Vance Joy Riptide Tuning

So the artist himself answer the question here:

https://www.facebook.com/Vancejoy/posts/602212649788888

When he says top 4 does he means the one at the bottom or the top as the way people refer to the order of them confuses me. Does it start with the string closes to my chin or closest to my foot the 4 he means? I also heard you can just put a capo on the first fret is that true to get the same effect? I think i would need different strings to get my tenor ukulele to have the same sound? What strings would he have used anything special?

Thanks!

Can't see the post right now, but whenever I play it I just play in gCEA. Dm, C and F for the verse and course, and during the bridge, I play this Dm and Csus4 for the line 'I just wanna, I just wanna know' with the Csus4 coming as I sing 'know' and then for 'If you're gonna, if you're gonna stay' I play C, F, and then a sort of F/A# chord which I can't remember the name of. But it's 3rd fret on the G string, 2nd on the C, 1st on the E and open A. (3210)

Repeat that for the other two lines in the bridge then go back to Dm, C, F for the chorus.


EDIT: This being said, I very rarely set out to learn a song and have it sound exactly like the original, so if you want to recreate his sound (and it's a very distinct tone he's got going there) disregard everything I've said.

pixiepurls said:

So the artist himself answer the question here:

https://www.facebook.com/Vancejoy/posts/602212649788888

When he says top 4 does he means the one at the bottom or the top as the way people refer to the order of them confuses me. Does it start with the string closes to my chin or closest to my foot the 4 he means? I also heard you can just put a capo on the first fret is that true to get the same effect? I think i would need different strings to get my tenor ukulele to have the same sound? What strings would he have used anything special?

Thanks!

Click to expand...

Usually, the "top" string is referred to as the string that is the highest pitch, which is usually the closest to your foot if you're looking at the instrument as you hold it.

Notice, he says the "top 4 guitar strings" with a "high D" string, so he's actually tuning that tenor in re-entrant baritone tuning.

pixiepurls said:

When he says top 4 does he means the one at the bottom or the top as the way people refer to the order of them confuses me. Thanks!

Click to expand...

When holding a guitar "right-handed", with the left hand fretting and the right hand picking/strumming, the "top 4" are the four strings closest to the ground. The string very closest to the ground is string 1, usually tuned E, string 2 is tuned B, then G and D (then A and low-E, if you're interested).

In the same order, on a "normally tuned" gCEA soprano ukulele, string 1 is A, string 2 is E, then C and (usually high) G. These tunings give the same relationship between the four strings, so ukulele chord shapes will work on a guitar (just the thinnest four strings, obviously), or vice versa, guitar chord shapes will work on a ukulele ... just the names have been changed to protect the innocent

The string tunings may change, depending on which strings are fitted on which size ukulele, but the chord shapes will be the same.

Reading from the FaceBook posting, he's playing a tenor ukulele tuned dGBE, that's the same as a "normal" guitar, but with a re-entrant (hi) D. I'd guess his strings are quite thick!

Hope this all helps

yeah it seems like a bit of a mystery as to the strings he must be using... I want to sound like he sounds or my own happy version of it but I am picky

I've never tried them. Aquila 11U strings are dGBE tuning for tenor ukulele.

pixiepurls said:

yeah it seems like a bit of a mystery as to the strings he must be using... I want to sound like he sounds or my own happy version of it but I am picky

Click to expand...

Craig Chee and I made up a set of bari-tenor strings, but in re-entrant tuning. It's not that hard to cobble something together, since ukulele and classical guitar strings are the exact same type of string.

He and Sarah just posted a vid on it too; it sounds great.

d' g b e' in standard notation - a reentrant Key of G. We've got 3 different sets for that tuning on a typical 17" Tenor scale.

That, however, looks to be a longscale Tenor (though I can't be sure). Those instruments give much clearer response when strung this way.

Wanted to share our ukulele cover of this song

pixiepurls said:

So the artist himself answer the question here:

https://www.facebook.com/Vancejoy/posts/602212649788888

Click to expand...

Doesn't really answer the question in my mind. Just try this...
https://scorpexuke.com/riptide_vance_joy-_vance_joy/

Oh, and check this out, not the best video for the talent though...

Raygf said:

I've never tried them. Aquila 11U strings are dGBE tuning for tenor ukulele.

Click to expand...

Looks like that is it, dGBE.
Love that song and play it often, but I use standard tuning and just match my pitch for singing.
Good luck.

Jon Moody said:

Craig Chee and I made up a set of bari-tenor strings, but in re-entrant tuning. It's not that hard to cobble something together, since ukulele and classical guitar strings are the exact same type of string.

He and Sarah just posted a vid on it too; it sounds great.

Click to expand...

Awesome! Nice friends you got there!