Can a Cuatro Be Strung Like a Uke?

the.ronin

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Does a "cuatro" need to be strung like a baritone? Or can I just tune it GCEA like any other uke?

In particular, I've been looking at the Cordoba cuatro and really diggin the look.
 
Here's some info on Cuatro strings from Southeast Ukes. the following excerpt is from another thread . . . hopefully it answers your question.

That is a great site. Glad you posted it. They are sort of the Ukulele Underground of the Cuatro (not as big a participation, of course, but very enthusiastic).

Cuatro tuning uses the same finger patterns as ukulele tuning - it's just that while ukuleles can be tuned with a "low 4th" string, Cuatros are tuned with a low 4th and low 1st. In other words, the notes of the strings are the same, it's just that the 1st & 4th are an octave lower than traditional ukulele tuning (or as Cuatro players would say: Ukulele tuning has the 1st & 4th strings an octave high).

One of the nicest things about that site, is that while the default tuning for most songs is key of D, traditional for the Cuatro (as it used to be for Ukulele), with a click of the button, you can change the chord boxes to a bunch of other tunings, including modern ukulele key of C.

If you've ever wanted to try the Cuatro tuning - low reentrant - it sets up best on a Baritone where it is in key of D, like a true Cuatro. We make strings for that:

http://www.southcoastukes.com/stringuide_files/cuatro.htm

and a tuning sample is on our Tenor / Baritone page:

http://www.southcoastukes.com/index_files/inters.htm
 
Thanks Kanaka for the great information. Forgive my musical dolt-ness but what I’m getting from this is that you can play the same song on a cuatro using the same fingering as you would on a uke – just that it would have a low G and low A? (Of course the song would have to accommodate low 1st and 4th strings.)
 
That's the way I understood it. For more clarification, you can PM or send an email to Dirk Wormhoudt (southcoast@inbox.com). He's a very knowledgeable on tunings and quite sure he'll answer your questions. I'm sure if he sees this thread, he'll chime in.
 
Thanks Kanaka for the great information. Forgive my musical dolt-ness but what I’m getting from this is that you can play the same song on a cuatro using the same fingering as you would on a uke – just that it would have a low G and low A? (Of course the song would have to accommodate low 1st and 4th strings.)

You've got it right. No need to change the stringing - it's no more complicated than swithcing from a high 4th to a low 4th on a ukulele - it's just that now you also have a low 1st.

Of course a Cuatro can also be strung like a Baritone. If you look at the sound sample link above, you'll see that on our Tenor / Baritone page, we have samples of our Baritone strung a number of ways including low reentrant D, the traditional Cuatro set-up.

Check on the action of the Cordoba if possible. Most (not all) Cuatros are set-up with an action that seems absurdly high by ukulele standards. When you see the violent strumming technique used in traditional playing, you understand why.
 
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Southcoast, thanks very much for the clarification.

I’m hoping to find one in person to play it and see what I think – the low A is intriguing but wondering how that will sound. I think about certain songs on uke best served with reentrant and how it can sound off with low g. I’d imagine that’s how it could be with low A. I’m guessing a different tuning would accommodate the proper chord change but again I’m a total music-dolt and I’d be lucky if I can hit 440 right … with a tuner LOL.
 
Hmmm, actually if it’s A, D F#,B … compared to a low G uke of G, C, E, A, everything seems to be a whole step difference except E to F# which is a step and a half. So does this mean any strike of the F# (E in uke-terms) would sound just a bit off on the cuatro?
 
Um... E to F# is one step, isn't it?

E, F, F#...

Or am I missing something? (It's almost 1:30am for me...)
 
LOL yeah!! Told ya I'm music challenged. Been checking out some video. WOW. Serious strumming there lol.
 
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