C vs D tuning

UkuleleHal

Member
Joined
Jul 9, 2012
Messages
20
Reaction score
0
Location
Some where along the coast of Norway
I was browsing the web the other day when I stumbled across a page that more or less mandated the use of D tuning.
The excuse was that everyone else in norway uses that tuning so it was the "right" tuning here.

I found it hard to believe that anyone could be so bombastic about what tuning everyone in an entire country uses.

However it made me wonder if there is anything but a sound difference and a difference in chords between these tunings.
Also, could I not join in others playing with D tuning with my C tuned uke, by using a capo on the first or second fret?

These questions may be a bit banal and very newbish but I do hope you bare with me.

Thank you for taking the time to read my question at least.
 
Well, there will be a difference on the chord fingerings, but if they play let's say a D chord, you play a D chord too, without copying their chord shape. If they play a Gm, you play a Gm. And if you play an Am7, they go crazy counting frets :p You would do the same if playing with a guitarist.

I'm not experienced enough with alternate tunings to talk about a difference in the quality of the sound produced by playing the same chord on both tunings, though. Maybe you can put a capo on the second fret and see how much of a difference it makes for you?
 
However it made me wonder if there is anything but a sound difference and a difference in chords between these tunings.

That's it! The strings are a bit harder (more tension) in D tuning, the sound is different, and what was a C chord is now a D. That's all.

Also, could I not join in others playing with D tuning with my C tuned uke, by using a capo on the first or second fret?

Of course! You can capo at the second fret, or just use the chord names and make your own shapes.

I doubt it's true that EVERYONE in Norway plays that way - each club has its own norms, and then there's pockets of players away from the clubs and societies who just do their own thing.

Some people just insist that everyone else must do as they do or they're heretics.
 
I doubt it's true that EVERYONE in Norway plays that way - each club has its own norms, and then there's pockets of players away from the clubs and societies who just do their own thing.

Some people just insist that everyone else must do as they do or they're heretics.

I was just intrigued by the bombastic way it was put on this webpage. Logic dictates that most people play how ever it pleases them, C, D or even Eb tuning. It was just rather amusing to me that someone would go as far as to publish such a comment online..

Anyway. I thank you for correcting me about what fret to use a capo on, I though it would have been the first fret, and would have been wrong there. :D See this is why its great to be able to ask questions from people with more experience :D

Thank you for your help
 
The internet is all about bombasity (is that form of the root even a word?). Any fool, even some nitwit like me, can put any darn fool thing he wants out there but it don't make it so. :)

The D tuning was the traditional tuning for soprano ukes back when soprano ukes were pretty much the only ukes. Depending on the uke and the strings, sometimes a particular instrument will sound better in that tuning. Personally, I don't like C tuning on a soprano unless using heavy strings - the strings just feel way too wimpy and slack like my fingers are going to get tangled in them.

I think D tuning is still pretty popular in much of Canada, too.

If you have a cheap uke with poor fret work that makes the strings buzz you can sometimes cure it by tuning up to D as it pulls a little more relief in the neck - sometimes just enough. (Using heavy strings can sometimes achieve the same end in C tuning.)

Now, having said all that, if you're playing with groups and you often have to play unknown songs by following the fingering of someone else then, yeah, it makes sense to be in the same tuning they are likely to be using. Other than that, to blazes with the know-it-alls - it's your uke and you can tune it any way you like.

John
 
Thats one way of saying things.
It is true that it is easier to learn from others by emulating them, and in doing so one would be wise to use the same tuning :D

And the tidbit about using D tuning to remove buzz actually makes sense. Thanks for that one I will keep that one in mind in case I ever run in to that sort of a problem. :D
 
Hal, I'm personally a big fan of D tuning on a Soprano. At one time, even here in the states, it was known as "Ukulele Standard Tuning", and it generally produces a nicer sound on a soprano than C tuning.

With that said, at least here, a lot of the instructional material, most importantly the audio and video material, is for C tuning. If that's what you're learning with then here's another possibility.

With Soprano strings, because of the relatively short scale, it often works out to simply tune up or down. If you like the sound and feel of D tuning (or C# for that matter), just tune down when you're working with your C tuning video lesson. Conversely, if you prefer C tuning just tune up to D when you go to group sessions.

While I'm also a big fan of capos, they do mute the sound slightly - more so on the short scale, and more so than being a little off from ideal tension. Also on a soprano scale, especially when starting out, you don't have a lot of room on the fretboard to give away.
 
