bborzell
Well-known member
I have a lot of different stringed instruments hanging (literally) around the house. Acoustic guitars, electric guitars, acoustic bass, electric bass, acoustic mandolins, two solid body electric mandolins, lap steels of various construction/configuration and four ukuleles.
Over the past few months (I bought my first uke in March or so), the ratio of uke to non uke playing for me has been somewhere around 90% uke and 10% other stuff. That has gotten me to thinking about why I am so clearly inclined to grab a uke rather than anything else. After all, if I close my eyes and throw a rubber suction cup tipped dart in my music room, the chances of hitting a uke are pretty small (not that many ukes compared to other instruments and they ain't really large targets).
I am sure that size plays a part in my decision to pick up a uke. I just ended a year long relationship with a large body jazz box guitar because I was constantly aware of its size and shape while playing it.
Then there is the thing about ukuleles being easy to learn to play. On that count, what I have learned over the past 5-6 months is that ukes are relatively easy to learn to play, but not all that easy to learn to play well.
I think it comes down to the one factor that really differentiates my ukes from all my other stringed instruments (except for one); string material.
Everything else I have available to play is strung with either steel strings or something wound with metal stuff. And, as a result, they all sound on the bright side. While this is not to say that their sound is unpleasant to my ears, the emerging reality seems to be that I prefer the tonal quality of FC strings on a smaller body.
This fact has come home to me as I work on more finger-style songs. The tone quality of individual notes being plucked or hammered on with a ukulele is simply what keeps me coming back for more.
What keeps you hooked?
Over the past few months (I bought my first uke in March or so), the ratio of uke to non uke playing for me has been somewhere around 90% uke and 10% other stuff. That has gotten me to thinking about why I am so clearly inclined to grab a uke rather than anything else. After all, if I close my eyes and throw a rubber suction cup tipped dart in my music room, the chances of hitting a uke are pretty small (not that many ukes compared to other instruments and they ain't really large targets).
I am sure that size plays a part in my decision to pick up a uke. I just ended a year long relationship with a large body jazz box guitar because I was constantly aware of its size and shape while playing it.
Then there is the thing about ukuleles being easy to learn to play. On that count, what I have learned over the past 5-6 months is that ukes are relatively easy to learn to play, but not all that easy to learn to play well.
I think it comes down to the one factor that really differentiates my ukes from all my other stringed instruments (except for one); string material.
Everything else I have available to play is strung with either steel strings or something wound with metal stuff. And, as a result, they all sound on the bright side. While this is not to say that their sound is unpleasant to my ears, the emerging reality seems to be that I prefer the tonal quality of FC strings on a smaller body.
This fact has come home to me as I work on more finger-style songs. The tone quality of individual notes being plucked or hammered on with a ukulele is simply what keeps me coming back for more.
What keeps you hooked?