Sheet music - Where is this note on my uke! Arg!

Whistle

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Hey guys!

I am teaching myself through Hal Leonard's Ukulele Method books. I ordered myself a separate ukulele song book and on the first page were some music notes I can't locate on my ukulele. I went through both my Ukulele Method books and they're not taught. :( I can't figure out where the notes are on my ukulele. Can you help me out? I'd also like to know the proper finger placement to play them.

Thank ya! Music question.jpgMusic.jpg

Can you guys recommend some supplementary book/online resource that will help fill in the gaps in my learning? There are more notes than I've showed - I'd like to know how to locate and play them all properly.
 
Is your uke low G? You need a low G string to play those. They are the open low G string, and the low A on the low G string.

And now I'm curious - can you share the book title? I've seen very few low G uke books written in English (I've got some Japanese ones) and I'd like to check this one out! Thanks.
 
Hey!

No, my ukulele isn't tuned to low G. The book I am using is "The Daily Ukulele" by Jumipn' Jim. The songs I'm looking at are on page 13 and 18.

So one can't play songs if the notes go below C unless you have a low G strung ukulele? That's unfortunate - there are a lot of songs in this book then that I won't be able to play. For instance, Amazing Grace - one of my favorite songs- (page 21) starts with a low G note.

I got this book because I thought it would be useful to work through slowly, learning all the songs as I've seen others attempt to do. Would you need two ukulele's (each strung differently) in order to accomplish this feat?
 
Well... you could do a couple of things here. I'm going to assume that you've got a grasp of music theory since you're reading standard notation.

You might be able to move higher up the neck and play the song an octave higher. I don't have the book, so I'm not sure if you did that if you'd end up too far out of the high end of the range of notes available on a reentrant uke. If that happened, then you'd need to transpose the song to a different key entirely, one that fits the reentrant uke's range better (I tend to use F and Bb a lot for this purpose.)

I don't have the Daily Ukulele book, but it's my impression that the book isn't really designed for playing lead/melody - it's designed for chord strummers/singers, like the typical ukulele club or group. While there are a few of us (myself included) who play lead/melody on uke, we are definitely the minority! And in my experience those of us who can read standard notation are even more scarce.

That being said, you can still work through the book song by song, but it may take a little work. Most of the players I've known who are doing that are working through the book strumming chords only and singing. Playing melodies may involve delving more into theory.

And yes - if you're at the level where you can read standard notation, then I would recommend that you have two ukes, one reentrant, one low G! As I mentioned, there's not a lot in print out there geared toward low G ukes, but if you're working from standard notation then you don't need uke-only music - you can play anything, as long as the notes can be found on your uke.

Also - to answer your other question about resources showing the notes on the the fretboard - this may help. Just keep in mind that the notes on the G string are going to be high G, and not linear, and are thus going to be an octave higher. (Hope that made sense!)
 
Hey!

No, my ukulele isn't tuned to low G. The book I am using is "The Daily Ukulele" by Jumipn' Jim. The songs I'm looking at are on page 13 and 18.

So one can't play songs if the notes go below C unless you have a low G strung ukulele? That's unfortunate - there are a lot of songs in this book then that I won't be able to play. For instance, Amazing Grace - one of my favorite songs- (page 21) starts with a low G note.
Had you started reading the book right from the beginning instead of jumping straight into the music you would have seen the tuning notes on page 6 :p
Regarding Amazing Grace you can see the authors already intended having the melody played an octave higher: the show the first note as 3rd fret E string (aka open G string on re-entrant). Which is of course slightly incorrect but might fit most people's singing skills a bit better anyway.
 
I would recommend you just purchase another book that teaches finger picking. The book you are using is meant for chords (in my opinion). The Hal Leonard Co. has a good series on Amazon. Good luck!
 
And yes - if you're at the level where you can read standard notation, then I would recommend that you have two ukes, one reentrant, one low G!

^^^^^
This, absolutely.
I can appreciate the re-entrant purists' love of the sound, but if you want to sing or play below middle C, IMHO a low G option is the way to go, either temporarily or permanently on a second uke.

Otherwise, you are going way up the neck and out of most men's vocal range.

It's hard enough for me to try to learn a vocal melody without being forced to play it an octave higher on the uke than where it's sung. :2cents:
 
I love the book Chord Melody for the uke It shows where the notes should/could be played and is a great reference. Picked it up on amazon...
 
Had you started reading the book right from the beginning instead of jumping straight into the music you would have seen the tuning notes on page 6 :p
Regarding Amazing Grace you can see the authors already intended having the melody played an octave higher: the show the first note as 3rd fret E string (aka open G string on re-entrant). Which is of course slightly incorrect but might fit most people's singing skills a bit better anyway.

Hey! I read through the section you're talking about and I understand better now. If the note is lower than my uke can play I go up one octave. I am still learning all about music theory, so I'm slugging away trying to understand this concept though. At first I thought it meant just jumping up one note, but of course that doesn't make sense.

I'm going to go hit the books and figure out how to write the notes up an octave for Amazing Graze. Thanks again for steering me in the right direction!:)
 
That being said, you can still work through the book song by song, but it may take a little work. Most of the players I've known who are doing that are working through the book strumming chords only and singing. Playing melodies may involve delving more into theory.

And yes - if you're at the level where you can read standard notation, then I would recommend that you have two ukes, one reentrant, one low G! As I mentioned, there's not a lot in print out there geared toward low G ukes, but if you're working from standard notation then you don't need uke-only music - you can play anything, as long as the notes can be found on your uke.

Also - to answer your other question about resources showing the notes on the the fretboard - this may help. Just keep in mind that the notes on the G string are going to be high G, and not linear, and are thus going to be an octave higher. (Hope that made sense!)


Thanks for your help! Yes, I am learning music theory. I LOVE it and much prefer it to tabs. I still have a long way to go obviously, but it's quite rewarding. I am looking forwards to when I can adapt my guitar music to work on my uke. It will certainly help me save money on song books! :)
 
Thanks for your help! Yes, I am learning music theory. I LOVE it and much prefer it to tabs. I still have a long way to go obviously, but it's quite rewarding. I am looking forwards to when I can adapt my guitar music to work on my uke. It will certainly help me save money on song books! :)

You're welcome! Not only will it save you money on song books, but you won't be limited only to what others have felt like adapting to uke.
 
You're welcome! Not only will it save you money on song books, but you won't be limited only to what others have felt like adapting to uke.


Absolutely. Ability to read standard notation plus an understanding of basic music theory means you not only can play melody for any tune but you can also work out your own chords.
 
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