Opinions on Low G tuning

woodward

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Would like opinions on Low G tuning compared to High G Tuning.
 
Would like opinions on Low G tuning compared to High G Tuning.

I like and use both. I have at least two ukes strung Low G (both tenors) and the rest High G (reentrant) tuning.
 
Low G Tuning

I like and use both. I have at least two ukes strung Low G (both tenors) and the rest High G (reentrant) tuning.

Thanks for the word on Tuning. I never tried Low G but think I will. I read you can use a Nylon guitar D string for a Low G.
 
I like them both. I have a tenor, concert, and soprano all strung low G. The concert and soprano are both Romero Creations which were created with low G in mind. The rest of my dozen or so ukes are all high G. I go from playing one more that the other for a while, and then switch. Lately it's been more high G for me.

If you're a complete beginner, I would recommend starting with high G. If you're coming from a guitar background, playing low G might be an easier way to begin playing a ukulele. No matter which way you start, sooner or later you'll want to try the other.
 
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Some fingerstyle tablature is arranged for low-G and won't work with high-G. I'm too lazy to try to figure out how to convert these to high-G. I got a low-G ukulele just to play these songs. Never use it otherwise.
 
What's not to like about low G? It takes a three stringed instrument and turns it into a four stringed instrument. It doubles the amount of scales you can play. I do keep one of my ukes in the re-entrant tuning out of a sense of duty to the tradition but it isn't terribly useful to me.
 
I have one of each in tenor. I like the low G because I pick and Chord Melody more than just strumming. My Low G tenor is mahogany, the low G is nice with the warmer sound of that instrument.
 
I just put a low G set on my Concert. I'm leaving the high g set on my Soprano. That's my plan for now.
 
I like both, but coming to uke from being a guitarist for a long time, low G made more sense to me.
 
I am a concert and soprano player. Spacing and tension of a tenor are not for me. And I play mostly high G as I think of it as the ukulele sound.

But a few months ago, I strung my Blackbird Clara with a low G. It sounds quite good. And after the initial trial, I rarely play it. The chord/melody I play works better for a high G (but there are low G specific tabs) and I like the chord voicings with a high G. So currently I play my high G ukes much more, but will leave the Clara strung low G to see if new content suits it better.

And someone else could write this same post and switch high G and low G since it comes down to background and personal preferences.
 
I prefer the re-entrant tuning for strumming chords, but the linear tuning is nice for fiddle tunes, finger-style and Carter-style tunes.
For the current Season #347 we were challenged to play songs about the sea. A couple of days ago, I played a waltz that started with the "Mr. Bojangles Lick" which I played on my linear tuned uke. Today I played another waltz and realised that it also started with the same lick, so for variety, I used the re-entrant uke and moved the lick to the treble strings.

This is how I played it on the linear uke:
_________ ____3__3_ ____3__3_ ____3__3_ ____3__3_
_________ ____0__0_ ____0__0_ ____0__0_ ____0__0_
_________ _0__0__0_ ____0__0_ ____0__0_ ____0__0_
_0__2__4_ _________ _4_______ _2_______ _0_______

On the re-entrant uke, I played (the red notes are eighth notes played with thumb, index:
_________ ___3__3__3_ ___2__2__2_ ___0__0__0_ ______3__3_
_0__1__3_ ______0__0_ ______0__0_ ______0__0_ ___3__3__3_
_________ ______0__0_ ______0__0_ ______0__0_ ______0__0_
_0__2__4_ _0_________ _0_________ _0_________ _0_________

 
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I prefer the re-entrant tuning for strumming chords, but the linear tuning is nice for fiddle tunes, finger-style and Carter-style tunes.
For the current Season #347 we were challenged to play songs about the sea. A couple of days ago, I played a waltz that started with the "Mr. Bojangles Lick" which I played on my linear tuned uke. Today I played another waltz and realised that it also started with the same lick, so for variety, I used the re-entrant uke and moved the lick to the treble strings.

This is how I played it on the linear uke:
_________ ____3__3_ ____3__3_ ____3__3_ ____3__3_
_________ ____0__0_ ____0__0_ ____0__0_ ____0__0_
_________ _0__0__0_ ____0__0_ ____0__0_ ____0__0_
_0__2__4_ _________ _4_______ _2_______ _0_______

On the re-entrant uke, I played (the red notes are eighth notes played with thumb, index:
_________ ___3__3__3_ ___2__2__2_ ___0__0__0_
_0__1__3_ ______0__0_ ______0__0_ ______0__0_
_________ ______0__0_ ______0__0_ ______0__0_
_0__2__4_ _0_________ _0_________ _0_________


______3__3_
___3__3__3_
______0__0_
_0_________

Thanks for posting this Jim. It clarifies some questions I had about how both would be played fingerstyle.

