Playing over the soundhole?

Is there a reason for not playing over the soundhole?

I don't see any reason why you shouldn't...

But think about this way...Starting above the top string, drag your finger over the neck...and notice it strums each string...but drag your finger over the hole...and...it stops?...I don't know where I'm going with this...it makes sense in my mind, sorry....Haha

In my uneducated mind it might have to do with the Uke started as a Soprano size and the way you held/cradled it had you strummin on the neck and not like a geetar and as the sizes changed the "rules" didn't.

I fin it easier for me to strum on the neck and pick over the sound hole.

no reason why not to do it! each string in my opinion gets a warmer tone when played of the sound hole bu thats just me. When i play i usually play on the neck and when a faster strumming speed is needed i play over the soundhole. you dont get that lil chunk noise from your finger hitting the fretboard. if your a beginner play what feels most comfortable to YOU! with that said happy strummn!
-DOn

i play it over the fret board because when i am holding my uke i am pining it to my chest with my forearm and thats where my fingers end up being along the strings

The closer to the mid-point of the string (i.e. the twelfth fret) that you strum, the fuller the sound will be. This is because the string vibrates more evenly.

If you were to divide the strings into quarters, then video yourself strumming about 1/4 up from the bridge, then watch the thing in really slow motion, you'd note the the bottom and top quarter vibrate together, and the the middle half vibrates on its own. (This is a poor paraphrasing of something Dave Means pointed out elsewhere, but I hope it's reasonably clear.)

This produces different overtones (secondary tones???) than strumming midway along the scale length.

Not to say that even strumming smack up against the dang bridge is wrong, per se. If you're looking for the plinkier sound, that's where you'll find it.

It's simply that the physics of the strings will produce fuller sounding notes, especially on a short-scale instrument like the uke, if you strum about midway on the strings.

On strings, i believe there are "nodes". These nodes are where certain overtones of the pitch are created and can usually be found on the 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 lines on th string (i think).

Take violins for example, when you play above the black neck, you get a dry, empty sound, whereas if you play between the neck and the bridge, you get a fuller sound.

By playing closer to the bridge, you allow the "nodes" to ring true.

This may be somewhat inaccruate, but i'm just putting my 2 cents in.

Howlin Hobbit said:

The...[babedeeboobah]...strings.

Click to expand...

If the TS might wonder about this explanation, try strumming from above the neck sliding down towards the bridge. You will find that there is a "sweet spot" that gives the fullest tone, hence what HH says. This will probably be true for all stringed instruments, as the mouth position is for wind, and the place you hit a drum for percussion.

Perhaps the question is more: why the convention (assumed that there is one) to strum a guitar over the soundhole and a uke over the body/neck joint? This is not a hard rule for either instrument of course, but is there a practical reason like freedive135 suggests, or some esotheric physics going on (different relative lenght of body/neck, string length)?

Please enlighten this thread with cool facts :music: