Can a C tuned ukulele accompany a baritone?

Can a "gCEA" tuned ukulele accompany a baritone? Does anything need to be done, i.e. use of a capo? Thanks

Easy enough to do. Just remember that you will be playing different chord shapes on both ukulele's. If you take the C tuned ukulele up to D then you can play the SAME chord shapes to give you a 4th harmony.

Anthony

anthonyg said:

Easy enough to do. Just remember that you will be playing different chord shapes on both ukulele's. If you take the C tuned ukulele up to D then you can play the SAME chord shapes to give you a 4th harmony.

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I suppose that might work on some songs, but in general, no. You'd have the bari playing a concert G chord with the other playing a concert D chord. Am I missing something?

If you really wanted to play the same shapes, the bari would have to be capoed at the 5th fret. But I general I agree with the first sentence in the reply - you just have to play different shapes for the same chord.

Confusing here. Am I missing something? You can accompany anything with anything. You didn't bring up finger position....A C is a C, a G is a G, etc. etc. regardless of the instrument. Re: standard uke, baritone, guitar, mandolin, banjo, all different fingerings possible. As long as everyone is playing in the same key, it works. Right?

Lots of confusing language here, but the simple answer is: Yes.

rreffner said:

Can a "gCEA" tuned ukulele accompany a baritone? Does anything need to be done, i.e. use of a capo? Thanks

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Yes. Like stated above: a c-chord is a c-chord, regardless of what ever instrument you're playing.


Now for the confusing part:
Just don't look at any of the fingering and chord shapes of the baritone player, because he or she will use the same fingering for different chords. Example: a c-chord played on the gCEA tuned uke would be played 0003. But on the baritone (assuming it's tuned DGBE like most baritones) a c-chord would be played 1020. Do your own thing and you're good to go.

As others have said, you can't watch the baritone for chord hints (unless you know the baritone/guitar shapes and can translate in your head on the fly). Otherwise, of course you can accompany any instrument with any (at least in the case with chromatic instruments - it can be tough with incompatible diatonic instruments). Wait, there's another exception, accordians, nobody wants to play with accordians! LOL

John

Can a Ford drive on the same road as a Chevy?

Can a dolphin swim in the same ocean as a shark?

Can a trumpet play with a piano?

Can a fiddle play with a banjo?

Can a D tuned uke play with a C tuned uke?

You've got to get out of that first-position-think. You've got to learn where the root note is in any chord formation...and then learn where the notes are on baritones vs. tenors, concerts, and sopranos.

The beauty of playing bari with tenor is exactly that the chord voicings are different when you do it right, and so the ensemble or duet sounds much fuller. To capo a bari to play like a tenor is to throw away what makes the instrument different.

I'm doing a lot of tenor/bari duet work in my little group "Uke Ellington". It really makes the translation of the big band jazz arrangements to two ukes work.

RichM said:

Lots of confusing language here, but the simple answer is: Yes.

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You can even read from the same notation. A "C" on a string bass is the same pitch as a "C" on a piccolo. The octave is the only difference.

Yes we do it all the time.
Baritone uses it's fingerings for chords and C tuned uses it's fingerings.
So if you play a G chord on a concert/soprano tenor uke and the Bari plays it's G chord (different fingering) all will sound good.