key for your voice range. Sites like Chordie or UG (I know they're guitar sites, but a chord is a chord) offer the user a way to transpose the song you;re viewing to a different key. Here's a previous thread about transposing chords.
 
hmm interesting, but when I figure out the key of the song, and try to transpose it down to a lower key, now how do I know what key(s) I am capable of? Is there a link in the web that teaches or helps recognize your own key?

I think I should start watching Uke Minutes now!!!

thank you for the replies everyone :)

Edit: I definitely will start watching Uke Minutes now!
 
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hmm interesting, but when I figure out the key of the song, and try to transpose it down to a lower key, now how do I know what key(s) I am capable of?

This is why I only play instrumentals...
 
i think one can "identify" a key he is capable/comfortable with.
well, i tried to sing along with chords (non-transposed) from azchords to the song dream a little of dream by the mamas and the papas and somehow i can do it very comfortably and even semi-dance to it that means the key of that particular chord progression is a key i am comfortable with!

its trial and error and tons tons of songs. well, better get started then :)
 
As far as not being able to afford a baritone, do what I did for my first baritone. I picked up an old kid's guitar from the thrift store for $10. I have another that I only payed $5 for. Take off the bottom two strings, refile the nut so the strings are equally spaced and play your new $10 baritone. With the larger body, even a cheap instrument sounds surprisingly good. Kids guitars usually are smaller than full size guitars and everyone I have picked up had the exact same scale as a baritone uke.

Are the frets in the right places? We have one of those that we bought for my daughter a few years ago, but it's just filling in the space below the hanging clothes in the closet now.

I too sing baritone. I don't have my ukulele yet, but when I sing along with a song on the radio I often just drop an octave. There are some songs that this doesn't work for, but most do.
 
Are the frets in the right places? We have one of those that we bought for my daughter a few years ago, but it's just filling in the space below the hanging clothes in the closet now.

I too sing baritone. I don't have my ukulele yet, but when I sing along with a song on the radio I often just drop an octave. There are some songs that this doesn't work for, but most do.

Yes the frets are in the right places.
 
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