Guitar vs Ukulele

I just recently started playing the guitar after years of only uke, and I have to admit, (at least for the moment) I am preferring it. I am specifically learning slack key from Keola Beamer’s online instruction, and love the full, rich sound as well as seeing progress in my abilities. I gave probably tapped out on my skill as a uke player, and without intensive work won’t improve. I play instrumental arrangements and am happy with my ability, but will never learn to be Jake or Daniel Ho now. But on the guitar, I can’t wait to pick it up again as I am progressing from standing, to crawling and walking. The improvement is a huge emotional lift.

I got a Taylor GS mini e-koa, and am pimping it out. I am getting new Gotoh 510 minis installed on it this week, and already added a koa truss rod cover and ebony/abalone bridge pins - the ebony/abalone strap button goes on this weekend. Since it is not as easy for me to see the small white dots, I also added abalone fret dot stickers that are much brighter and bigger, so easier to see. Going to the dark side has quickly become an addiction...

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That is awesome. I like what you are doing to "pimp out" for koa GS mini. I love the picture, great wall of koa!!!! They all look so good. I have heard of these items being done and I like the idea, might have to implement some of those to my spruce/walnut GS mini.

Great to hear you are making good progress Stacey. I am the same, uke skills have transferred over well and I am up and "walking":music:
 
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I play a bunch of instruments, all badly.
Tin Whistle and Anglo concertina for Irish Trad(mostly), ukulele (mostly concert and baritone), a little banjo and banjolele (though clawhammer seems to give my hands problems and pain).
Just starting to get in to cigar box guitars with open tunings for blues.
I really enjoy singing, but sing badly.
 
I play a bunch of instruments, all badly.
Tin Whistle and Anglo concertina for Irish Trad(mostly), ukulele (mostly concert and baritone), a little banjo and banjolele (though clawhammer seems to give my hands problems and pain).
Just starting to get in to cigar box guitars with open tunings for blues.
I really enjoy singing, but sing badly.

Nice.......as I said in the opening I don't do this for money so if playing a bunch of different instruments badly makes us happy it's all good.
 
I came very close to buying a Blueridge tenor guitar like yours, Dave, but opted for a Gold Tone short scale banjo instead. Though already up to my ears in banjos, now I’ve added mandolins too. I’m really into Irish music, but somehow it just didn’t seem right on a ukulele—I dunno . . . Now I’m lusting after an Octave Mandolin.

I still play my ukes once in a while. I’m learning to fingerpick my baritone and plinking on some of the others when I can sing. The singing sometimes makes me cough though—Asthma.

Maybe the tenor guitar will come later.
 
It really depends on what you want to do with your instrument(s). I started with a tenor uke about 7 years ago. I wanted it mostly to accompany my voice. Feeling a need for more bass, which is really a matter of your tastes, I added a low G to it. One thing led to another and soon I had a baritone. It seemed to me to work better as a very portable singer/songwriter type instrument. I wanted to do some home recording, so I finally added a UBass and started multi-tracing. That gave me the fullness of sound I wanted to the type of music I play and sing.

Fast forward half a decade, and I joined a band consisting of a couple of ukuleles and a guitar. We all sang and performed. Influenced by the saying, "If two of you are playing the same thing, one of you is superfluous," my band leader asked me to play the bass instead of the uke. I did and it really rounded out the band's sound. Later, the other ukulele player quit due to other obligations. I tried to start playing the uke again in the band, but since our lead guitar player cant strum well due to arthritis and neuropatjy, the sound was too thin. So, I began playing rhythm guitar with a healthy helping of Travis picking for bass balance, when we don't have a sit-in bassist.

I still try to play the uke as a solo instrument for voice accoumpanyment, but to be honest it always leaving me wanting for more fullness (i.e. bass). I think there is a reason you don't see to many popular ukulele performers who don't have a guitar or bass backing them up.

Anyway, for me the guitar serves the purpose of providing a full sound with only once instrument. I still have a soprano, concert, and several tenors, but when I really want to perform more than a few songs, I almost always reach for my guitar. YMMV.
 
