Other instruments a uke player can play?
- Thread starter SparkyUkulele
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Ahnko Honu
Well-known member
I always thought of Indonesia as an unusual choice in country for Pono, Oscar Schmidt, etc. to have their 'ukuleles manufactured my mind not thinking of them as a string instrument/luthier country but this thread inspired my research, and I now see that the Portuguese introduced the ancestor of the Kron Cong into this region over 300 years before they did the same in Hawai'i. Indonesian luthiers have been making the Portuguese inspired Kron Congs since the 1500s. Learned something new today, thank you!
Chris Tarman
Well-known member
An old guitar-playing friend of mine from my high-school days in Wyoming has been messing about with Balalaika. I was visiting last summer and tried it out. It is ODD. But kind of cool. Really really different though.balalaika anyone?
Going from 4 strings to 3
Ahnko Honu
Well-known member
I'd love to learn the Shamisen and play half as good as the Yoshida Brothers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ron17xFNBf0
Kevin Kmetz aka ShamiKami (Shamisen god) is one a very few American who lives in Japan and has mastered the Shamisen, he is pretty amazing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAqOUySuu_g
Here he is performing Jimmy Hendix "Purple Haze"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FzMaTRtA78
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ron17xFNBf0
Kevin Kmetz aka ShamiKami (Shamisen god) is one a very few American who lives in Japan and has mastered the Shamisen, he is pretty amazing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAqOUySuu_g
Here he is performing Jimmy Hendix "Purple Haze"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FzMaTRtA78
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fa'a Junior
Active member
I bought a Tahitian uke. Took me a while to get used to the sound but now its a good switchup from the uke. Any else got one of these in their collection?
ojohngapunk
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Bengawan solo
hey guys,
i know it's kinda off to the topic, but this is song that's what so called "Keroncong", you'll hear a rare strumming of ukulele, it's an interesting strumming, and if you want to hear more clear strumming go to youtube and search for "Bengawan Solo - Sundari Soekotjo ".
Gesang - Bengawan Solo ( Keroncong Indonesia )
http://www.4shared.com/audio/Vl01koQH/Gesang_-_Bengawan_Solo.html
hey guys,
i know it's kinda off to the topic, but this is song that's what so called "Keroncong", you'll hear a rare strumming of ukulele, it's an interesting strumming, and if you want to hear more clear strumming go to youtube and search for "Bengawan Solo - Sundari Soekotjo ".
Gesang - Bengawan Solo ( Keroncong Indonesia )
http://www.4shared.com/audio/Vl01koQH/Gesang_-_Bengawan_Solo.html
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haole
Well-known member
balalaika anyone?
Going from 4 strings to 3
I picked one up for $12 a few weeks ago in a thrift store! It's a blast.
I had 3/4s of an Aquila set so I have it tuned GCE (high G). It's the same scale length as a tenor uke.
Kite
Well-known member
I never find anything that cool in the local thrift shops! Musical instruments are just not to be found whenever I go search
70sSanO
Well-known member
If the question is what instrument can a ukulele player just pick up and play. It would have to be one with the same relational tuning. I first played guitar, I almost didn't even consider a ukulele because I wasn't sure if I wanted to learn all new chord shapes. As it turns out the shapes are the same, since all I was doing was not playing the 5th and 6th string I could pick up a ukulele and make music, maybe not as well as someone who had been playing but I could play it.
A tenor guitar is one instrument that a ukulele player can play without having to learn new chord shapes. Also any 3 string instrument with the same relational tuning would also work... just drop off one string from the chord shape.
But I doubt a ukulele player could pick up a mandolin with no knowledge of the chord shapes and just start playing it... although there are musical geniuses out there.
The ability to learn a string instrument is a differnet story.
John
Edit... I may have to correct myself because traditional tenor guitars are not tuned as a guitar, Chicago tuning. I assumed they all were because I tried a Blueridge tenor that had standard guitar tuning.
A tenor guitar is one instrument that a ukulele player can play without having to learn new chord shapes. Also any 3 string instrument with the same relational tuning would also work... just drop off one string from the chord shape.
But I doubt a ukulele player could pick up a mandolin with no knowledge of the chord shapes and just start playing it... although there are musical geniuses out there.
The ability to learn a string instrument is a differnet story.
