Pitch differences between the soprano and concert?

Hi!

I recently bought a cheap soprano uke just to get a feel for it

I haven't played a musical instrument in years and I've really enjoyed learning chords for songs on it. However, I've found that when I try to sing along, its always just a tiny bit too far out of my range.

Should I look to upgrading to a concert size ukulele in the future? Is there much difference in pitch between soprano and the concert?

Cheers,

Phil

No, soprano/concert/tenor are all tuned the same.

You just need to change the key of the pieces you're playing to better suit your vocal range Phil.

itsme said:

No, soprano/concert/tenor are all tuned the same.

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I know they are tuned the same but I was under the impression that the sound they produced was a little lower as you increased the size?

Phil, Itsme’s right about the modern practice with ukulele tuning - the 1st 3 sizes are tuned to C, and often the Baritone as well. Eugene also has the most common solution – continue to tune to C, but change the key.

However, if you’re going to change the key, there is an even better approach. I’m always surprised by how few people employ it. You intuitively assumed a bigger instrument should have a lower tuning, and in fact, that’s exactly correct. Publishing companies are in large part responsible for the practice of universal C tuning.

Acoustically, the Ukulele is no different from any other instrument – smaller sizes resonate better at higher pitches, larger sizes need a lower pitch to access the bigger body volume.

Actually, the best (reentrant or high 4th) acoustic tuning for the Soprano is a step up from C. This might just let you drop your vocals an octave on the songs that are really out of your vocal range. The Concert is actually almost ideally suited to reentrant C. As C is “concert pitch”, I’ve always thought that might have something to do with its name. A Tenor performs best down a step or two – reentrant B flat to A. This may be nicely suited to your voice. A Baritone works beautifully a bit lower in reentrant G.

There are two advantages to this “graduated tuning”. First, while you can always do as Eugene suggests, some arrangements simply play easier or sound better with a certain set of fingerings. If those fingerings are at a pitch that’s too high for your voice, for example, with your C tuned Concert, you play the same pattern on your B flat Tenor and you’ve changed the key without changing your fingering.

Second, when your ukuleles are tuned to a proper pitch, they sound better.

The famous British Ukulele player, George Formby performed like this, with an assortment of ukuleles on stage, all tuned to different pitches. Why this practice is not more common is a mystery to me.

alphophil said:

Hi!

I recently bought a cheap soprano uke just to get a feel for it

I haven't played a musical instrument in years and I've really enjoyed learning chords for songs on it. However, I've found that when I try to sing along, its always just a tiny bit too far out of my range.

Should I look to upgrading to a concert size ukulele in the future? Is there much difference in pitch between soprano and the concert?

Cheers,

Phil

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Maybe you are referring to the "timbre" of the same note played on different sized ukuleles composed of different woods. Substitute "quality of sound" for "timbre." Yes, there is a perceptible difference and that is why some folks would not be caught dead playing anything but a soprano and others enjoy the ukulele in all its various forms. And tune the ukulele up, down, or sideways and the timbre will change. But the "pitch" of a particular note will not change.

Bill Mc said:

Maybe you are referring to the "timbre" of the same note played on different sized ukuleles composed of different woods. Substitute "quality of sound" for "timbre." Yes, there is a perceptible difference and that is why some folks would not be caught dead playing anything but a soprano and others enjoy the ukulele in all its various forms. And tune the ukulele up, down, or sideways and the timbre will change. But the "pitch" of a particular note will not change.

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Maybe you're right, Bill, but it sounds like Phil is looking for help with song arrangements that are out of his vocal range with C tuning. For that, you change the key, as Eugene mentioned, or change the tuning. The same finger pattern that gives you a C chord in C tuning then becomes, for example, a B flat chord when you're tuned to B flat.

A note is a note, but a chord pattern gives a different chord, and thus a different pitch, when played in a different tuning. Comprende?

southcoastukes said:

Maybe you're right, Bill, but it sounds like Phil is looking for help with songs that are out of his vocal range with C tuning. For that, you change the key, as Eugene mentioned, or change the tuning. The same finger pattern that gives you a C chord in C tuning then becomes, for example, a B flat chord when you're tuned to B flat.

A note is a note, but a chord pattern gives a different chord, and thus a different pitch, when played in a different tuning. Comprende?

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I understood the full import of alphophil's query and agree with Eugene's advice. I've employed a myriad of different tuning playing guitar over the past fifty years. However, alphophil suggested in his last sentence that the answer to his problem might be addressed by changing fron a soprano to a concert ukulele. I provided the reason why that change alone would not help. Comprende ?

Ya, entiendo.

True enough, a change in instrument without a change in tuning does nothing to help an arrangement that's too high for your voice.

My point was that a change in instruments should more often be accompanied by a change in tuning on those same instruments. It solves the problems of vocal range for any given arrangement and gives you a better sounding instrument at the same time.

southcoastukes said:

Actually, the best (reentrant or high 4th) acoustic tuning for the Soprano is a step up from C. This might just let you drop your vocals an octave on the songs that are really out of your vocal range. The Concert is actually almost ideally suited to reentrant C. As C is “concert pitch”, I’ve always thought that might have something to do with its name. A Tenor performs best down a step or two – reentrant B flat to A. This may be nicely suited to your voice. A Baritone works beautifully a bit lower in reentrant G.

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So are you suggesting that I perhaps play the chords in a higher key, which will allow me to sing an octave lower? Like perhaps through using a capo on my uke?

Bill Mc said:

I understood the full import of alphophil's query and agree with Eugene's advice. I've employed a myriad of different tuning playing guitar over the past fifty years. However, alphophil suggested in his last sentence that the answer to his problem might be addressed by changing fron a soprano to a concert ukulele. I provided the reason why that change alone would not help. Comprende ?

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Understood, thank you for your help!

alphophil said:

So are you suggesting that I perhaps play the chords in a higher key, which will allow me to sing an octave lower? Like perhaps through using a capo on my uke?

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On this forum, you'll get a lot of reasons to buy a lot of ukuleles, but to me, having an assortment of them in different tunings is the best reason of all. Instead of g' - c' - e' - a' on a Concert, tune up a step on a Soprano, down a step or two on a Tenor, and down again on a Baritone. A simplified shortcut to the names of the tunings is to just go by the name of the 3rd string.

C is the 3rd string of modern tuning - it's called key of C or C tuning. For the other tunings, just tune your third string to D, B flat, A or G, and adjust the others accordingly. That way, you'll almost always find a comfortable spot for your voice with any given chord arrangement.

A capo works as well, but on a Soprano, it won't be as useful as on the bigger instruments. You could go up about one step - C to D, or D to E flat - after that you run out of effective fretboard.