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It really depends on what you want to do with your instrument(s). I started with a tenor uke about 7 years ago. I wanted it mostly to accompany my voice. Feeling a need for more bass, which is really a matter of your tastes, I added a low G to it. One thing led to another and soon I had a baritone. It seemed to me to work better as a very portable singer/songwriter type instrument. I wanted to do some home recording, so I finally added a UBass and started multi-tracing. That gave me the fullness of sound I wanted to the type of music I play and sing.

Fast forward half a decade, and I joined a band consisting of a couple of ukuleles and a guitar. We all sang and performed. Influenced by the saying, "If two of you are playing the same thing, one of you is superfluous," my band leader asked me to play the bass instead of the uke. I did and it really rounded out the band's sound. Later, the other ukulele player quit due to other obligations. I tried to start playing the uke again in the band, but since our lead guitar player cant strum well due to arthritis and neuropatjy, the sound was too thin. So, I began playing rhythm guitar with a healthy helping of Travis picking for bass balance, when we don't have a sit-in bassist.

I still try to play the uke as a solo instrument for voice accoumpanyment, but to be honest it always leaving me wanting for more fullness (i.e. bass). I think there is a reason you don't see to many popular ukulele performers who don't have a guitar or bass backing them up.

Anyway, for me the guitar serves the purpose of providing a full sound with only once instrument. I still have a soprano, concert, and several tenors, but when I really want to perform more than a few songs, I almost always reach for my guitar. YMMV.

I am curious, did you play guitar before you started uke 7 years ago.
 
I'm a newcomer to ukes, after almost 20 years of playing guitar. I play in church almost every week. After finally finishing a long-running rebuild of an old archtop guitar, I dove into ukuleles by starting a Stew Mac tenor kit. Being me, I had to add a few personal touches, and spent about an hour last night smoothing out the bindings. Pyrography is another of my interests, and the top of the uke is going to get some sort of design; just haven't settled on what.

Uke #2 has already hit the workbench, as I've been cutting and planing wood to get ready for the build. Top will be Bear Claw Sitka, and the back/sides American Black Walnut. Mahogany neck with a BW fretboard. But that's not all ...

I've ordered plans for a tenor guitar. Tonewoods are on their way also, with the soundboard being Redwood and the back/sides Indian Rosewood.

After several years of dormancy in my woodcraft, I went to a woodworking school in Indiana back in August. I came away very inspired, and determined to ramp up my shop again. I like the sound of both a guitar and a ukulele, but I may like building them as much as I do playing them.
 
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I hear you on the muscle memory. I played guitar for 50 years before taking up ukulele, and currently play electric guitar in a classic rock band. If I have a Saturday night gig, I need to stop playing uke midweek, and play only guitar, preferably a big honkin dreadnaught acoustic for a couple of days to reacclimate , so I'll be ready for guitar performance on Saturday. If I don't, muscle memory tells my fingers to play uke sized chords on guitar, which ain't pretty at a gig, believe me. :stop:
 
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When I bought my Taylor GS mini a few months ago I thought it would not be long until I sold off most of my ukes. Guitar has THE SOUND I have always strived for with my linear tuned ukes, deep, full, resonant. I also bought a used Taylor 512e 12 fret, cedar and mahogany. This thing is like angels singing when finger picked, unbelievably good.

Then I went away on vacation a couple weeks ago and took my Kimo tenor, I always take a uke on vacation. Spending one week with it got me to re-appreciate the lovely sound a ukulele produces. No it is not a guitar, not even close, but it sounds nice anyways. Then I played my Kamaka super concert, one of my few reentrant strung ukes. Holy Cow a great reentrant is wonderful for strumming and singing.

There appears to be room in my musical life for uke and guitar. Sorry to fellow UUers if I got you excited about a huge sell off of excellent ukuleles. I am spending 80% of my playing time with guitar now because of the learning curve. I will sit on my stash of ukes for one year then have an honest assesment of where I am headed and what I should keep and or sell.

There is a big disadvantage to playing/learning both uke and guitar when you are at my level. It can be very confusing and slows down the learning curve on both instruments, espiecally muscle memory. Some people would scorn this approach but I play for my own enjoyment, I don't do this for money. I just LOVE the sound stringed instruments produce, it always makes me happy, no matter how well or poorly I play at times.

Anyone else in the same boat as me?????