Last edited:
I am so new that I think I should perhaps learn to play a bit on one form of tuning before I start to expand. Though I intend on expanding my playing in the future and want to learn D tuning. Starting now would just cause me to be more confused then I need be.

Did that make sense?
 
In a way.......

I went for C tuning and I stick with that for the time being. From all I've read so far this seems to be far more common on the planet nowadays. And I've not yet heard of concert or tenor ukes in D tuning so far (even though it should of course be possible, just like any other open tuning) - C tuning is "the" common tuning for all three sizes, so once you learned it you can easily switch sizes.

Just pick another website for learning, don't let the D-people confuse (or even D-motivate) you :p
 
I keep one uke in D tuning, which sounds good, but there are not many fingerstyle tabs in D tuning. I suggest that you use C tuning as there are lots of Tabs and Chords in that, and of course you will be more able to play with other ukers because most of them use C.
 
I keep a couple of ukes in D tuning. I like the brightness it gives, especially on sopranos. Also I find that often I feel more comfortable singing a song a little higher, so having a D-tuned soprano makes it easy as I can still play the same shapes and - confession time - I can often avoid that dreaded E chord. :eek:

I prefer not to retune if I can avoid it as the strings never really seem to settle properly but that's a matter of personal choice. Also, although I have a capo I find it gets in the way and so I have very rarely used it. For me keeping a couple of instruments in D tuning is a better solution. Others may differ.

I agree with others, the somewhat bombastic generalisation made by the guy in the website referred to is out of order. It may well be that most people in Norway play using D-tuning. That does not mean you have to and if most of your friends actually use C tuning then fine. Various tunings are simply choices that you can make if you want and there is nothing wrong in playing in C tuning and it is certainly an advantage when you are beginning.
 
Why Learn Chord Names At All?

All right fellows - my venture into the beginners area here is bringing up some questions I've had knocking around for quite some time. I haven't had time to look into them more closely - to tell the truth I haven't really had time to play much at all the last several years.

Still, as a builder, it's painfully obvious that the ukulele family isn't designed such that all the instruments will sound good tuned to the same key. No family of instruments does this, whether you look at the violin family, mandolin family or even horns.

From the perspective of resonance, C tuning is ideal in one situation only - as a reentrant tuning for the Concert.

Maybe you can help me come to grips with this, and possibly help Hal to get off to a better start as well, but why do people learn to play in C? Why do people learn to play in D, for that matter? Why do people learn chord names at all?

It seems to me one of the number systems - Nashville, or the old Roman numerals would make things so much easier for ukulele players. It's looks to be quicker to learn this way, with less theory to digest, and then all these problems with D or C tuning should be reduced to the point of irrelevance.

Learn like this, and it seems you would not only progress faster, but having your own "family of ukes" tuned to keys where they best resonate means that you also get better sounding instruments (this last bit is the part I am sure about).

I must be missing something. What?
 
Last edited:
Actually, I use Nashville numbering on bass and when playing rhythm electric guitar because you're basically just playing "boxes" and I've worked with bandleaders who have come in and said "I can't hit those notes today, we need to change the key"

Still, just using NN won't help you if you don't have a grounding in what the chords are - in fact, you probably need to know more theory to use NN than to use the chords by name.

NN doesn't work well at all when you're playing open first position chords - in fact, it forces you to transpose on the fly. (Let's see, 4 chord and I'm in G so that's a C which is shaped like this...) It works great when you're playing all closed chords, though because you just pick your "home" fret and shape correctly for the key's root chord and everything else is just a move from there to some relative fret and shape.

As for why people learn chord names at all - well, unless you are playing by yourself you'd better be able to communicate to everybody playing a bunch of different instruments some common definition of what should be played and when. Otherwise you get jazz... :)


John
 
Last edited:
Thanks for chiming in, John. I figured you might know something about all this. When I did play, it was almost always solo (and I like jazz, too). I tuned all over the place and always just played whatever shapes I found in the diagrams (uke - whatever key - guitar). If there were names instead of diagrams, I'd generally play C or G tuning shapes unless I didn't like 'em.

.......(later this evening)............Just found a nice description on NN. They're not what I thought. I see what you mean now - worse, not better.

Guess I'll have to invent my own (like that will happen any time soon!)
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom