Cavaquinho question

caz

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 6, 2008
Messages
78
Reaction score
1
Location
NYC
Is it possible to take a cavaquinho and tune it like a uke (GCEA)? Has anyone ever tried this? Or is this just a generally bad idea?
 
Is it possible to take a cavaquinho and tune it like a uke (GCEA)? Has anyone ever tried this? Or is this just a generally bad idea?

I just tried one at a used instrument store and it was tuned just like a uke. Sounded great.
 
I don't see any reason you shouldn't be able to. It may make more sense to just get a uke. Or do you already have a cavaquinho?
 
It's a tiny guitar/ukulele type thing, I think they are from Brazil
 
We have a friend who plays the cavaquinho, and he uses a non-standard tuning.

The cavaquinho originated in Portugal, and is relatively common in South America, and even the Caribbean.

We have occasionally had people mistake our ukuleles for cavaquinhos, or for Puerto Rican quatros.
 
This is a Cavaquinho: http://youtube.com/watch?v=jlpm1QyLyus

It actually is tuned like a (bariton)-ukulele (D G B E).
But like a mandolin it has a big disadvantage in case you want to use it as a ukulele...
The neck is very narrow. Just 2.8cm on my cava compared to 3.5 on a concert ukulele (on top of fretboard).
0222 is close to impossible for me on the cava...
 
GCEA not an uncommon tuning for this instrument. Cavaquinho tuned higher than this, so increased tention with uke tuning not an issue. One way for a uke player to sound like a mandolin (more or less). Some research will indicate action often high and hard on the fingers, but fixable (lighter strings or lower action)
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom