Mike $
Well-known member
Why do you suppose they call it a concert instead of calling it an alto Uke?
Concert Ukulele
- Thread starter Mike $
- Start date
Because it is in the same soprano range. The word concert means only size. The tenor means also only size, because it is tuned as a soprano or sometimes like an alto range. Tenor is a stupid naming, but I'm fine with soprano and concert.
Croaky Keith
Well-known member
...'cause it's got a better sound than a soprano & people like to hear them more.... :smileybounce:
Jerryc41
Well-known member
I wonder what names we would have if someone had sat down and decided to invent a new instrument called a ukulele, and he wanted to make it in three sizes. Baby, Mama, Papa? One, Two, Three? The possibilities are endess.
CPG
Well-known member
I think I read somewhere that it was marketed by Martin as being louder and thus better suited for concert halls (I may have imagined this and be completely wrong here).
CPG
Well-known member
The problem with tenors isn't their name. It's that most people are tuning them too high! :-0
P.S. I please don't jump all over me folks. I am (half) joking...I do personally like them tuned down, but fully believe people should tune any way they please.
Last edited:
Jerryc41
Well-known member
Another Ukulele
Well-known member
There’s someone who has drunk the kool-aid, errr, de-caf espresso
(My loyalty card has 8 months of dust gathering on it)
And don't forget trenta, when what you play is "cool"...
(And I didn't drink the Kool-Aid - I was a Barista for 12 years at The 'Bux.
I can drink other coffee, but not the swill at DD...)
Yep - Sort of. In Jim Tranquada and John King's great book " The 'Ukulele A History" :
Martin dominated the upper end of the mar-
ket with its Style 1, 2, and 3 mahogany ‘ukuleles retailing for $10, $15, and $25
respectively; a large order from Southern California Music Co. led it to introduce
koa models in 1919. The firm subsequently expanded its product line at both the
upper and lower ends, introducing the now-legendary 5-K model, “a select article
. . . with a finish like satin” and a steep $50 price tag, in late 1921 and the plain
all-mahogany Style 0 in January 1922. A larger concert ukulele was introduced in
1925 and an even larger tenor ukulele in 1928, the culmination of years of develop-
ment aimed at increasing the ukulele’s volume and tone, driven by the demands of
growing numbers of stage and radio performers. Lyon & Healy appears to have
introduced the tenor ukulele in 1923, advertising it as having “double the volume
of the ordinary ukulele. Schulz & Moenning, also of Chicago, also debuted what
it called a concert-size ukulele in the fall of 1925, “of unusually big tone and car-
rying power. The following year, the Standardization Committee of the national
Association of Musical Instrument and Accessories Manufacturers drafted a series
of specifications for ukulele, including string lengths—13 to 13.75 inches for
standard (soprano), 13.75 to 15.5 inches for concert, and 14.5 to 15.75 inches for
tenor.
Last edited:
CPG
Well-known member
ukulelekarcsi
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 27, 2010
- Messages
- 555
- Reaction score
- 147
xs, s, m, l, xl, xxl
the.waz
Member
Sometimes it is called an alto ukulele, actually. (Okay, maybe just by people like me that are annoyed by the inconsistent conventions, but I have seen it!)
One way to classify sizes is by voice: soprano, alto, tenor, etc. Another way often used by guitar makers is to name the size after the type of room they are fit to play in: parlor, concert, grand auditorium, etc.
This is speculation on my part, but I could imagine the following based on Ed1’s history lesson... If the soprano was the only ukulele type when Martin introduced the concert, it wasn’t really soprano vs. concert but “regular” ukulele vs. concert ukulele. Once even more sizes were standardized it probably made more sense to call them by voice (and rename the “ukulele” as “soprano ukulele”), but maybe by that time the “concert” name was already the convention for the alto size and it stuck.
One way to classify sizes is by voice: soprano, alto, tenor, etc. Another way often used by guitar makers is to name the size after the type of room they are fit to play in: parlor, concert, grand auditorium, etc.
This is speculation on my part, but I could imagine the following based on Ed1’s history lesson... If the soprano was the only ukulele type when Martin introduced the concert, it wasn’t really soprano vs. concert but “regular” ukulele vs. concert ukulele. Once even more sizes were standardized it probably made more sense to call them by voice (and rename the “ukulele” as “soprano ukulele”), but maybe by that time the “concert” name was already the convention for the alto size and it stuck.
Nickie
Well-known member
What an interesting thread! When I start new beginners, I introduce both names, concert and alto size. It seldom confuses anyone.
Similar threads
