To read, nor not to read?

LifesShort

LifesShort

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 8, 2012
Messages
145
Reaction score
0
Location
Forsyth, GA
By "to read, or not to read" I really mean should I learn the fretboard of the ukulele so that I can read music for it? I have played guitar for 35+ years and can read music as well as tab. I know where the notes are located on the guitar fretboard, also. However, I am new to the ukulele (been playing about 4 months) and haven't taken the time to learn the notes on the uke. How many of you actually know what notes you a playing? Do you just read tab like I've been doing and not worry about the names of the notes? With the proliferation of tab, I don't even know if there is a real reason to learn the fretboard. I know really good guitarists that have been playing for years and don't have a clue as to what notes they are playing.

I have every intention of learning the fretboard of the ukulele. I just have to make it a priority. It's just such a fun instrument to play, I really haven't studied or learned it yet, if that make sense.
 
Last edited:
Yeah I know what you mean. I've been playing for years and still haven't sat down to school myself on the scales. I've been reading music since 3rd grade, just not on the instrument I actually play now. Since I hate tabs, it's led to lots of frustration. You should do your scales to not end up like me. :)
 
spoupard said:
By "to read, or not to read" I really mean should I learn the fretboard of the ukulele so that I can read music for it?
Click to expand...

Why not? What downside could there be?

JJ
 
If I hadn't taken time to re-learn to read music this past year, I wouldn't be able to play Hawaiian music, folk music, songs of Tin Pan Alley, classical music, cowboy songs, and a whole lot more great music I've yet to find.

So much wonderful music has been written in notation that it seems silly to not learn to read it---kind of like loving stories, but not learning to read books.
 
If you're going to play melodies at all, then you really do need to know the fretboard.

I am mostly a chord strummer but I can read music and I also understand the way the fretboard is laid out so If I have a piece of music in front of me, I can play it on the uke, albeit slowly.

I also play recorder, wooden flute and harmonica so if I need to play an unfamiliar melody, I will normally choose to use one of those as I am much more comfortable with them for melody playing.
 
Your post made clear you do read music. With your extensive guitar background you only need to consider the gcea tuned ukulele as the same configuration as the 5th fret onward of your guitar. Reentrant string one octave higher.
 
I think that the trick is to start small and continue to work towards it. I highly recommend checking out the Daily Ukulele and try to teach yourself how to play the melody lines on the ukulele. In my opinion, the practical application is much more useful than to simply memorize scales. I've used this book for several of the songs in ukulele lessons and people always seem to enjoy it. It gives you the chords too, so you can even start to make out how the melody notes can be found within the chords themselves and you'll find yourself playing a solo uke arrangement!
 
If you know the guitar real well, then you already know the uke. It's the 4 higher strings on the guitar, the uke nut starts on the 5th fret of the guitar.
 
Thanks for all of the helpful tips. I'm sure that knowing the guitar fretboard will help tremendously. I know and understand how the ukulele fretboard works in relation to the guitar fretboard. I think the hardest part is going to be getting used to playing notes that I would normally play of the 4th, 5th, or 6th string of the guitar on the ukulele. Obviously, it will take a lot of practice to play these notes without having to think about where to play them. In other words, I'm going to have to practice this until it becomes second nature just like it is on the guitar. I'm going to have to get used to using the re-entrant G, also.
 
spoupard said:
Thanks for all of the helpful tips. I'm sure that knowing the guitar fretboard will help tremendously. I know and understand how the ukulele fretboard works in relation to the guitar fretboard. I think the hardest part is going to be getting used to playing notes that I would normally play of the 4th, 5th, or 6th string of the guitar on the ukulele. Obviously, it will take a lot of practice to play these notes without having to think about where to play them. In other words, I'm going to have to practice this until it becomes second nature just like it is on the guitar. I'm going to have to get used to using the re-entrant G, also.
Click to expand...

