Interesting, are you too tall for the soprano ukulele?

While searching for something else, I came upon this little video. See time 5:07.



It made me wonder.

A while back, I posted a request for help; and somebody commented on my strumming location.

https://forum.ukuleleunderground.co...ard-any-tricks-to-avoid&p=2233248#post2233248

My strumming location is exactly where the guy in the demo video said for a too-tall player.

What's your thinking?

Forward video to time 5:07 where he gives recommendations for ukulele sizes.

I think it is best to think of his advice in this video as a "rule of thumb" at best. Tall, long armed people can, in fact, play a soprano. The idea that the soprano ukulele is only played by kids and short people is simply incorrect. There may be one size that is more comfortable for you, but you can play other sizes if you want to. Also, a strap can easily put the uke where you want it for your arm length.

Also, I think his "sweet spot" for strumming is a little low. I have always felt that the best tone comes from just above (not below) where the neck meets the body.

This topic crops up repeatedly on various forums. I am tall and long armed, and I play Soprano scale almost all of the time! I also play Sopranino quite comfortably.It's what you feel happy with and comfortable with.

I am pretty tall and have both a Tenor and Soprano. I admittedly find the Soprano a bit tougher but it's pretty much purely nut width and nothing else as I have long fingers... Tenor is 38mm nut and the Soprano is 35mm. I can play it though, I just love my tenor so much that the Soprano gets a bit neglected.

I'll probably upgrade the Soprano to something with a 38mm nut too, eventually, but it's definitely not impossible for me to play or super uncomfortable!

As TopDog said, this topic - and even the same video - repeats itself on occasion. I absolutely detest that video. It's full of absolute nonsense and touts certain things as fact when they are, at best, a very general rule of thumb. For example, there is zero need for a uke to reach the crux of your arm. Even if it does it doesn't give you any support for the uke when you're holding it as there is no force that would be pushing the uke up or down parallel to the length of the uke. What matters is the connection between your forearm and the lower bout of the uke which gives you friction to hold the uke in place. And this is only when you're actually holding the uke. If you're sitting down you can just rest it on your lap so there's even less concern for the contact point of your hand. Other regular arguments against smaller ukes is the space between the frets and nut width. I actually don't believe that most people would struggle with a smaller scale fretboard unless they were mostly playing high up the fretboard. You would have to have fairly thick fingers if you ran out of space between the frets, but I'm sure some people do so I don't want to make too sweeping a statement. The most legitimate argument for me is the nut width, but of course that has nothing to do with the scale length or body size of a uke. Just find a uke that has a wider nut, case closed.

Sorry, I get a bit riled up whenever this topic and particularly that video comes up. I wouldn't be surprised videos like that are partially responsible for people thinking that tenors are the only option for adult players and that sopranos are just toys. Just find a uke - any size - that you're comfortable playing with and don't listen to overgeneralised nonsense on rubbish videos.

Dohle said:

...I absolutely detest that video. It's full of absolute nonsense and touts certain things as fact when they are, at best, a very general rule of thumb.........
Sorry, I get a bit riled up whenever this topic and particularly that video comes up. I wouldn't be surprised videos like that are partially responsible for people thinking that tenors are the only option for adult players and that sopranos are just toys. Just find a uke - any size - that you're comfortable playing with and don't listen to overgeneralised nonsense on rubbish videos.

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Yes, I agree completely. While there are always people who spew nonsense as fact, the internet spreads bogus information even farther.

Christopher Shannon-Davis, player and instructor, is well over six feet tall, and he usually plays a Martin soprano.

https://www.google.com/search?q=chr....69i57j0l3.17318j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

I wonder how this idea fits in with someone who plays the double bass.

Jerryc41 said:

Christopher Shannon-Davis, player and instructor, is well over six feet tall, and he usually plays a Martin soprano.

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Just for reference, in older videos I have seen, Christopher Davis Shannon is playing an Ohana. Recently he is using a beautiful Wunderkammer. But yes, he plays soprano. (I did not realize he was that tall)

I find that most people who play that kind of faster paced Roy Smeck / George Formby era ragtime style jazz play a soprano, regardless of their physical size. And that includes myself (I'm over six feet as well).

