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There’s a name for each technique: Tasto means to play over the fingerboard Pontecello means to play near the bridge If it’s not marked, you play somewhere in the middle. Each spot gives a slightly different sound. Explore!

Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be…

PhD and Living Water both make strings for Baritone in “Low G” tuning. My Kala baritone just LOVES that tuning. I’ve also used Worth Clear light Soprano low G strings, though you lose the “Two changes per set” option. The light gauge tunes up a fourth higher with only moderate tension.

Descending sequence of x9 chords (implied root), played, e.g. 4555-3444-2333-1222-o111 etc. It winds up being a tritone substitution sequence: Vx9-bVx9-IVx9-bIVx9 etc. You can jump off the merry-go-round any time you want to.

It Does get knotty. One issue that Ukulele shares with other high-pitched instruments is that we’re a high-pitched instrument. Consequently once we get past simple triads, we start to rely on our brains filling in the blanks—consider the “Hawaiian Dx7” (2o2o, a’c’f#’a’) which has no D in it at...

I call some of those “My Spouse Made Me List It” listings. Spouse says, “This has to go”. So it gets listed at an insane price, “You know, I listed it, but it didn’t sell. Guess I’ll keep it…”

Oh I don’t know. . . If I leave a bowl of milk out for the Tab Faery, order a Tab Book from Amazon, the Tab Faery brings you a book of tablatures and a bowl of sour milk. Try it! It works! More seriously, for me, Big Books of Tabs are Incredibly useful for training my fingers and ears how to...

The best way to learn chords is to play a lot of songs where you use different chords. A great way to learn the ”Scale Tone Chords” is to play LOTS of four-chord songs from the ‘50s (Actually. 1954 through 1963, ‘cuz Reasons…) things like Earth Angel, Great Pretender, Tears on my Pillow, etc...

As the great sages Dan and Mick have said, “No guitar sold as many Les Pauls as did Jimmy Page’s Telecaster…” (That Pedal Show on YouTube, if you’re electrically inclined)

Awesome. Not on the website yet?

The thing about strings (and picks, if you use them) is that they represent your physical connection to the instrument. That means that your choice is going to be VERY personal. What I LOVE you might be meh on, or even hate. But strings are CHEAP, compared to ukuleles. It’s worth your while...

Fun Fact: Classical guitar strings are sold as half-sets. Classical players typically replace their UNWOUND strings twice as often as they replace their wound strings, because they go dull faster than the wounds wear out. So if your G is unraveling, the strings are probably well past...

Looks like the UL-4 is Steel strung, 21.5” scale? You should be able to get standard. TG tuning or maybe a step higher with tenor guitar strings. I can’t find it quickly, but Ry Cooder’s website had a YUGE chart with various tunings and scale lengths, but as it’s braced for steel that...

Mick, of That Pedal Show, often says that the three most important things in a guitar are 1. How it looks, 2. How it looks and 3. How it looks. Says the guy who plays a vintage Strat, but his point is that if you like the LOOK of an instrument it will inspire you to play more. Like that...

My Pono Baritone Nui is tuned dgbe’ My Kala ”normal” bari is tuned as a Renaissance guitar, i.e. Linear C (gc’e’a’) where it sounds lovely. It never sounded well in Low D, but sounds amazing in A (eac#’f#’), just a step higher. You can try open G (dgbd’) with conventional strings, or even open...

The Renaissance guitar was essentially a 7-string Bari, strung for Low g, gg’c’c’e’e’a’. There’s some evidence that a G-tuned instrument existed, but we haven’t found one yet.

Ukulelehunt. Also check out his UkeTube channel. http://ukulelehunt.com/2014/03/12/songs-with-chords-you-know-updated-2/

With Flouros, the difference brand-to-brand is mostly about the diameters and tensions chosen for the set. Even a “soft” set is going to be brighter than most any Nylon set. Remember that strings and plectra are our physical connection to the instrument, so the choice is going to be highly...

The thing about strings is they, along with plectra, represent your physical connection to the instrument. That makes it very personal. Fortunately, strings are fairly inexpensive. It’s worth your while to try as many strings as you can. The best for someone else’s playing might not be the...

It’s a good solid foundation for changing chord-to-chord, which lots of of have to work on quite a bit when we’re starting out. Another good thing to check out is “Songs with Chords You Already Know,” which is exactly what it says on the tin.