Is it just me...

The Big Kahuna

The Big Kahuna

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...or do any other guitarists who are new to the Uke', watch beginner videos on Youtube and find themselves shouting "STOP CALLING IT A "G", IT'S A "D"...no, wait...oh, ok..."
 
I can sympathise with you on this one Big Kahuna! It was 40 years ago that I played both guitar & uke ....... and I remembered more Guitar chords than uke chords!!

HOWEVER ...... it DOES get easier & pretty soon, with practise (the more the better!) you will automatically start doing the correct uke chord without even thinking about it!! THAT is when you know you are ON the WAY!

Just when I was pretty happy with knowing lots of uke chords, I bought a UBass ........ and instead of GCEA, it is tuned EADG!!:wallbash:

Oh well ........ Back to square one again! :(

Roberta
 
I played both the guitar and the ukulele ( still do) and found I was having a similar problem with the same chord along with a few others. It gets easier after some practice. Just play often and you'll realize it will eventually come more naturally like it did on the guitar.
 
Easy on folks, I used to play DADGAD......
 
Funny, I'm moving the other way and find my frustration is the exact opposite, and I wonder why these silly six-stringers insist on calling the G a D.
 
I've seen guitarists struggle with this a lot. For me, it was a quick transition as I had not played my guitars in a long time when I first picked up a uke.

I think the trick is to stay with it and keep having fun. I kept telling a good friend who came over from guitar.......this is a UKULELE G chord, we aren't playing guitar right now, uke and guitar are different instruments.....kind of a don't fight it type of thing, just keep reminding yourself you are not playing guitar and that this is an ukulele.
 
Yeah. I have to admit, I haven't really played the guitar much in the past 10 years, not in a serious way at any rate. One thing that I'm looking forward to with my first Uke' is just being able to sit anywhere, any time, and just plink away, or practice left hand technique silently while watching TV or reading (easy with an eReader).

I'm a firm believer in the theory that even though someone hasn't touched an instrument for years, and has probably forgotten 99% of theory and even the names of the chords, muscle memory will return to save the day.
 
It took me a little while to think ukulele when playing ukulele and think guitar when playing guitar.

But it'll come. Just be patient with yourself.

And Ryan's right - uke and guitar ARE different instruments. The more you play your uke, the instrument will dictate a difference in approach from the guitar. And that will help.
 
RyanMFT said:
I've seen guitarists struggle with this a lot. For me, it was a quick transition as I had not played my guitars in a long time when I first picked up a uke.

I think the trick is to stay with it and keep having fun. I kept telling a good friend who came over from guitar.......this is a UKULELE G chord, we aren't playing guitar right now, uke and guitar are different instruments.....kind of a don't fight it type of thing, just keep reminding yourself you are not playing guitar and that this is an ukulele.
Click to expand...

Years ago, when I was playing for a living, I would have all my instruments; guitars, uke's, cello, mandolin, etc., tuned like the a guitar. If I was asked to play a different part it was quite easy to switch.

Now, I have the luxury of really learning my instruments in their "native" tunings. I do sometimes mix up the G and D on the uke with the D and A on the guitar, but I just smile and keep going. Life is too short not to laugh at myself. It's all about having fun!
 
"...or is it hot in here?"
 
The Big Kahuna said:
... I'm a firm believer in the theory that even though someone hasn't touched an instrument for years, and has probably forgotten 99% of theory and even the names of the chords, muscle memory will return to save the day.
Click to expand...

The theory worked in practice for me. I came out of a 7 year "retirement" from the bass last August. Had stopped playing instruments altogether for that long, way to long. Anyway, after playing twice monthly with the local uke group for the past six months I feel very comfortable and confident laying down the bass lines. And today found a device called the Hot Hand, could be used to play dub step bass on the uBass. Along with a Roland Micro Cube, now we're talking dub step busking! But now I digress.
 
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