Low G?

Hi folks-

So my Makala MK-T was delivered today and I dove right in. I've been doing the Pinapple Pete's tutorial and got through the beginner's section already. But there's something weird with my G string...

Aside from having to retune every 5 minutes (which I expected) the G string sounds dissonant and doesn't match the rest of the sound. Is this tuned to a low G then? If I crank the string up on the tuner will it go back to G at a higher pitch? This is really weirding me out.

Thanks for any help

FP

Even if it was tuned to low G, it shouldn't sound dissident. Low G is just an octave below re-entrant G. Are you using an electronic tuner?
–Lori

Yeah, a Kala KCO2 tuner

i think a high g, the normal uke tuning that is, might tend to sound not so much dissonant but odd to you because of that g being almost as high as the a string on the high end. If you fret that g string on the 2nd fret it should then produce the same note as your a string, that is if it's a high g. Maybe go to one of those uke tuning sites and it will give you the actual tone of each note and you should be able to see if your g is tuned high as is normal. ---i do have a uke tuned to that high g because it is the standard uke tuning and to get the sound, follow tabs from people like ken middleton etc., you need to be tuned high g...but overall i like the low g myself maybe a tad better and have another couple of ukes tuned to that.

but check with a tuning site to verify where you're at.

FlyedPiper said:

Aside from having to retune every 5 minutes (which I expected) the G string sounds dissonant and doesn't match the rest of the sound. Is this tuned to a low G then?

Click to expand...

Yeah, strings take a while to break in/stretch out before they'll stay in tune.

Is it a wound string? Some low G sets come with a wound G. I've tried them, but don't really care for the way it sounds so different from the other strings. Worth makes low G sets that are all plain strings.

Like Tubamancha said. The high G sounds odd to me when I pick (not strum). I am a guitar player adding the uke to my playing. When my first uke arrived I tuned it to low G because that's how it would have been on the guitar. There was so little tension, I couldn't play it. Then I figured I needed it an octave higher and all was well in the world. Except it does still sound odd to me when picked.

My Uke will be tuned to low G ,Aquila strings. As a newb I will be following tutorials on YouTube and other sites as I learn.. Am I going to have problems wIth tabs that are set up for highG? Can I reset my G to high or would I need a new string? How much problem converting low to high,tabs or is that possible?
As you can tell I am really new at this. I may be able to have Mike at Mainland tune to high if it is not too late.
Really appreciate your advice
Thanks
Rich

The tone of the G string is quite low, much lower than the others. I guess it just sounds odd to me. Not so much when just strumming a standard C chord, but other chords sound crappy. Maybe it's just my fretting. Maybe it will get better as the strings stretch out. Who knows? It doesn't help that pineapple pete plays a soprano in his demos. I still get the point, but my tenor has a different tone to it.

So if the G string is the lowest of all the strings it's a low G tuning? Is that the standard tuning? All I did was turn on the tuner and tune all the strings separately. I did stretch the G string to an A when I first started tuning it by accident. Hopefully I didn't mess it up by stretching it out too much...??

- As a newb I will be following tutorials on YouTube and other sites as I learn.. Am I going to have problems wIth tabs that are set up for highG?

High G is more common, so most tutorials will be for high G. What do you mean by tabs? A lot of people call lyric sheets with chords "tabs" when they're really not. If you are just going to be strumming chords, it makes no difference, the different tunings will just have a slightly different sound. High G has the more traditional "ukey" sound, low G will sound more akin to a guitar.

"Real" tablature has a line for each string, with numbers over the lines telling you which fret to press/which string to pick.

- Can I reset my G to high or would I need a new string?

You would need a new string. A low G string would break if you tried to tune it up an octave.

- How much problem converting low to high,tabs or is that possible?

This gets tricky. I play both and do mostly fingerpicking. Some tabs will work fine in either tuning. Sometimes I play high G tabs on a low G uke and just mentally convert which string I need to hit at which fret. Sometimes I play low G tabs on a high G uke, sometimes it works, other times the higher G sounds out of place. Depends entirely on the piece.

- As you can tell I am really new at this. I may be able to have Mike at Mainland tune to high if it is not too late.

Is your Mainland a tenor as well? If it were me, I think my preference would be to have the nicer uke (Mainland) in high G and the Makala in low G. Then you have both and can easily switch between them. YMMV.

OK.... so a guy with a name almost the same as mine has hijacked the thread to add to my and other people's confusion, lol.

We are two separate posters. I am the OP.

Let me try it this way:

I bought a Makala tenor with whatever strings it had on it. What tuning is it?

Also, I tuned all of my strings to the "ukulele C" setting on my tuner. Is this correct? There is also a "ukulele D" setting and a chromatic setting

Thanks

Makalas ship with strings that are designed to be tuned GCEA, with the C string having the lowest pitch. If your G string sounds lower in pitch than your C string, you can definitely crank it up to a higher-pitched G that will sound nice. Very nice, in fact. So nice that you'll find yourself strumming all day. Ahhh, ukulele.

AHH....

So C should be the lowest note? So my G string is out of tune. I was wondering why it was so rubbery, lol. It's tuned to G, just not the right G.

So I just keep cranking it up until it hits G again, albeit at a higher pitch, correct?

And also, what tuning would that be? High G? Standard tuning? I'm completely lost here. I'm just trying to set up my uke the "normal" way to start practicing.

Seth

The KC-02 is a cool little tuner.
chromatic setting, shows all notes (my preference)
GCEA ukulele (C tuning)
ADF#B ukulele (D tuning)

High G and Low G strings are different. Both are G so all the chords are the same. on a GCEA uke middle C is the lowest note (open 3rd string)
To play lower melody notes you need a low G string. (on the uke, it does not matter where you wear it.)

OK - you have it tuned like I did originally. You have your high G tuned to low G which is really low tension or rubbery as you say. Just crank it up to the next G and you will be in business. The the next one is C which you have OK, then the next one should be tuned a bit higher to E and the highest (or first string) should be tuned a bit higher yet to A. Then you are in business. It will require re tuning for a while until the strings settle in and then you'll be set or as some say then you'll need new strings (kind of a joke). Then as was already posted strum away - you'll love it! Good luck and feel free to continue to ask questions!

Mystery solved! Thank you so much.

So I just started getting my feet wet and already got in trouble. Sorry FlyedPiper ,really did not mean to step on your toes. Perhaps we both can get our Uke set up and start practicing.
I will be more careful in the future.

Much progress coming your way, I am sure.

Rich

You're fine Flycracker . No worries. "Thread hijacking" is just an expression. I was just trying to avoid confusion.

My uke is set up correctly now and playing great! Hope we can take this journey together.

Did you get your uke yet?


-Seth