Comparison of Bb vs C tuning

I like Bb more. To my ears it suits the "big" sound of the tenor more.

Ubulele, thanks for this response. Not only helpful, but also eye opening. Gives me a whole different way of looking at Ukes and tunings. I learned something.

Thanks 70sSandO. I only mentioned capoing as I have heard others indicate this is what one should do when playing with C tuned ukes. I am actually learning the bari chords (and enjoying that exercise). Just didn’t put 2+2 together when I wrote my earlier question (which is why I had questions!). You are correct, if I am playing the same chord as the Tenors by using the correct/different bari shape, I shouldn’t also need to capo. One would use the capo if they wanted to play Tenor shapes (i.e., play a C chord on the Bari as 0003 = need to capo at 5th fret. Play the C chord using the proper baritone fingering of 2010, and there is no need to capo - correct? Still wrapping my head around these key / chord shape changes.
Cheers!

I just tried this Bb tuning on my Low-G Tenor and thought it sounded good, but it threw off the intonation a little on all frets (no problems in C tuning). Does anyone else have this problem? Do I need different strings (using TI CF30 and Oasis Warms currently), fresh strings not already stretched, or does my uke just not like the the tuning?

Edit a few days later: Starting with fresh strings seems to have fixed the problem.

That is correct, 2010, which is an F chord shape on a tenor ukulele, is a C on a baritone.

You actually have a quick and dirty key on your baritone (or linear tenor). I used this going from guitar to ukulele when I first started to transpose guitar chords. Since a baritone is 5 half steps lower than a ukulele the corresponding note (or chord) is on the adjacent string 3 to 4 or 1 to 2 (doesn’t work with the 2nd and 3rd strings).

Lower pitch of the pair strings are baritone (4th and 2nd) chords. Higher pitch are tenor/concert (3rd and 1st) chords. If you want to know what chord a ukulele C chord shape will be on a baritone, find a C note on the first or third strings. On a baritone it is 3rd string 5th fret. Go straight across to the 4th string 5th fret and that is a G, which is the chord you get if you play a ukulele C shape on a baritone. An F is 1st string first fret, 2nd string first fret is a C, which is the chord you get if you play a ukulele F chord on a baritone.

As I said, I used this going from guitar chords to ukulele chords. Since I knew the guitar fretboard I used the 6th, 5th, 4th, and 3rd guitar string notes. For example, to figure out what uke chord I get with a guitar chord D, one higher string over at the same fret is G. Today I know ukulele chords better than guitar chords, so if I’m not sure I’ll do the opposite... a uke G is a guitar D, A is E, etc. I can just visualize a fretboard to get there if I have to.

John

ubulele said:

One reason I use Bb tuning is so I can move my home playing position up without changing the effective pitch range (with respect to C tuning). This allows me to use movable chords, which are more controllable and consistent in sound than chords with open strings, while also giving me some lower voicings to play with. When I play at or near the nut, I find the nut too often disrupting patterns and voice connections—it's actually more work than when playing with movable shapes.

Pitch range affects dynamic tension; if you play at the nut, you can only "inflect" upward, like a Valley girl. If your home base is in the lower middle neck, you can move either up or down, darkening or lightening, more like you do in normal speech. And if you stick solely in first position, it's like someone speaking in a virtual monotone—I hate it.

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Oh I like this analogy! Makes so much sense, thanks

Falcan said:

I just tried this Bb tuning on my Low-G Tenor and thought it sounded good, but it threw off the intonation a little on all frets (no problems in C tuning). Does anyone else have this problem? Do I need different strings (using TI CF30 and Oasis Warms currently), fresh strings not already stretched, or does my uke just not like the the tuning?

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Hmm, that's a really good question. I have not noticed intonation issues in general with lower tunings though I am not super picky on that regard. It's definitely worth trying fresh strings and tune straight to Bb, not up to C and back down.

Falcan said:

I just tried this Bb tuning on my Low-G Tenor and thought it sounded good, but it threw off the intonation a little on all frets (no problems in C tuning). Does anyone else have this problem? Do I need different strings (using TI CF30 and Oasis Warms currently), fresh strings not already stretched, or does my uke just not like the the tuning?

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I don’t find problems with intonation when tuning down once the strings have settled at the new tuning. Initially, i have to tune the strings more often, but then they seem to settle okay.