Anybody try low G and not like it?

mikhou

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I'm sure that the answer to this question is, "Yes." I really, really want to like it, but I just strung up my uke a couple of weeks ago to be low G (for the first time) and I just don't care for it very much. Additionally, not having access to that high G string removes some of the ring when I alternate between the high G and the E string.

Anybody else try it and decide that it wasn't for them?
 
It took me a while to #1 get use to the sound #2 learn to play it properly. I tried three seperate times, I always liked the sound of it when someone else played it, but intially not myself. Now everything I own is strung low G except sopranos.
 
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I did not like low G at first, but played it long enough that I like and perform a fair amount of repertoire that keeps one tenor in low G. Bought a Fusion double tenor bag to make things easy when I play a job that calls for both. I prefer the sound of low G on a baritone. It does take time to learn to play low G. I mostly use it for finger style instrumental pieces. Give it time and try it in different situations. I enjoy the sound that low G provides in a group strum.
 
I did not like low G at first, but played it long enough that I like and perform a fair amount of repertoire that keeps one tenor in low G. Bought a Fusion double tenor bag to make things easy when I play a job that calls for both. I prefer the sound of low G on a baritone. It does take time to learn to play low G. I mostly use it for finger style instrumental pieces. Give it time and try it in different situations. I enjoy the sound that low G provides in a group strum.

I think it's funny that Romero puts low G on all their Tiny ukes, even the XS Soprano.
 
I tried low G for about 20 minutes before deciding that I preferred reentrant for strumming. Just a gut reaction: I like the sparkle of the high G and A strings next to each other. When I get into playing melodies, I’ll be stringing up a uke with low G to get the extra range.
 
Me, I don't like it at all. My view is I played guitar for almost fifty years before the uke, if I want linear tuning I'll play guitar, to me re-entrant tuning is what makes a uke a uke. I have nine ukes, all tenor cutaway re-entrant.


This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly West near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 9 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 34)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers
 
Very shortly after I got my first tenor I put a low g on it. I loved it at first, probably because my ear was more accustomed to guitar like sounds. In the past year, I've gravitated more towards sopranos and the more traditional ukulele sound in general. I just put a new fremount soloist on my KA-ATP-CTG, and while I guess I like having a low g uke around, I really don't play it much, and have been thinking about putting a high g back on it or even putting it in reterant dGBE. That said, lately I am mostly working on chord melody playing using various inversions up the neck. For what I'm working on right now the close together chord forms that the high g gives really work best. Also, my uke teacher/uke club leader plays a nearly hundred year old martin soprano (and plays it exceedingly well) and since they are my main influence right now high g is what my ear wants to hear at the moment. I suspect that if I dedicated some serious time to getting more familiar with the different inversions low g provides and when/where they might work best I would start to like it more again. I'll get around to that in a few years, for now I'm likely mostly stick with playing high g.
 
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I love my low G tenor for fingerpicking songs built around the low G.
Besame Mucho (spanish) or Besame Mucho (Beatles)

But when I strum it, I feel like the open G booms too much. Good thing a body can have multiple ukuleles in multiple configurations. :-D
 
My oldest ukulele originally had low A’s on it. It was changed to high g’s when I had friction pegs replaced with gear heads. I’ve missed the low tuning and am having it changed to low G’s after bridge/saddle work done on the ukulele. I don’t find low tuning strange, I started out with low tuning. I found high g’s strange at first. Now I want both. Some of the pieces I have need a ukulele with low tuning.

I am not going back to the low A tuning, all g’s now.
 
I put a low G on my first (tenor) uke within a few months and preferred it to re-entrant. Now that I have several ukes, I have them all strung and tuned differently, and I find that some songs (and chords) sound better to me with a re-entrant set-up, and others with a linear set-up. It would be a tough call now to chose, if I had to go back to only one uke though.
 
I like both, depending on the application, low G just doesn't sound right on some songs, IMO. Sometimes, when strumming chords on a low-G uke, I need to make the conscious decision to NOT play the G-string, whereas it would usually sound OK on reentrant. That said, I have tenors strung both ways, the low G sounds more guitar-like. I've been playing the happy reentrant sound more lately, and it's very different when I go back to the low-G. I mostly strum/sing, but suppose if I played more chord melody style, I'd appreciate low-G more, and would need the extra range. I must be de-ranged. :D
 
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I play low G. I do mostly chord melody or picking (kind of). I like the f lower notes that I can play. If I was just strumming, I would probably ply high g
 
It's not right for every uke, it's not right for every player.

I currently have my Kala Spruce Bari and my Kala Spruce Tenor strung Low g.

I'm playing fingerstyle uke on the Tenor, and Renaissance guitar music on the Bari—Mudarra wrote for "essentially low-G Bari"

I have a Pono Nui for Bari tuning.
 
I love the sound of the low g string for certain applications. I think it sounds best for fingerpicking and a little boomy for strumming, in general (your experience will vary with different strings). That said I recently sold the uke I had in low g and now only play reentrant, the reason being that I was basically dividing my playing time in half between low and high g. I found I was just not making the kind of progress that satisfies me on either. So now I can focus on one thing, and it’s helpful to me not to have to choose every time I pick up my uke to play. That’s not to say I don’t like listening to Corey and Kalei play low g on the HMS videos.

Andy
 
I've tried it a few times and I always felt like I just turned my ukulele into a little guitar. I had one uke strung low g for the songs that required it, but I didn't even like it for that. I even have a high D waiting to go on my Baritone, but so far, I've been okay with low D on that. I might make my bari re-entrant if I get a guitar again.
 
Me, I don't like it at all. My view is I played guitar for almost fifty years before the uke, if I want linear tuning I'll play guitar, to me re-entrant tuning is what makes a uke a uke. I have nine ukes, all tenor cutaway re-entrant.


This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly West near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 9 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 34)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers

I'm with Mike, if I wanted to go linear I would play something else. I haven't given low G a fair chance though. I've just played other people's ukuleles strung low G. I have a friend who strung his low G as soon as he started playing ukulele and sometimes we trade when we are playing, but his has never appealed to me. I don't know, it might just be mental, with me at least. I think that my friend likes low G because he has years of musical background with linear tuned instruments. He feels comfortable and familiar with linear tuning. Re-entrant is just weird to him. I feel like most of the musical world is linear with few exceptions, so I feel like I'm rebelling against the linear musical world with my re-entrant uke. I feel like re-entrant is exciting, when I play my friends uke it seems just boring and blasé. But I can see that if one likes to go up and down the scale, you get yourself a few extra notes to play with if you go low G. Very linear thinking. ;)
 
But I can see that if one likes to go up and down the scale, you get yourself a few extra notes to play with if you go low G. Very linear thinking. ;)
Heh, well put. But fingerpickers need that, or even go to guitar. I just like my standard uke as a strumming partner.
 
Other than my 5 String Ukuleles, all of my ukes are reentrant. But when I hear others play low G I love it. When I play and hear it even with 5 String it sounds off to me. Plus I need songs that are geared towards the low G tuning. However I still want to acquire the acquired taste of playing a Ukulele strung with low G.
 
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