EDW said:

Just for reference, in older videos I have seen, Christopher Davis Shannon is playing an Ohana. Recently he is using a beautiful Wunderkammer. But yes, he plays soprano. (I did not realize he was that tall)

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Yes, I saw him with the Wunderkammer. I've seen him as an instructor at several uke fests, and he's always had the Martin. Despite his height, he tends to stand on a chair, so he looks really tall - and he's slim. His workshops draw large crowds, and standing on a chair lets him be seen better.

I think my old dreadnought guitar would have been way more comfortable if I was 16 feet tall, so maybe he's onto something.:biglaugh:

Jerryc41 said:

Yes, I saw him with the Wunderkammer. I've seen him as an instructor at several uke fests, and he's always had the Martin. Despite his height, he tends to stand on a chair, so he looks really tall - and he's slim. His workshops draw large crowds, and standing on a chair lets him be seen better.

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Interesting. I'll have to dig through more of his videos as I never saw him with one. Maybe it is only for special occasions.

I'm never concerned with being too tall.

All I wanna know is "Does this ukulele make me look fat?"

There is so much good information out there on the internet, but there is a lot of misinformation out there too. You can't take everything that someone says as the gospel, especially when it comes to ukuleles.

glennerd said:

I think my old dreadnought guitar would have been way more comfortable if I was 16 feet tall, so maybe he's onto something.:biglaugh:

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But you also don't hold it the same way as an ukulele, right?

Thanks for the feedback.

I personally think the soprano is fine for an adult, but I also find what he said to be truthful based on firsthand experience. I mean, my forearm is what it is; there's just not many ways around the issue of cradling a small ukulele in my arm and still having my hand at the best position so I must slide the ukulele forward. I tried to find a balance between sliding too far forward vs my hand being too close to the nut.

Since I'm just starting out, I'm taking all of your comments into consideration; I guess now is the best time for me to explore different things, befoer they become habitual.

Clear,

I'm wondering if I gave you the strumming advice; that's the kind of thing that I tend to do. And when I do it, the goal is to help people, not have them second guess themselves.

I've been working on some upcoming free resources to get people playing, and I have put much too much thought into things like strumming location.

What we're going for is to strum somewhere that:

1) You are approaching the "sweet spot" of the strings
2) Over part of the fretboard.

As I have taught ukulele to hundreds of students over the past 4 years (middle school and elementary, not privately), once you move that strumming below the fretboard, kids get their fingers stuck in the strings while strumming. I'm not joking. You could make some pretty good "Funniest Home Videos" from what I've seen.

And many of us came from guitar influence where strumming is over a sound hole. People think the ukulele is a little guitar, but the ukulele itself has no direct linage to the guitar--it comes from the melding of two Madieran instruments...one provided the tuning, the other the size and number of strings; and then Hawaii itself provided the lumber and string material that was to be used. So we don't want to be imitating the guitar, either.

As for the question about size of ukulele to height, that's all a bunch of hooey in my opinion. While some people gravitate towards a scale they like to play from a point of comfort and sound, others play everything and choose what to play based upon other conditions--going for a specific tone quality, or a practical issue like having to travel with a ukulele on a plane.

Several years ago I went to a Li 'l Rev workshop and he was having us strum from the sound hole to the fifth fret and back. Just for the sake of showmanship. You can strum in big circles, zig zags, make waves, you're only limited by your imagination. Try it. I do that all the time for fun and to show off. No one is stuck in a rut strumming in one place unless they think that they are.

Rllink said:

Several years ago I went to a Li 'l Rev workshop and he was having us strum from the sound hole to the fifth fret and back. Just for the sake of showmanship. You can strum in big circles, zig zags, make waves, you're only limited by your imagination. Try it. I do that all the time for fun and to show off. No one is stuck in a rut strumming in one place unless they think that they are.

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Doesn't the sound change based on where you strum?
So, for consistency, shouldn't you find a constant location ? (at the very least for the same songs?)