Baritone Laziness

plunker

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I have learned so of the basic chords for the baritone uke. However, when I just want to play, I jut play it like a tenor. I know if I played with a group or another person I could not get away with this. Anybody else do this or is it just me.
 
When it's just me playing, I do that too. However, I think it's a good mental exercise to still learn to think in baritone chords.

I have been meeting up with a friend to play my baritone. I would take a chord sheet and a capo for the occasional song where it was too complicated or for when I grew too tired to transpose.
 
I never learned a single baritone chord. I always play mine like a tenor. And I think it would work in a group setting since it is a perfect interval removed from the rest of the group. Of course if the group's idea of playing music is all twenty of you playing the same chords at the same time, then it wouldn't work. But if the group could allow some harmonizing then it would work.
 
I got my first uke (a concert) last spring then a baritone at Christmas. It’s helped me a lot having to relearn chords. I’ve realised before I was playing single chords and thinking hard about playing a ‘D’ etc whereas now I feel I’m playing shapes and patterns. Something has clicked for me!
 
I play all my ukes as if they are GCEA even though many aren't. When needed i transpose the music to fit the uke
 
Ah- so Im not alone! I love the tone of my Bari's. I use them as a solo instrument.
 
When I play the baritone like a concert it still sounds nice but it doesn’t sound right with my voice when I sing along.
 
I revel in the different tunings - if I don't like the baritone fingering I'll either transpose or switch instruments.

The only time I intentionally think one tuning on the other instrument is if I'm trying to drill a piece and have only the wrong one at hand.

There have been a few times where I've unintentionally switched keys in the middle of a song because I lost track of what I was playing. Almost always in a group. Oops.
 
If you play or have played guitar there is not too much of an adjustment. If not, there can be some mental gymnastics involved.
 
After a bit of time.. the question sorta becomes irrelevant, because they're all relative.

Maybe there are those who view it as playing a tenor like it's a baritone? Especially if they also play guitar.
 
I never learned a single baritone chord. I always play mine like a tenor. And I think it would work in a group setting since it is a perfect interval removed from the rest of the group. Of course if the group's idea of playing music is all twenty of you playing the same chords at the same time, then it wouldn't work. But if the group could allow some harmonizing then it would work.

Do you mean that you play a G chord while the tenor players are playing a C chord? I don't think you'll get a natural harmony this way. Together you will be playing C, E, G, B, and D notes.
 
Do you mean that you play a G chord while the tenor players are playing a C chord? I don't think you'll get a natural harmony this way. Together you will be playing C, E, G, B, and D notes.

I had heard a voice coach say that singers, such as Simon and Garfunkel, achieve harmony by singing a fifth apart. I'll take your word that this doesn't apply to ukuleles.
 
I had heard a voice coach say that singers, such as Simon and Garfunkel, achieve harmony by singing a fifth apart. I'll take your word that this doesn't apply to ukuleles.

I haven't listened to S&G much, so I don't know if they sing a fifth apart or not. It may be the case.
However, singing a single melody line parallel a fifth apart, is different from playing chords a fifth apart.

Tom Service had a great episode of The Listening Service on BBC Radio 3 some time ago. The intervals used in close harmony singing or singing in harmony in general, have changed over time. Older examples from polyphony have lots of octaves, then the gap became smaller by filling in the fifths. Later thirds and sixths became much more popular as intervals go.
Now singing in fifths stands out (so that would be a great reason to do it in S&G's case) and sometimes feels weird.

I don't know if you could listen to the programme via the BBC Sounds app in the US. However, I think that some of us might find this website interesting: https://www.britannica.com/art/harmony-music
 
I play my baritone using the songs I already know in "ukulele" tuning. I like the different sound - moodier, thoughtful.
 
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