There is a joy in just listening and feeling the sound that comes from these instruments, I think we get desensitized and that might be the reason why trying a new kind of instrument renews the joy. That is the reason why I got a cello banjo, different kinda of ukes and I keep trying new strings..
You should keep rotating and have enough different sounding instruments..
After some time with a UAS infection, if the goal is to improve technique then it makes more sense to fix one uke and string set and just focus on technique. One needs to focus on songs, chords, notes, harmonization and arrangements as the sound of the instrument itself will not give the same goose bumps, it is a longer journey with fewer low hanging fruits. Getting a new instrument and the thrill of the new sound is a shortcut to get the joy.
Analogous to dating vs marriage?
 
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It is nice to see this thread come to life again. Good conversations about guitars and ukuleles always draw out some great ideas.

@tonyturley....so glad to hear about your uke builds and the fact this got you back into your love for woodworking. I have a woodworking background, use to do it for a living. I am resisting the urge to go down your route, I want to concentrate on improving my playing skills first. Cause if I jump into building I'm afraid playing will come to a screeching halt:p

@Bill 1.....as always you make excellent points and observations, especially about keeping good instrument for future use. This is sound (pun intended) advice. I will go through periods of preferring a tenor or a soprano or baritone.

@Ukecaster......I hear you about the drawback of so many different instruments. I play in a ukuele group, three of us. When working up a new song I will only play and practice with the ukulele I have choice to perform with. If I am jumping around from baritone to soprano to tenor during that time I am screwed come performance nignt.

@kerneltime......So true about the discover and honeymoon period, so fun so lustful. But once all the string experimentation is done then it is time to practice and play. A few weeks ago I sat on my back deck with one of my guitars ( yes I have a FEW now, GAS is real as UAS). I played and sang 7-8 songs in a row. I just got lost in the music.......it was wonderful, I felt like a player
 
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The "muscle memory" situation is what caused me to go fifths on all my 4-string-based instruments. When I went from guitar to mandolin (tuned fifths - GDAE) my guitar ability dipped. When ukulele got added, I found constantly going from GCEA to GDAE aggrevating. It was easier to restring ukes to fifths than restring a mandolin to GCEA. When tenor guitar and tenor banjo were added (both tuned fifths - GDAE and CGDA), the fifths conversion for me was complete.

CGDA became for me the the preferred fifths tuning. Tenor guitar and tenor banjo are set CGDA or GDAE usually based on the genre to be played, and I stay mostly in the CGDA genres. Most ukukele designs acoustically take CGDA better than GDAE.

So, if one is like me - muscle-memory challenged - retuning to what feels comfortable can make amateur (or semi-pro) playing more fun. If one feels more comfortable with GCEA, tenor guitars and tenor banjos can be tuned GCEA as effectively as fifths. It does make life interesting when someone (usually without invitation) picks up one of my instruments and complains it's way out of tune. As long as the person doesn't start trying to autocratically retune the instrument, all is fine.
 
I’m surprised at how easy my Kala tenor guitar is to play. I don’t like to read music with it because it’s confusing, so I use tabs or play by ear. I know I could read music with it, but I don’t wanna. Lately, I’ve been dabbling with classical music by ear, mostly Bach, but just easy stuff.

I really enjoy using picks except for chords. Chords are too loud, but maybe I’ll git usta ‘em. :eek:ld:
 
I'm in the same boat as you Dave, I only started playing guitar in January, I have played uke for nearly 9 years, when I got my first guitar I thought wow this is what I'm looking for, thats the end of the uke, but every time I practiced I was struggling with the guitar, it was hard work, so after an hour of finger pain, frustration and sometimes downright anger, I picked up the uke, it was fun it felt right, it made me smile, now 9 months in and after many plateaus with the guitar, I'm getting somewhere, I'm starting to really enjoy my practice, I look forward to it, then when I have finished and put it away out comes the uke and it is a joy to behold even now, apart from when I go to play a D chord on it and make a G shape lol, but I can honestly say I now love playing both instruments, they will be with me for life
 
I started playing guitar about two years ago, absolutely love the sound of steel strings and the extra bass. But I didn't think I'd be able to learn the new chord shapes unless I concentrated solely on guitar, so I sold all but one of my ukuleles and didn't pick up a uke again until a couple of months ago.