I enjoy playing strummed music on my tenors with a Low-G. While I am learning TAB fingerstyle I have also grown to like some of my tenors with re-entrant High-g. Though I do have some TAB music for Low-G.

A couple of my tenors are compensated for High-g. And Low-G does not work on them.
 
I tried low G on a couple of ukes and at first I thought I liked it but over time, I always found myself reaching for the high G ukes and the low G ukes were getting ignored. I guess for me, a low G is fun for a while or on certain occasions but ultimately, it's not the sound I'm looking for. The low G tuned uke would be kind of a niche instrument for me and would sit unplayed for long periods of time. I want to play all my ukes so they are now all tuned high G.
 
I have tried the low G on a uke but always go back to high g. My baritone also has a high d. Makes the baritone sound so much better to me.
I have a background in Classical Guitar but I don’t want my ukes to sound like a guitar.
 
I have tried the low G on a uke but always go back to high g. My baritone also has a high d. Makes the baritone sound so much better to me.
I have a background in Classical Guitar but I don’t want my ukes to sound like a guitar.

Ancient, your words rang true with me. I absolutely love both the uke and the guitar. But I sometimes feel as though a low-G uke is essentially "a guitar with limitations" (i.e., no fifth and sixth strings), whereas a high-g uke, with that fourth string an octave higher than our ears may be expecting it to be, is an entirely different instrument, with doors waiting to be opened and new paths waiting to be explored.

I sincerely hope that no one will regard my remarks as snarky; I realize that there are tons of varying viewpoints on this topic! :)
 
I prefer the re-entrant tuning for strumming chords, but the linear tuning is nice for fiddle tunes, finger-style and Carter-style tunes.
For the current Season #347 we were challenged to play songs about the sea. A couple of days ago, I played a waltz that started with the "Mr. Bojangles Lick" which I played on my linear tuned uke. Today I played another waltz and realised that it also started with the same lick, so for variety, I used the re-entrant uke and moved the lick to the treble strings.

This is how I played it on the linear uke:
_________ ____3__3_ ____3__3_ ____3__3_ ____3__3_
_________ ____0__0_ ____0__0_ ____0__0_ ____0__0_
_________ _0__0__0_ ____0__0_ ____0__0_ ____0__0_
_0__2__4_ _________ _4_______ _2_______ _0_______

On the re-entrant uke, I played (the red notes are eighth notes played with thumb, index:
_________ ___3__3__3_ ___2__2__2_ ___0__0__0_ ______3__3_
_0__1__3_ ______0__0_ ______0__0_ ______0__0_ ___3__3__3_
_________ ______0__0_ ______0__0_ ______0__0_ ______0__0_
_0__2__4_ _0_________ _0_________ _0_________ _0_________



Hey Jim, I was really enjoying playing this little bit of Mr Bojangles with low g. Can you tell me where I can find the rest of the tab?
 
What's not to like about low G? It takes a three stringed instrument and turns it into a four stringed instrument. It doubles the amount of scales you can play. I do keep one of my ukes in the re-entrant tuning out of a sense of duty to the tradition but it isn't terribly useful to me.

I do have a low G uke but love the ring you get playing campanella style, which is only possible on a re-entrant tuning. Here is Samantha Muir playing The Blarney Pilgrim:



Also Wilfried Welti has some beautiful arrangements of Irish harp music which really exploit the possibilities of re-entrant. It was finding his website that started me on my ukulele journey.
 
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I do have a low G uke but love the ring you get playing campanella style, which is only possible on a re-entrant tuning. Here is Samantha Muir playing The Blarney Pilgrim:



Also Wilfried Welti has some beautiful arrangements of Irish harp music which really exploit the possibilities of re-entrant. It was finding his website that started me on my ukulele journey.



Campanella can be done with linear tuning. But re-entrant does lend itself more to that style.

I tend to favor low G, but that disposition probably comes from having a guitar background. For fingerstyle playing, I actually think it's more difficult to make full use of re-entrant tuning. For me, low G is sort of a creative handicap, since I'm not forced to use a 4th string so close to the 1st in tuning. I like low G. I usually prefer it. But I think if I were a better player, I could do more with re-entrant tuning.
 
I have 5 ukes all in high G. I sold my tenor that was low-g never really used it. I also play guitar so never felt the need for a low-g uke.
 
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