I have made an amazing discovery! Blue Grass Ukulele!

beginnerukeman143

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so I was jamming with a couple of my friends last night, (I wanted to after what you guys said in the other thread :p) one was playing a guitar like a lap steel, (he had raised the nut) and the other was doing a lot of fingerpicking on the guitar.

so as we were playing some old hymns, they started to realize that my uke sounded a lot like a Mandolin, if strummed like one. so i started doing just a down strum on every other beat.... as we were playing "Ill Fly Away" (one of my favourite old hymns) it started to click, then i actually got the rhythm down... and boom, Blue Grass Ukulele.... we played other more bluegrassy songs, and man it was great. '

I think, (if you haven't already tried this) you should get with some guitar players and strum up some bluegrass :)
 
My neighbors are very accomplished Bluegrass musicians. I took a Martin uke and my banjo-uke to a big jam at their house once. They themselves are ok with me playing uke with them. However, most of the traditionalists there ( just about EVERYONE ELSE) either totally ignored me or were openly disdainful.
Bluegrass ukulele might be fine in some circles, but, as one old guy said to me, "Bill Monroe never played one of those". I wanted to ask "How do you know that he never played one?", but thought better of it.
 
@Chris...It's a shame that most people look at ukes as toys. But, I think a few more years and folks will change their minds.
 
I think the ukulele and bluegrass are a perfect match really. You have the high G which gives the uke a banjo -like voice and makes it a great fit for clawhammer melody style playing. Plus you can get that mandolin type chopping technique going rhythmically which makes it well suited to accompaniment. Such a versatile instrument. :)
 
It's a safe bet that Bill Monroe never played an ukulele, but that's no excuse to look down upon the mighty uke. :wtf:
 
I really enjoy Ken Middleton's Bluegrass e-book. Check out his site if you have a chance!
 
I'm not saying I disagree... just that Bluegrass musicians are often... ummm.... "Conservative" in their opinions about what does and does not qualify as Bluegrass. Not the younger ones so much, but still, a lot of them. The old "How many Bluegrass musicians does it take to change a light bulb?" joke is based on TRUTH! The answer: "One to change it and 100 to say that's not how Bill Monroe would have done it" (alternate answer: "100 to complain about it being electric".
 
Steedy, You're right, Bill never had an ukulele. I met him when I lived near Nashville, and knew some of his band members as well. No ukes. I simply adore Bluegrass, tried to learn to play it years ago. Seems like it would be fun to play it on my uke. I would think that a Bluegrass musician would be flattered by the imitation.
 
I agree, but i do think that the 'Ukulele alone wouldn't really suffice and be called "bluegrass" I think it doesn't have to much of a hmmm.... earthy sound... I guess you could say, not like in a clingy sort of way, but in like a Lap Steel sort a way.

I think it was the Lap sliding that made the songs sound really good, and the 'Uke just sorta complimented it :p
 
It's a safe bet that Bill Monroe never played an ukulele, [...snip...] :wtf:

But if he had, he might have become famous. ;)

I play a lot of old time Appalacian fiddle, and over the past 5 years or so I've seen more and more ukes at fiddle jams; mostly strumming the off-beats. It does add to the cacophony in an altogether pleasing way.

--Mike
 
It's a combo of the instrument and how you play it. It would be too hard to resist replying "Well I'm not Bill Monroe... And neither are you." Seriously, the size of the ego is inversely proportional to the skill level of the player in those cases.

Most of the local players don't play bluegrass but they are oh so very close to it with southern roots type traditional stuff. It's like half a heartbeat from bluegrass. I tell ya, a group of Finns playing that music on ukulele.... It'd make that guy's head spin. And the fact they do it well would make his head explode. :)
 
That stinks that you got a negative reaction from those players. The various folky/bluegrass people that I've jammed with are all really pro-uke, no matter what style of music everyone is playing. I've definitely been working on playing a more traditional bluegrassy-ish style on my uke.
 
These guys had a "No Hippie Chords" rule at this jam. So no 7ths, diminisheds, etc. I'm not sure they were even using any minors! They were all good players too. I think it was more of a stylistic thing than an ability thing.
 
You're a better person than I. I wouldn't have been able to resist driving that insult on home and turning it on him. LOL Hippie chords. So many great composers were actually hippies. You learned something that day!
 
Well getting back to the original post, there is a thread in another board section called Appalachian tabs and chords that is full of old-timey songs and there was another called two and three chord songs or something like that, that was full of old timey uke songs. Several, actually many, of us have posted videos on youtube doing these songs. To me a uke sounds great on traditional songs as Chris or someone else mentioned, the uke can sound like a banjo or a mandolin (or a uke <g>) depending on how it's played in these songs. aloha, g
 
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