I progressed to the point where I could play fairly competently, but it has never felt as comfortable as the uke. Also, to my surprise, I found it much more difficult to source fingerstyle music that I actually wanted to play.

Eventually I found myself drawn back to the sweet sound of nylon strings and the ease of playing such a small instrument, I'm pleasantly surprised at how quickly I've remembered many of the ukulele pieces I used to know by heart - muscle memory is an amazing thing!

I was also diagnosed with cancer recently, and upcoming surgery will make it uncomfortable, if not impossible, for me to play guitar for a while. So I treated myself to a tenor Anuenue Moonbird, (because, RATIONALISATION!) and I have completely fallen in love with the ukulele all over again.

I haven't sold my guitars - yet - time will tell, but right now I am finding the familiarity of the ukulele hugely comforting. I'm also very much enjoying visiting UU again and seeing so many familiar 'faces' on the forums :)
 
I started playing guitar about two years ago, absolutely love the sound of steel strings and the extra bass. But I didn't think I'd be able to learn the new chord shapes unless I concentrated solely on guitar, so I sold all but one of my ukuleles and didn't pick up a uke again until a couple of months ago.

I progressed to the point where I could play fairly competently, but it has never felt as comfortable as the uke. Also, to my surprise, I found it much more difficult to source fingerstyle music that I actually wanted to play.

Eventually I found myself drawn back to the sweet sound of nylon strings and the ease of playing such a small instrument, I'm pleasantly surprised at how quickly I've remembered many of the ukulele pieces I used to know by heart - muscle memory is an amazing thing!

I was also diagnosed with cancer recently, and upcoming surgery will make it uncomfortable, if not impossible, for me to play guitar for a while. So I treated myself to a tenor Anuenue Moonbird, (because, RATIONALISATION!) and I have completely fallen in love with the ukulele all over again.

I haven't sold my guitars - yet - time will tell, but right now I am finding the familiarity of the ukulele hugely comforting. I'm also very much enjoying visiting UU again and seeing so many familiar 'faces' on the forums :)

It is so good to hear from you again Victoria, you were missed. I had wondered where you had gone...........the demon guitar stole you away. I wish you all the best with your cancer treatment. No doubt the ukulele will be great comfort and treatment for the body and soul.

Congratulations on the Anuenue Moonbird, they are fabulous instruments, did you get a concert or tenor size. Thanks for checking in and sharing
 
I'm in the same boat as you Dave, I only started playing guitar in January, I have played uke for nearly 9 years, when I got my first guitar I thought wow this is what I'm looking for, thats the end of the uke, but every time I practiced I was struggling with the guitar, it was hard work, so after an hour of finger pain, frustration and sometimes downright anger, I picked up the uke, it was fun it felt right, it made me smile, now 9 months in and after many plateaus with the guitar, I'm getting somewhere, I'm starting to really enjoy my practice, I look forward to it, then when I have finished and put it away out comes the uke and it is a joy to behold even now, apart from when I go to play a D chord on it and make a G shape lol, but I can honestly say I now love playing both instruments, they will be with me for life

That is great to hear........lifetime endeavours are rare and wonderful. So is music and that is the magic in all of this!!!

I remember my first attempt at guitar years ago. I was a perfectionist back then and wrong or flubbed notes would make me mad and frustrated. After the fun casual light heart nature of the ukulele I can play guitar with a more realistic approach, mistakes happen but I just keep at it.
 
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It is so good to hear from you again Victoria, you were missed. I had wondered where you had gone...........the demon guitar stole you away. I wish you all the best with your cancer treatment. No doubt the ukulele will be great comfort and treatment for the body and soul.

Congratulations on the Anuenue Moonbird, they are fabulous instruments, did you get a concert or tenor size. Thanks for checking in and sharing

Thank you very much, Dave. Yes, the demon guitar is entirely to blame, I even dabbled a little in the truly dark arts of electric!

My Moonbird is a tenor, I absolutely love it.
 
Steel strings can tempt a person - but a passion always returns. :)

(All the best with your treatment, hope all goes well.)

Wise words, Keith! Much as I love those steel strings, I'd underestimated how much the little ukulele had crept into my affections.

And thank you :)
 
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