John
Edit... I may have to correct myself because traditional tenor guitars are not tuned as a guitar, Chicago tuning. I assumed they all were because I tried a Blueridge tenor that had standard guitar tuning.
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Very interesting thread!
Good points about the tuning and chord shapes 70sSanO. It probably depends also on whether you mostly strum on the uke or also do fingerpicking, in which case I would imagine you could translate some of your fingerpicking abilities on many other instruments with different tunings and 3-4 strings. I actually find it quite fun to experiment with different tunings on the uke to get other flavours from it than the my-dog-has-fleas one, but I mostly try open ones and then do some hammer-ons, pull-outs and fingerpicking, or clawhammer (I'm not very good at clawhammer though); no actual chords (because it would probably fry my brain haha). It's a lot of fun!
One big leap would be to play a similar string instrument but with no frets. Almost guaranteed to miss the right note unless you've practiced for years and years (but no fret buzz hehe).
+1 on the post about ukulele vs. percussions: I play samba drums (surdo and caixa) and a bit of drum kit, and the rhythmical skills you get from playing it translate very well to the uke and vice versa, as the uke is very much a rhythmic instrument itself.
Actually, one fun little tick I recommend is to drum simple rhythm patterns with your index finger on the soundboard in between notes while fingerpicking - it's something Malian ngoni players (and Senegalese/Mauritanian xalam/hoddu players) do and it sounds really nice.
Ah, the ngoni! The king of all string instruments imo. I wish I could play it even a tiny bit, but it's really hard, you have to be ultra-precise and have a really sharp ear (no frets... even different tunings for different types of songs...).
I agree with what someone was saying earlier about not spreading yourself too thin by playing too many instruments, but I do think it's a good thing to try playing (or even just learn about) other similar string instruments with different music traditions and playing techniques in order to expand your musical horizon, and then try applying what you've learned back on the uke. It can only make your playing more versatile
Good points about the tuning and chord shapes 70sSanO. It probably depends also on whether you mostly strum on the uke or also do fingerpicking, in which case I would imagine you could translate some of your fingerpicking abilities on many other instruments with different tunings and 3-4 strings. I actually find it quite fun to experiment with different tunings on the uke to get other flavours from it than the my-dog-has-fleas one, but I mostly try open ones and then do some hammer-ons, pull-outs and fingerpicking, or clawhammer (I'm not very good at clawhammer though); no actual chords (because it would probably fry my brain haha). It's a lot of fun!
One big leap would be to play a similar string instrument but with no frets. Almost guaranteed to miss the right note unless you've practiced for years and years (but no fret buzz hehe).
+1 on the post about ukulele vs. percussions: I play samba drums (surdo and caixa) and a bit of drum kit, and the rhythmical skills you get from playing it translate very well to the uke and vice versa, as the uke is very much a rhythmic instrument itself.
Actually, one fun little tick I recommend is to drum simple rhythm patterns with your index finger on the soundboard in between notes while fingerpicking - it's something Malian ngoni players (and Senegalese/Mauritanian xalam/hoddu players) do and it sounds really nice.
Ah, the ngoni! The king of all string instruments imo. I wish I could play it even a tiny bit, but it's really hard, you have to be ultra-precise and have a really sharp ear (no frets... even different tunings for different types of songs...).
I agree with what someone was saying earlier about not spreading yourself too thin by playing too many instruments, but I do think it's a good thing to try playing (or even just learn about) other similar string instruments with different music traditions and playing techniques in order to expand your musical horizon, and then try applying what you've learned back on the uke. It can only make your playing more versatile
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other instruments to ukes
I have tuned an 8-string mandolin and an Irish Bouzouki to uke tunings and they work WONDERFULLY. They add a wonderful flavour to uke groups, with the steel strings, and I even play them in rock/folk bands.
I was wiki-surfing and came across an instrument called a Kroncong from Indonesia.
It got me wondering...could a uke-player pick up that instrument quite easily since it's similar? And what other instruments could a uke player pick up very easily? If any, that is?
Thanks!
Sparky
I have tuned an 8-string mandolin and an Irish Bouzouki to uke tunings and they work WONDERFULLY. They add a wonderful flavour to uke groups, with the steel strings, and I even play them in rock/folk bands.
Croaky Keith
Well-known member
Love that picture......flappy trouser leg, just right to get caught in the chain & cause an accident, let alone cycling one handed, with only the fixed wheel to use as a braking device........what an idiot!
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