Small to big

[tm3]

Absolutely, some famous Canadian musicians started on a baritone ukulele. Neil Young and Joannie Mitchel to name two.

The baritone is DGBE so tuned the same as a guitar without the 5th and 6th string. That was my progression, from tenor ukulele to baritone ukulele to tenor steel string guitar.

Thanks! Cool about Neil Young -- those would be some big footprints to follow in! I'm guessing that given the tuning the baritone could benefit from the plethora of guitar tabs out there, also.

I don't think that ukulele players should be intimidated by guitars. If you want to learn to play guitar go ahead and learn to play guitar. Also I think that ukulele players should realize that they don't have to give up the ukulele for guitar, one can play both.

Good point, but holding that guitar and attempting to stretch into an open chord, much less imagining a barre chord, was pretty intimidating.

I also started on baritone uke and then went on to guitar (GS mini also). But, long term, you will adjust to whatever size you like (barring physical limitations) if you persist.

That is a good perspective. Thanks for commenting!

[dwizum]

"Comfort" is such a personal thing, I think it's hard to advise in a general sense if people should gradually work their way up or just jump to what they want. When my son expressed an interest in bass, we got him set up with both a medium scale (32 inch) electric bass and a uke bass (21 inch scale), and he didn't bat an eye at switching despite the huge difference. Whereas I have a friend who has played ukulele for two decades, and claims they'd love to learn guitar, but they shrink back in fear when offered a chance to even hold a guitar (any guitar! electric, acoustic, tenor, full size, short scale...), much less try to play one.

[tm3]

Whereas I have a friend who has played ukulele for two decades, and claims they'd love to learn guitar, but they shrink back in fear when offered a chance to even hold a guitar (any guitar! electric, acoustic, tenor, full size, short scale...), much less try to play one.

I can sympathize. Holding the guitar I could not imagine how to make the stretch for an open G, and without hitting the other strings. Barre chords? Ha!

I'm reminded of a friend who said that it took him about 3 months to learn the open D chord on guitar (he was about 10 at the time). The day he got it he was so excited that he had to run downstairs and show off to his mother. The rest is history as he became quite a good player!

[Cadia]

Well there are kids that play guitar, and indeed some small ones that play pretty well! I started off with a guitar as a 13 year old, a classical. As an adult, I preferred the sound of full-sized steel string dreadnoughts. Male instructors would sometimes ask if I wouldn't be more comfortable with a smaller bodied guitar. Though I have some parlors, I still preferred the sound of dreadnoughts. I do admit, though, the 6 strings of guitars were always tricky for me to try to barre or fingerpick. So I mostly strummed. When I decided to take up the uke, the tenor seemed quite small and comfortable to me. Sopranos are something I have to work on playing. It all depends on what you get used to. We can all learn and adapt, with time and practice.

[Bobjtx]

Well I recently started the transition to guitar, in large part due to following your many threads over the last couple of years on your progression from Uke to small guitar to bigger guitars. I started on a Tenor Uke after i retired, but quickly found that the 1 3/8" neck was not to my liking as I am a big guy ... so I bought a tenor uke with a 1.5" nut width. That was nice, so from there I eventually branched into playing a baritone, as it was a bit bigger.... and I loved it!.

After a year or so I started trying to play Spanish guitar songs (fingerpicking) on my Uke and my instructor recommended I try a Classical guitar. I bought one and it took me about a month of futzing around with it (I can't actually call it practice, as just getting use to the size difference took all my concentration), until I felt comfortable trying to practice on it. I almost sent it back, but I finally transitioned from "man that thing is BIG!" to "boy is my uke SMALL!). That's when I knew I would be able to keep the guitar. I am now contemplating selling my multiple Tenors, and keeping the Baritones and the Guitar. I mention all of this just to add to the discussion that one can transition to a guitar from an Uke. Just give yourself some time to get used to it and don't give up!

PS. DownUpDave - thanks for all your posts on your progression over the years. It's posts like these that give others hope and options on how to progress with playing instruments.

