Best song to try out a new ukulele at a store

[robinboyd]

Is that tab meant for high or low g? Note, I tried it on both and liked it better on a low-g uke but still maybe that's just me....

-- Gary

I don't think it really matters. Personally, I prefer it on a high g, but it works fine on both.

 

[mm stan]

Play a song you are familiar with and know well, so you notice the difference in the tone, and can follow singing and playing well. Doesn't have to be a difficult song, main thing you play it well
Have a great hawaii vacation,
Find a comfortable neck too if you're interested in buying
If you're interested in buying a ukulele, concentrate on the trying many ukes and focus on that,
As many times we get too excited and forget to do so, impressing the staff is secondary lol, as they see
Many daily ...

 

[magicspeller]

Thank you to everyone who responded, you've given me exactly the kind of advice I was hoping for! I know I won't IMPRESS the staff at any music store. I'll never be able to play that well. I just want to demonstrate that I am ready for an instrument that is beyond a beginner model, and that I have some ideas of what I'm looking for in a new instrument.

So my take aways from this thread so far are:

1. Go to HMS / The Ukulele Site. Thanks for the heads up on what to expect from the staff there.
2. Take a tuner along. Not just to tune the instrument, but to verify intonation of the instrument, especially as I move up the neck.
3. Memorize a "regular" chord progression, and then try a few that are more challenging for me to see if a particular instrument makes them any easier.
4. Be sure to do some work further up the neck. I just found "Scarborough Fair" in Ukulele Mike's Chord Melody book that does alot in the 10-12 fret range. It also has several barre chords, so that song will test those out, too.
5. Learn Sakura Sakura and the chords for Hotel California. I love both of those and they will be good test songs.
6. Take a deep breath and don't be intimidated! Thanks for the reminder that most sales people want to share their knowledge and spread the ukulele love.

Thanks for the heads up about Kala's free lessons, Choirguy!

AmyDee, if you're still around, in #4, can you post the precise title of the book with "Scarborough Fair"? I bought one of Ukulele Mike's books because I saw that it had "Scarborough Fair," but it's a beginner's book and there are certainly no 10-12 fret mentions in "Scarborough Fair." I found one online that has it, but I'm hesitant to order it because he may have included the song in other books, as well.

 

[emba]

I think a simple chord melody would be good for that purpose. You could hear how it sounds both picked and strummed. I wouldn’t worry about impressing sales staff. You’ll never see them again anyway.

 

[emba]

Re:Take a tuner, i have found that having a tuner app on my phone is handy for this, but also most independent music stores have a tuner they’ll let you use to tune the instruments. I mean, if you want to carry your own, go for it, but for me it’d be just another something to keep up with, and who needs that on vacation?

 

[Oldscruggsfan]

IMHO, Loudon Wainwright’s “The Ukulele Song” is one very good ‘test drive’ tune. I’m confident that Barry Maz (Got a Ukulele) will concur, LOL.

 

[Jimpro]

Thank you to everyone who responded, you've given me exactly the kind of advice I was hoping for! I know I won't IMPRESS the staff at any music store. I'll never be able to play that well. I just want to demonstrate that I am ready for an instrument that is beyond a beginner model, and that I have some ideas of what I'm looking for in a new instrument.

So my take aways from this thread so far are:

1. Go to HMS / The Ukulele Site. Thanks for the heads up on what to expect from the staff there.
2. Take a tuner along. Not just to tune the instrument, but to verify intonation of the instrument, especially as I move up the neck.
3. Memorize a "regular" chord progression, and then try a few that are more challenging for me to see if a particular instrument makes them any easier.
4. Be sure to do some work further up the neck. I just found "Scarborough Fair" in Ukulele Mike's Chord Melody book that does alot in the 10-12 fret range. It also has several barre chords, so that song will test those out, too.
5. Learn Sakura Sakura and the chords for Hotel California. I love both of those and they will be good test songs.
6. Take a deep breath and don't be intimidated! Thanks for the reminder that most sales people want to share their knowledge and spread the ukulele love.

Thanks for the heads up about Kala's free lessons, Choirguy!

And finally, as has already been said, pick the instrument that impresses you!

 

[pluribus]

This thread has 6 years but Eruption from Van Halen played on uke would be impressive.

 

[don_b]

Bodysurfing

 

[badhabits]

Stairway to heaven

 

[TopDog]

My 'go to' song for checking tuning and the overall sound of a uke is 'Ain't She Sweet'!

 

[llwalsh]

My check list:

After tuning it….I run through a few of the 1st position open chords (aka Cowboy Chords).

Play some one octave Major scales in positions 1-5 up and down the neck using all the string (an easy pattern to memorize).

These two combinations immediately give a quick sense of basic “playability”, tone, volume, intonation, balance on each string, and sustain (the tuner suggestion is a great idea).

I also check to see how easy or hard it is to get harmonics to ring, in this order of importance :12, 7, and 5. If there’s nothing strong on each string at 12 I usually pass, this and 7 are my own minimal requirements, getting something strong at 5 (especially on a soprano) is a bonus.

It’s rare on most ukuleles for me to get past the cowboy chords step before realizing it’s a dud; however most of what I’ve played where i live are in big box stores, so going to a specialty shop in Hawaii would be a daunting task and a treat!

 

[Canada Jim]

If I am planning on buying a uke, I'd probably not play a whole song, but try out some strumming, some finger-style, some chords up the neck, a chord melody passage. . . and evealuate how the uke sounded and felt for each of these styles. Check for buzzes or high action, how comfortable the frets feel. . . It's always nice to have a friend who plays the uke come along so you can see how it sounds "out front".

 

[TimWilson]

If I am planning on buying a uke, I'd probably not play a whole song, but try out some strumming, some finger-style, some chords up the neck, a chord melody passage. . . and evealuate how the uke sounded and felt for each of these styles. Check for buzzes or high action, how comfortable the frets feel. . . It's always nice to have a friend who plays the uke come along so you can see how it sounds "out front".

Exactly my approach the whole TWO TIMES I've gone shopping in person. I knew that I was going to be trying necks of varying radii, from flat to quite curved, so I did some extra practicing with barre chords on my current uke so that I'd have a better idea of whether a particular profile would be a better fit.

I also worked on memorizing a couple of passages that were giving me fits, along the lines of "Why I can't I get this? I'm doing just fine with other things that seem trickier, but this other thing is still kicking my ***.”

(I don't know why I typed it that way. I could have just said "kicking my asterisks." LOL)

The important thing for me was to mostly focus on what I do, with a lesser, but still specific, focus on the things I'd hope would be better.

As well as bringing along someone to play it for you, you might consider bringing your current uke to the store... or I guess "a" current uke from your collection that would serve as the best "compare and contrast" baseline if you have a bunch of 'em. I didn't do this myself, since I was previously playing a $249 mahogany laminate soprano as my only uke, and was shopping for a spruce-topped tenor in the $1200-$1600 range to replace it.

(I get very itchy when I have too many things around me, so I'm a fan of keeping myself down to one nice uke and a beater.)

So I knew what the baseline was, and I knew that more things were gonna be different than not. But going forward, I definitely plan to bring the now current #1 as the baseline.

 

[merlin666]

Best way to evaluate the uke is to play what you play the most. Then you can focus on the uke and not your playing and you have best memory reference to what it is like on other ukes.

 

[magicspeller]

IMHO, Loudon Wainwright’s “The Ukulele Song” is one very good ‘test drive’ tune. I’m confident that Barry Maz (Got a Ukulele) will concur, LOL.

I hadn't heard this before. It looks like it's the same as "Got a Ukulele," is that right?

 

[magicspeller]

My 'go to' song for checking tuning and the overall sound of a uke is 'Ain't She Sweet'!

Any particular reason you would pick that one, TopDog?

 

[magicspeller]

This thread has 6 years but Eruption from Van Halen played on uke would be impressive.

I'm glad I got it started again! I had the same question a couple of weeks ago (and had had it for several months) and was about to ask it when I found this old thread. There are some great suggestions here.

Too many people misinterpreted what the OP was asking. The reason this is so difficult for us introverts is not because we want to "impress" the staff; it's the fear of embarrassing ourselves. I want to play something that's sufficiently challenging to give the ukulele a good test, but not one that's so difficult that I look like an idiot. I'm sure that as has been mentioned here, most music store employees will have heard worse, but still....

 

[magicspeller]

My check list:

After tuning it….I run through a few of the 1st position open chords (aka Cowboy Chords).

Play some one octave Major scales in positions 1-5 up and down the neck using all the string (an easy pattern to memorize).

These two combinations immediately give a quick sense of basic “playability”, tone, volume, intonation, balance on each string, and sustain (the tuner suggestion is a great idea).

I also check to see how easy or hard it is to get harmonics to ring, in this order of importance :12, 7, and 5. If there’s nothing strong on each string at 12 I usually pass, this and 7 are my own minimal requirements, getting something strong at 5 (especially on a soprano) is a bonus.

It’s rare on most ukuleles for me to get past the cowboy chords step before realizing it’s a dud; however most of what I’ve played where i live are in big box stores, so going to a specialty shop in Hawaii would be a daunting task and a treat!

Thanks. It looks like there are some really good ideas here; I'm sure I'll understand it eventually.

 

[Oldscruggsfan]

I hadn't heard this before. It looks like it's the same as "Got a Ukulele," is that right?

Yes