Hi,
I've tried guitar several times and always given up in frustration. Mostly due to having a cheap guitar with incredibly high action. I play piano, irish flute, and alto saxophone. I would like a simple string instrument for accompaniments. I am not looking to play melody on the string instrument, I'd either sing it or play it on my flute, so just accompaniment.
I had an idea that a four string instrument may be easier to learn than guitar. And that lead me to Ukulele. Small, affordable, but will it be easier than a guitar?
I've also looked into Mandolins because those are popular in Irish music which is what I've been focusing on for the past 2 years (although I don't want to limit myself to it, I still like basic folk and jazz). The interesting thing about a mandolin for me is the tuning. My daughter is starting violin this year and using mandolin tuning would be cool because I could play along with her and we'd be using the same strings and positions. And she could even play on my instrument too.
However I read that mandolins are not easy to play, require callouses, etc. It's not that I'm lazy, I practice flute a lot, but I want this string instrument to be fun and relaxing and not difficult. I guess that does sound lazy, but since it's not even a second instrument but more like a 3rd or 4th I hope that's ok.
So back to Ukulele, I found out it can be tuned like a mandolin GDAE so in that case I don't need a physical mandolin. So I think I have a good case for a Ukulele but not sure about the tuning.
Since I'd be doing some basic strums and maybe a little finger picking, which tuning would be easiest to learn? I don't want to get discouraged and give up. If Mandolin is easier then I'd be more inclined to go that route.
Another advantage for mandolin tuning is the mandolin resources for Irish music would be available to me. So I'm seeing lots of advantages for mandolin tuning, but I would like to ask here to make sure I'm not making a mistake with it. I know the standard tuning with re-entrant G is a characteristic of the ukulele sound, but I'm not really after that sound as much as I am an easy string instrument to play and have fun. I read that low-G makes it sound more like a guitar.. that's fine with me since I was trying to learn guitar anyway.
All advice and opinions are greatly appreciated. Thanks.
I've tried guitar several times and always given up in frustration. Mostly due to having a cheap guitar with incredibly high action. I play piano, irish flute, and alto saxophone. I would like a simple string instrument for accompaniments. I am not looking to play melody on the string instrument, I'd either sing it or play it on my flute, so just accompaniment.
I had an idea that a four string instrument may be easier to learn than guitar. And that lead me to Ukulele. Small, affordable, but will it be easier than a guitar?
I've also looked into Mandolins because those are popular in Irish music which is what I've been focusing on for the past 2 years (although I don't want to limit myself to it, I still like basic folk and jazz). The interesting thing about a mandolin for me is the tuning. My daughter is starting violin this year and using mandolin tuning would be cool because I could play along with her and we'd be using the same strings and positions. And she could even play on my instrument too.
However I read that mandolins are not easy to play, require callouses, etc. It's not that I'm lazy, I practice flute a lot, but I want this string instrument to be fun and relaxing and not difficult. I guess that does sound lazy, but since it's not even a second instrument but more like a 3rd or 4th I hope that's ok.
So back to Ukulele, I found out it can be tuned like a mandolin GDAE so in that case I don't need a physical mandolin. So I think I have a good case for a Ukulele but not sure about the tuning.
Since I'd be doing some basic strums and maybe a little finger picking, which tuning would be easiest to learn? I don't want to get discouraged and give up. If Mandolin is easier then I'd be more inclined to go that route.
Another advantage for mandolin tuning is the mandolin resources for Irish music would be available to me. So I'm seeing lots of advantages for mandolin tuning, but I would like to ask here to make sure I'm not making a mistake with it. I know the standard tuning with re-entrant G is a characteristic of the ukulele sound, but I'm not really after that sound as much as I am an easy string instrument to play and have fun. I read that low-G makes it sound more like a guitar.. that's fine with me since I was trying to learn guitar anyway.
All advice and opinions are greatly appreciated. Thanks.