It can be both a blessing and a curse to move to a different, but similar instrument. You are familiar with how the instrument is structured and how the notes are related which means you should be able to pick it up more quickly but you sometimes find yourself doing familiar things and getting different results. For me it's a bit like playing soprano/tenor recorder compared with alto or bass. The same shapes make different sounds and you have to learn those differences. It's not difficult but you sometimes get mixed up.

I agree that it's often more effective to learn songs rather than just learn scales. Take songs you know on guitar and work them out for ukulele. That's the approach I took when I learnt bass recorder. I knew the fingerings - they are the same as the alto recorder - but I had to learn to read off the bass clef so I took familiar tunes and transposed them to bass clef and used them to practice with. Worked a treat for me.
 
Part of your adventure lies in having a physically different instrument in your hands. Ukuleles are much more compact (duh) and though technically the same as other stringed instruments, it's a ukulele.

I have only played ukulele, but I notice a playing difference when I pick up a soprano versus concert versus tenor. Imagining the physical size change from guitar to ukulele...yikes. It's not so hard that you can't do it.
 
One thing I can warn you is that translating back and forth can get a bit brain-warping. I didn't play guitar much for the past two years (I've been playing for 23 years), then had to take over the guitar club at my school. Every now and then, I'll look at my fingers and think, "This is NOT a ukulele."

But it's so worth learning. You likely have a whole host of skills just waiting to be translated onto the ukulele, and the instrument will open up for you that much more.
 
i have just got a fingerpicking book and i have slowly been doing some scale excercises, i am determined to try and read music, i must say just going up and down frets and the different sound for me at least is reward enough, didn't realise there were so many variations of same note (root), dont want to get a couple of years down the road then think must learn to read music
 
I remember reading somewhere, when the Rev. Gary Davis was asked if he could read music he replied, "Not enough to hurt my playing."
 
If I'm not on a C instrument (or any instrument that isn't the same key as what the music was written for), I understand why I need to transpose. But why would I take something written for a C instrument, play it on a C instrument, and then change the key anyway? Ok, changing key for a situation like for a singer notwithstanding... why would I need to do that? I transpose from C to Bb all the time, but that's only because the instrument I'm playing is in Bb and the music is in C, and maybe in that situation, I need to worry about being in the same concert key as everyone else.

Bill1 said:
Learning to read music is hard for a few months, then you have years of being free from needing someone else to tell you how a tune goes. It also makes it easier to do the mental part of learning another instrument, sadly there is no way of avoiding the physical part.
There is a thing called a transposing instrument, this is where you learn to read in any key, but physically play in another key. Like a whistle, that is tuned to D, it only has notes in the D and G major scale. But you can learn to play a tune written in A on your D whistle, the noise will be in the key of D or G, but you can still play the tune because the intervals will be correct. This also works for me in the first seven frets of a uke. When you find that a tune is hard to fit in the first seven frets in C tuning, try it in G tuning, but don't physically re-tune the uke. The noise will not be in the same key as the written version, but you can still work out the tune. This feature can be very useful to anyone who knows guitar, start out your sight reading on a uke by ignoring the fact that the uke is in C tuning, just work as if it is in G tuning to get your fingers happening. The noise will be in the wrong key, but the intervals will be correct and you will play a nice tune. If you need to know what the "new" key is, simply put your finger on the fretboard where you are playing the root note, then check a fretboard map to see what note the real noise is. Do the physical work until your get your fingers used to the uke, focusing on the physical work not the learning of the fretboard notes, then your brain can put your hands in autopilot when you move on to do the mental work of learning C tuning.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Sallybee
For those who read my previous Favilla Saga
Replies
3
Views
215
Strumdaddy
Strumdaddy
U
I read a listing today, and I was like- what?
Replies
3
Views
335
Bad_Astronaut
B
Spieler
  • Suggestion
In Progress Mark Forums Read - Confirmation Requirement
Replies
2
Views
194
Spieler
Spieler
rhiggie
Sold Jupiter Redwood / Pennsylvania black walnut - And the story of the Redwood! Read on...
Replies
10
Views
943
MatteoMusic
M
Wiggy
Why Do You Read Books?
2
Replies
28
Views
1K
Nickie
Nickie
Top Bottom