johnnysmash
Well-known member
What is it that makes one instrument sound like a ukulele and another instrument sound like a guitar? The wood, construction, strings, scale length? What?
That's exactly what I was going to say, it's the re-entrant (high G) tuning compared to a linear (low G) tuning. I played guitar for almost 50 years, but when I first played a high G ukulele over 5 years ago, I was completely captured by the sound. I tried a low G uke, but did not like it, so I only play high G. My feeling is, if I want a guitar like sound, I'll just play guitar, but I like the high G uke so much, I haven't touched my guitars again and probably never will.i think re-entrant tuning is key to a really uke-y sound - also the shorter the scale, the more plinky and uke-y the sound. but re-entrant tuning is the big factor, in my opinion - i have put low g on soprano ukes, it changes the sound enormously, to something much more guitar-like, even with the tiny scale
Geez, I didn't even notice it's the guitar forum.Pardon me for being dense but this is the guitar form...
Pardon me for being dense but this is the guitar form.....so every guitar I have played does sound like a guitar. None sound like ukuleles so I'm not really sure what question you were asking?
A ukulele sounds like a ukulele because of the 4 nylon strings, short scale length, small body and reentrant gcea tuning
I see the OP has revised his question, thank you now I see where you are coming from now. In essence I think the reentrant tuning is what really gives the ukulele it's distinct sound. Along with g,c,e,a tuning, 4 nylon strings, s short scale length and a small body.
Kissing makes some very good points about a baritone being a small 4 string classical guitar. But change it to reentrant d,g,b,e and it does not really sound like a guitar anymore. Change strings and change the tuning to g,c,e,a and it sounds like a ukulele.
Steel versus nylon - the strings define the two every time. Take a baritone uke and a tenor guitar (close to the same scale) and play them side by side -
the difference in the strings is everything. The same with a 17-fret tenor banjo and a tenor-scale banjo-uke, or even a concert-scale uke and a mandolin or mandola. Steel has a sound whch synthetic strings can't duplicate, and vice versa.
There is an inherent sofness in the sound created by nylon/synthetic strings which fits certain playing styles and situations. Going from tenor guitar to tenor uke with the same melody, played in the same manner, brings the melody to an entirely different level. That difference can be rewarding, going ether way. It just depends on the mood and the stuation. Having both playing options is a blast.
That's a good point about re-entrant tuning.
I just don't see the ukulele as exclusively a re-entrant instrument though, nor is re-entrant entirely unique or invented for the ukulele.
Re-entrant tuning exists for guitars and other instruments too, though not as frequently.
An ukulele tuned in linear low-G or DGBE is as much an ukulele as one tuned re-entrant. And it may be no surprise to you that I mostly play my ukuleles tuned as linear.
I do keep one ukulele tuned re-entrant GCEA just to have that option when I need it.
Yes, it does sound quite different. But that is the result of it sounding like a re-entrant ukulele, not so much it sounding inherently more "ukulele-like".
It still behaves much like a low-G ukulele and like a guitar, but just with a modified tuning.
Quite a bit of it is semantics too I guess.
I once tuned a guitalele like a guitar (EADGBE) but with the bass position E an octave high, resulting in a "re-entrant" guitar.
What does such an instrument sound like?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUu6vwbGFsQ
Comparing nylon string guitar and ukulele blurs the line a bit.
Comparing to steel strings is a bit unfair, because even comparing steel string guitars to nylon string guitars is a stark contrast.
Perhaps it's more like a spectrum.
The best analogy I can think of is when is a knife a knife and not a sword? Longer knives start behaving like swords, and shorter swords start behaving like knives