Tenor or Baritone?

[kriskane]

Hey!

I currently own a Cordoba Concert Uke and love it playing it, but I want something that is a little lower range. Is the concert to tenor a big enough jump that I will be able to get that bassier sound or do I need to get a baritone uke to have that? It seems like tenors are a lot easier to find, but the bari looks pretty cool.

Thanks for any response!

[merlin666]

Tenor and concert ukes have the same range. Neither of them is supposed to be a bassy instrument at all and even with a low G are still in the treble range of a guitar. A linear tuned baritone will give you the highest guitar equivalent bass string D. But really that's just a partial guitar then so what would be the point.

[Croaky Keith]

A baritone is almost a guitar, same tuning, DGBE.

Yes it will give you a fuller sound, & is quite a nice uke if you want the low notes, but the longer scale isn't for everyone, (I tried, but don't really get on with it), however, you can get DGBE tuning on a tenor, with the right stings, but it's not quite the same as with the bigger body of a bari.

[DownUpDave]

This being your first post we don’t know anything about you so recommendations are hard. Do you have a music background, do you play other instruments, do you play guitar, how long have you played ukulele.

If you were a raw beginner to ukulele with no music background I would say install a wound low G string on your existing concert uke. It will give you a lower tone and that might satisfy you. Going to a baritone will give you a much lower register. The DGBE tuning (which baritone is) is the first 4 strings of a guitar. I love it but it opens up a can of worms if you are just learning and new to music. You can, I did this at first, just grab the baritone and play it the same as your concert. The songs or pieces will sound similar but lower in tone as it is tuned down to the key of G, your concert is in the key of C.

[UkingViking]

You post doesnt specify how low a range you need, for what purpose.
I mostly play reentrant, except when I need those five extra semitones in the low end for a melody or for one of those rare songs where the chords allow for root notes to be played pretty low on a low G uke, making it sound almost like a bass line played right.

A baritone would add five more semitones.
A guitar ten more again.
Each step up (or down in range) takes away some of the characteristic uke sound. So you might want to consider what sound you are going for.

If you just want a few more notes, but keep the same chord shapes you play, just try a low G or a tenor ukulele with low G. If you want something significantly different, there are the other options.

Personally I dont have a baritone. They sound great, but I have a guitar - and that also gives me two extra strings.

[Billy Rich]

There are tenor ukes available with larger bodies that have a bassier sound. There are also ukes with a baritone body and a tenor neck. An option I might try is a baritone strung GCEA but an octave lower than standard tuning.

[BBegall]

I play concerts, tenors with a low G and I have a lovely cedar top baritone as well. The rich deep sound of the baritone is the most satisfying, to me, of all the ukuleles I play. Sometime I think I like it enough to stop playing the others - than i play my tenor and realize I love that too.

There are a lot of players on this site who actively dislike baritones. Ignore them.

[kriskane]

You post doesnt specify how low a range you need, for what purpose.
I mostly play reentrant, except when I need those five extra semitones in the low end for a melody or for one of those rare songs where the chords allow for root notes to be played pretty low on a low G uke, making it sound almost like a bass line played right.

A baritone would add five more semitones.
A guitar ten more again.
Each step up (or down in range) takes away some of the characteristic uke sound. So you might want to consider what sound you are going for.

If you just want a few more notes, but keep the same chord shapes you play, just try a low G or a tenor ukulele with low G. If you want something significantly different, there are the other options.

Personally I dont have a baritone. They sound great, but I have a guitar - and that also gives me two extra strings.

I have a guitar too, which is why I was thinking of just going with the low G tenor, but wanted to see what people thought. Thanks for your reply!

[kriskane]

I play concerts, tenors with a low G and I have a lovely cedar top baritone as well. The rich deep sound of the baritone is the most satisfying, to me, of all the ukuleles I play. Sometime I think I like it enough to stop playing the others - than i play my tenor and realize I love that too.

There are a lot of players on this site who actively dislike baritones. Ignore them.

Awesome, thanks so much for your reply! I'm trying to find a place that I can play one of each to see which one I like the most. Why do you think the baris are disliked so much?

[Doc_J]

Awesome, thanks so much for your reply! I'm trying to find a place that I can play one of each to see which one I like the most. Why do you think the baris are disliked so much?

I wouldn’t say baritones are disliked, they just have a smaller following. Tenor size is the most popular size. Baritones have the smallest following. Currently, I play baritones more often than tenors. I suppose baritones sound more like guitars than traditional ukes.