tips for those high notes

I have a nice custom uke with a cutaway and I have been practicing fingerpicking up in the high frets. I am having a problem getting the E on the 19th fret of the A string to ring clearly.

Does anyone have any suggestions for this scenario? E.g., more or less string tension, pressing down harder, abutting the finger against the fret, rolling the finger, string recommendation, etc.

Seems like I sort of turn my finger to have my finger nail more across the string up at the high end, (fret 18 in this instance).

I have concluded that on many ukes fret 18 and beyond are more for show... sounding clear notes that far up the fingerboard does not always work well for me either.

The only advice I can offer is:
- make sure you are fretting it cleanly (which I am sure you have already attempted to do)
- make sure to pluck the string about halfway between the fret and the bridge. with so little vibrating length left this can make a big difference up on the high frets

As far as I can tell: every uke is different, so you will have to discover if and how it is possible to make these notes sound on your instrument. Good luck!

Thanks for the input everybody. Part of the problem was me. I played all night long from about midnight 'til sunrise and I damaged my index fingers (they had that tenderness that seems a lot like having frostbite). I rested for a day and things seem a bit better. But the fingernail trick does work and it is essential for a good descending glissando.

I have been playing in E for the better part of a year and that region of the fretboard (14-19th frets) are very important to me. I spend a lot of time up there, but I do suppose I have to come to terms with the fact that my one ukulele doesn't really have the sustain on that A string. My kamaka has more sustain as does my baritone even though all my ukuleles are about the same scale by design.

I am wondering if a string change would help any. My kamaka is strung with concert strings although it is a long neck tenor. My more problematic uke is strung with tenor strings. I was just playing my uke before writing this and I have to say I absolutely adore the uke in every other way. It just has a shorter sustain on the 19th fret of the A string. The 18th fret is fine and I can use vibrato and bend the note (although who would bend a leading tone). It is just that 19th fret. I need to seriously count my blessings. This is a rather petty complaint.

What kind of strings do you use? In my experience, you'll have much better luck up there with fluorocarbon.

currently I am using brown Worth strings

My mahogany laminate uke produces a "pling" at 18th highest fret for Eb that soon dies out. Sort of maybe usable as an effect for a normal Eb as an octave higher ending some solo to that note

If it's possible in the song, you can also play an artificial harmonic by fretting the A string 7th fret and doing a harmonic on the 19th fret. The same note is also on the natural harmonics on the A string 7th fret, the E string 5th fret, and the open C string behind the nut. There's even other artificial harmonics that you can find by noodling around a bit

ubulele said:

Are you adjusting your right hand picking position so it stays in roughly the same proportion to the vibrating string length?

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I had never really thought about it, but here's what I have observed myself doing: in normal circumstances my picking hand is rooted around the top of the sound hole. When I come up to the 19th fret or thereabouts, my picking hand slides back to the bottom of the sound hole to give, I suppose, my fretting hand some room.

Since we're talking about things I have never considered, I wonder what fingers other ukulele players and guitarists use up there. I pointedly paid attention to my practice and I find that if, for example, I am playing an E minor pentatonic at frets 4-7, then I am using all four of my fingers to fret. However if I move up to the play the same notes at frets 16-19, I am only using my index and middle fingers. I wonder if it would be preferable to use the same fingerings everywhere, regardless of how cramped it would be.

The uke makes a difference too, some of my higher end ukes ring out at higher frets, worth brown are fine but you could play with different strings.
Try a different uke and see. This is assuming you have played with your technique first.

kerneltime said:

The uke makes a difference too, some of my higher end ukes ring out at higher frets, worth brown are fine but you could play with different strings.
Try a different uke and see. This is assuming you have played with your technique first.

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I understand what you're saying. My Kamaka long neck tenor, strung with brown Worth concert strings, as well as my baritone, strung with Southcoast strings, both yield better results. Do you have any recommendations for other fluorocarbon string sets with an unwound G? I have to be honest; I'm really reluctant to part with my brown Worths mainly because they are brown. It is superficial but I really like the look of the brown strings on my Viburnum fretboard. However I think I might take the plunge if the results were forthcoming.

ripock said:

I understand what you're saying. My Kamaka long neck tenor, strung with brown Worth concert strings, as well as my baritone, strung with Southcoast strings, both yield better results. Do you have any recommendations for other fluorocarbon string sets with an unwound G? I have to be honest; I'm really reluctant to part with my brown Worths mainly because they are brown. It is superficial but I really like the look of the brown strings on my Viburnum fretboard. However I think I might take the plunge if the results were forthcoming.

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I guess what I am saying is that maybe that uke cannot sing at that note..
Here are some experiments to try
1. Get monofilament fishing line of the same width or slightly less and try that (in my limited experience monofilament fishing lines tend to have lesser density and tension at the same width, I believe south coast light strings. This should allow you to tune the A string up and see if the uke responds to that high note so instead of 19th fret you will be trying the 17th fret. If the uke does sound right with the lesser tension string at 19th then you have a solution if the string does not even ring tuned up at 17th then maybe it is the uke.
Maybe something like https://www.tackledirect.com/14c30lb.html

2. Try PHD strings, I quite like them

Actually reading up http://worthc.to/english/w_strings.html
The BT-63 uses the same string for A and G... how does your G string sound at the same fret?

Thanks Kerneltime et alii. I'll be attempting to implement some of these suggestions. Just a clarification: my ukulele does play every note well (although I have to be precise in my fretting). I am just trying to fine tune some things such as getting a good glissando transition to and from the extreme high frets. The advice of this thread still applies to my fine tunings and I will of course endeavor to use them. I didn't want it to sound like I was impugning my excellent uke because only a poor craftsman blames his tools.