After a Whopping Week of Uke

Well, here I sit, after a week on the Uke. I have to say (and I even told my wife this the other night) that I’m having more fun on this little instrument than I ever had on guitar, an instrument I’ve been playing since late winter of ’93. Sure, I can attribute some of that to it being the new shiny, but it really is a hoot. I even took it with us to a bluegrass festival this weekend. Not to play AT the festival, but to play for the family while we were driving. My favorite part was the funny looks from the other drivers on the freeway

One of the things I really like so far, is discovering the many different sounds I can make on the banjo uke, especially because mine is an open back. So, of course I have fingers (pads), nails, half-finger-half-nails, but I also get the added adjustment of how open I make the back of the banjo uke. Want fuller sound? Bring it out from the body a bit. Brighten her up, you say? Sure, I’ll just close the back some more. It’s fascinating.

Setting up the bridge wasn’t really a big deal. I’ve seen a lot of complaints out there about these coming with the bridge separate. There are lots of videos out there showing a person how to do this, but the really easy nitty gritty is: put it where it looks right, check your 12th fret and harmonic. If it’s sharp, bring it back. Flat? Push it to the neck. Real easy.

I still have a lot to learn in terms of “proper” strumming techniques and what not, but so far, just playing by feel and learning these chords with songs I already like is a big ole hoot. I now fully intend to get a non-banjo ukulele soon, simply because since I’ve been playing this one, there are some songs where I’d much rather have something a lot mellower. Probably a concert size, since this one is soprano.

I'll check back in later.

Cool, I love when people share their enthusiasm! Still love my ukes, they are a lot of fun and very relaxing to me.

Keep on strumm'in, sounds like you are having a blast!

You can even play bluegrass on it.

Thanks for the comments.

I've recently looked up some clawhammer videos for playing Old Time style. My only issue with clawhammer, is I can't seem to be able to sing with it.

I've been eyeballing a Firefly banjo uke on craigslist for over a month now. I just started playing and already I want another! The wife said to go play it and if I like it to buy it, but I'm afraid I wouldn't have time to play 2 ukes. It's $140 and I'm not so sure I want to pay that for a uke I might not have time to play. Anyone know if that is a good price? Do they really sound like banjos? I appreciate the enthusiastic post because it has certain perked my interest in getting a banjo uke.

I don't think they sound exactly like a banjo. That's due to the strings, of course. But ignoring that part of it, it's extremely similar to any given open back banjo.

If you're worried about time to play it, just keep them both handy. Play a few songs on your uke, then simply switch over. I'll bet like me, you'll find there are songs which sound "right" on the banjo uke.

moetrout said:

I've been eyeballing a Firefly banjo uke on craigslist for over a month now. I just started playing and already I want another! The wife said to go play it and if I like it to buy it, but I'm afraid I wouldn't have time to play 2 ukes. It's $140 and I'm not so sure I want to pay that for a uke I might not have time to play. Anyone know if that is a good price? Do they really sound like banjos? I appreciate the enthusiastic post because it has certain perked my interest in getting a banjo uke.

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Awesome deal, I'm not a *huge* banjo uke fan but I do like them now and then. And even I would snap up that Firefly - that's saying something! They do sound like a banjo uke to me, and they're lighter than most which is a +. Great playability out of the box, and if you like you can adjust the action easily. They have a really great design.

I love clawhammer, check out Richard Heffner who ran (runs?) the EZ Folk forums. Really nice guy with some amazing clawhammer uke videos and articles.

peaceweaver3 said:

Awesome deal, I'm not a *huge* banjo uke fan but I do like them now and then. And even I would snap up that Firefly - that's saying something! They do sound like a banjo uke to me, and they're lighter than most which is a +. Great playability out of the box, and if you like you can adjust the action easily. They have a really great design.

I love clawhammer, check out Richard Heffner who ran (runs?) the EZ Folk forums. Really nice guy with some amazing clawhammer uke videos and articles.

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Hey! I found him on YouTube just two days ago. Amazing talent.

Yes I enjoy playing ukulele a lot more than ever I did playing guitar.

Ukulele rule #1 - Have fun......sounds like you've got that part down. I recently learned, somewhat proficiently, the Formby style of strumming and I found that in so doing, it made learning other strumming patterns easier. I personally love the concert size. Lots of great concert size banjo ukes out there. You might also want to look at concert size reso-ukes.

I just looked up the Reso Ukes. Wow... Wonder how loud those are

I think my next one will be a concert size "regular" uke (don't know the proper term...guitar shaped, I reckon). I found some music last night for a more traditional Somewhere Over the Rainbow (non Iz version) and it had some lead tab below the chords. Playing up on the 15th fret on my little guy is.... um... "challenging" to say the least.