Guitalele question

CoLmes

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Well, I want to pick up a guitalele for a few reasons. One would be to learn the chord formations for when I'm jamming with peeps playing the guitar. Being able to look at their hands and know what is what will be really helpful.

#2 reason is for more depth in youtube vids.

My question is, say if I got a yahama guitalele. I know it's tuned higher but is there anyway to tune it like a regular guitar or would that be weird? I realize there are probably posts like this in the past but thought I'd add one more;)
 
I have a Yamaha Guitalele and it's tuned exactly like my guitars, E A D G B E. So when someone comes round, they play my guitar and I play along on the uke, they play C, I play C, they play Bb, I play Bb.
The only difference is that the uke is an octave higher, or 2, I can't remember. You'll have no problem jamming with any standard tuned guitar :)
 
I have a KoAloha D-VI and have it tuned to EADGBE, so it can be done. The sound is not a good as a guitar, on my D-VI the top end suffers (sounds a bit dull) but the bottom end is nice. Good for uke/ guitar duets. I am thinking of tuning it higher again to get a better sounding top end.

It is tricky knowing both guitar and uke chords. I have a solid knowledge of guitar chords, and it can still be confusing to have to translate. Afterward, I seem to get confusion over what the uke chords are. It is probably good to look at their hands to figure out the key, and then just stop looking and play by ear.

–Lori
 
So if I wanted to tune a yamaha guitalele exactly like a guitar would I need different strings? I basically want to essentially learn how to play guitar chords while not playing a guitar at all lol.
 
Yes, you need special strings. I don't know what I have on mine, but I am sure there were some threads on it already.

–Lori
 
Yes, you need special strings. I don't know what I have on mine, but I am sure there were some threads on it already.

–Lori

Okay thanks I'll check. If anyone is a search master and can beat me to finding it I will love you a little bit.
 
So if I wanted to tune a yamaha guitalele exactly like a guitar would I need different strings? I basically want to essentially learn how to play guitar chords while not playing a guitar at all lol.

LaBella makes a fractional set for 1/4 size guitars. I use them on my D-VI and tune EADGBE. I am ok with chords on a guitar and ukulele, but when I was playing my D-VI in uke tuning ADGCEA, I was always getting confused as instinct of 6 strings would just take over.
 
Yeah I found through searching that the LaBella allows them for E to E
 
I am an aspiring guitarist. The Guitarlele was (is) a contender for my first guitar.

But after asking around, I think I want something else. What you don't learn on a guitarlele is to stretch your fingers. This may not matter for your purposes, but if you're going to learn, you may as well learn properly.

I don't know about guitars, but I can say confidently it isn't a good ukulele.

How about a baritone uke? Same tuning as the top four strings of a guitar, but a uke, so infinitely cooler. :p
 
Nah, although I do like the sound of a baritone sometimes, my main purpose is to learn guitar chord formations.
 
I'm really trying not to move to guitar at all. I tried it one, guitar just isn't for me. I just want a small version, i.e. a guitalele, that can tune like a guitar and an extremely smaller scale one at that. Maybe if it sticks move onto a better version, but honestly I just want to learn the formations and have the guitalele at a guitar tune instead of the higher octave cause I want to be able to play a D formation for example and have it be a D and not whatever it would transpose to if it was still tuned higher.
 
I just picked up a Guitalele today (Yamaha). It sounds really cool and I'm definitely digging it...I bought it to noodle around on a bit when I don't want to pick up my guitar but want to play guitar chords and picking styles. Mostly though, I'm going to bring it wherever and whenever I'm jamming with guitar friends so that they can keep up with my Pono!!

Plus, it's great...whenever someone asks me if my Pono is just a toy guitar I'll be able to point over to the Yamaha and say, "No, but that is!"

As for tuning, I restrung it with Savarez red high tension and it sounds awesome tuned to A. E is just too floppy no matter what strings you use.
 
I just sold mine, but I had an Aria Pepe PS48. This is a 1/2-sized classical guitar with a 19-inch-scale, so it's more comparable to a baritone uke. (I think the Kanilea guitarlele has the same scale). These Aria Pepes are finely made instruments with solid cedar tops and solid mahogany or sapele bodies. I found the fingerboard a lot roomier than the smaller Yamaha's, and bigger soundbox's tone a lot more satisfying. If you keep an eye out on craigslist and eBay, you might be able to snag a used one.

Here are pictures of the one I sold:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shutterbutt/sets/72157629704573173/
 
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