Cheers!
Bobj.

[Swamp Yankee]

My odyssey has been the other way around, starting with guitar in my teens and making my way to ukulele in my 50s. I bought a Taylor GS-Mini some years back.... bought another GSM in mahogany, then koa... then went through a spell of buying several killer guitars, a Martin 00-17SM, a Waterloo WL-S, a Taylor 500 series 12 string 12 fret.... but I’ve sold them all off for ukes, with the exception of the first GS-Mini. But I found a second hand Yamaha CG-150SA classical guitar a few weeks back for $170 and it’s blown me away. The sound of that Yammie is astounding. I’m probably going to sell off the GSM soon. That Yamaha is all the guitar I need.

[DownUpDave]

My odyssey has been the other way around, starting with guitar in my teens and making my way to ukulele in my 50s. I bought a Taylor GS-Mini some years back.... bought another GSM in mahogany, then koa... then went through a spell of buying several killer guitars, a Martin 00-17SM, a Waterloo WL-S, a Taylor 500 series 12 string 12 fret.... but I’ve sold them all off for ukes, with the exception of the first GS-Mini. But I found a second hand Yamaha CG-150SA classical guitar a few weeks back for $170 and it’s blown me away. The sound of that Yammie is astounding. I’m probably going to sell off the GSM soon. That Yamaha is all the guitar I need.

Congratulations on the Yamaha. I did a YouTube search and there was a nice playing demo, it sounded wonderful. As much as I like steel string a nylon string seems a more natural move from ukulele and it has that sweet soothing sound. I have two nylon stringers and love them. Enjoy your Yamaha.

[tm3]

Well this thread motivated me to do some looking around and I've come upon a Baby Taylor to play with. The fret spacing, the neck width, and the extra strings seem impossible to deal with but interestingly the most difficult thing so far is the string spacing -- I'm having trouble for example with the E7 chord having my pinky on the B string not mute the adjacent G or E strings. The metal strings are not nearly as big a deal as I had imagined; maybe my uke made me tougher than I realized!

Lots of challenges but I can say that, just like the uke, the positive feedback of seeing some incremental progress in one week, no matter how small, is inspiring.

I'm not sure where this will end up going but I want to thank you Dave (and others) for creating the thread, answering my questions, and thus being the springboard to my opportunity!

[DownUpDave]

Well I recently started the transition to guitar, in large part due to following your many threads over the last couple of years on your progression from Uke to small guitar to bigger guitars. I started on a Tenor Uke after i retired, but quickly found that the 1 3/8" neck was not to my liking as I am a big guy ... so I bought a tenor uke with a 1.5" nut width. That was nice, so from there I eventually branched into playing a baritone, as it was a bit bigger.... and I loved it!.

After a year or so I started trying to play Spanish guitar songs (fingerpicking) on my Uke and my instructor recommended I try a Classical guitar. I bought one and it took me about a month of futzing around with it (I can't actually call it practice, as just getting use to the size difference took all my concentration), until I felt comfortable trying to practice on it. I almost sent it back, but I finally transitioned from "man that thing is BIG!" to "boy is my uke SMALL!). That's when I knew I would be able to keep the guitar. I am now contemplating selling my multiple Tenors, and keeping the Baritones and the Guitar. I mention all of this just to add to the discussion that one can transition to a guitar from an Uke. Just give yourself some time to get used to it and don't give up!

PS. DownUpDave - thanks for all your posts on your progression over the years. It's posts like these that give others hope and options on how to progress with playing instruments.

Cheers!
Bobj.

I am sorry I did not see your post earlier. Thanks for the kind works and I am so glad the classical guitar is working out for you. I love that you said “just give yourself time and don’t give up”. This is truly the secret to success.......in anything.

[DownUpDave]

Hey there tm3 I’m sorry for having missed your post, congratulations on the Baby Taylor, they are a great guitar. The steep learning curve can be frustrating at first but as you say the small incremental improvements make it all worthwhile.