Baritone Ukulele?

I’ve been playin’ finger style on my baritone uke and tenor guitars for quite a while now, and I find it easy peasy with dots, or tabs, or by ear. But lately I’m workin’ on addin’ chords, and things have drastically changed. With the added chords, I use tab. It’s just easier for me to read them.

I’ve been down strumming chords when the melody is high enough and just don’t use a chord for low notes. But now, I’ve read in my handy “Ukuleles for Dummies” that I can up strum on the low notes. So that answers a question I had ‘bout chords for the low notes, and now I’m ready to charge ahead. Actually, I am improvin’, but I must admit that chords are not my forte’.

Do, those of you who play finger style, use chords too? Or do you just pick melodies? I think tunes sound lots better with chords. :eek:ld:
 
I started James Hill's course but didnt get far. I think it was in that course he said that the notes that stand out in a chord are

1. the highest note
2. The last note
3. the lowest note
4. the first note

Somewhat in that order (not sure about 3 and 4), so last note as a high note stands out the most but low note as the last note would work somewhat too, as you describe. Low note as the first note is going to be relatively indistinct from the rest of the chord.

He often plays only 2-3 strings of a chord so that the melody note is the last high note.
 
Tenor guitar is tuned EADG with steel strings

Most common TG tuning is CGDA. DGBE (Chicago), is not uncommon nor is GDAE (Irish) but the most conventional, original tuning is CGDA, as the TG arose as a replacement for the banjo. I started on baritone uke in DGBE tuning and I still like it. I experimented with GCEA long ago (thought it would be easier to be in sync with other ukes) but it just didn’t seem to suit. It lost it’s mellow guitar quality. I like my tenor in Irish tuning, though I don’t play Celtic music. I primarily play bluegrass and like my tenor guitar tuned like a mandolin only lower. It’s good for lead work and deeper sounding than CGDA. I’d say CGDA has a sweeter sound, GDAE a grittier sound. The tenor guitar does sound good DGBE, with it’s closer harmonies but I prefer the fifths tuning. When I want to sound like a guitar, I play guitar or DGBE tuned baritone uke.
 
I play my baritone tuned DGBE and recently changed the tuning of my tenor ukulele to DGBE. The low, mellow sound cannot be beat. Locating music to play is not problem. I tried but I just do not like high G.
 
Most common TG tuning is CGDA. DGBE (Chicago), is not uncommon nor is GDAE (Irish) but the most conventional, original tuning is CGDA, as the TG arose as a replacement for the banjo. I started on baritone uke in DGBE tuning and I still like it. I experimented with GCEA long ago (thought it would be easier to be in sync with other ukes) but it just didn’t seem to suit. It lost it’s mellow guitar quality. I like my tenor in Irish tuning, though I don’t play Celtic music. I primarily play bluegrass and like my tenor guitar tuned like a mandolin only lower. It’s good for lead work and deeper sounding than CGDA. I’d say CGDA has a sweeter sound, GDAE a grittier sound. The tenor guitar does sound good DGBE, with it’s closer harmonies but I prefer the fifths tuning. When I want to sound like a guitar, I play guitar or DGBE tuned baritone uke.

Do you need several TGs to have these different tunings or can you use the same strings to tune down or up?
 
Do you need several TGs to have these different tunings or can you use the same strings to tune down or up?
You need different strings for these different tunings CGDA is a higher voicing and therefore thinner strings than GDAE. DGBE is 4ths & a 3rd tuning, so it covers much less range than those fifths tuning and so it needs strings with closer diameters than CGDE or GDAE sets. For DGBE you can use 4 of the six reg.guitar strings, if you like.
 
You need different strings for these different tunings CGDA is a higher voicing and therefore thinner strings than GDAE. DGBE is 4ths & a 3rd tuning, so it covers much less range than those fifths tuning and so it needs strings with closer diameters than CGDE or GDAE sets. For DGBE you can use 4 of the six reg.guitar strings, if you like.

Hi, bunnyf, I was told on another forum that the same strings can be used for both CGDA and DGBE. I’ve used both tunings, and they played okay as far as I can tell.

I dunno . . . but thanks for your input. :eek:ld:
 
Most common TG tuning is CGDA. DGBE (Chicago), is not uncommon nor is GDAE (Irish) but the most conventional, original tuning is CGDA, as the TG arose as a replacement for the banjo. I started on baritone uke in DGBE tuning and I still like it. I experimented with GCEA long ago (thought it would be easier to be in sync with other ukes) but it just didn’t seem to suit. It lost it’s mellow guitar quality. I like my tenor in Irish tuning, though I don’t play Celtic music. I primarily play bluegrass and like my tenor guitar tuned like a mandolin only lower. It’s good for lead work and deeper sounding than CGDA. I’d say CGDA has a sweeter sound, GDAE a grittier sound. The tenor guitar does sound good DGBE, with it’s closer harmonies but I prefer the fifths tuning. When I want to sound like a guitar, I play guitar or DGBE tuned baritone uke.

Hmm from what I've discovered online, tenor guitar was always tuned EADG by default. There's a fb group for TG and baritone uke and they clearly state EADG as the most common tuning, something which I'd already heard about via google
 
Hmm from what I've discovered online, tenor guitar was always tuned EADG by default. There's a fb group for TG and baritone uke and they clearly state EADG as the most common tuning, something which I'd already heard about via google

Wikipedia:
Tenor guitars are normally tuned in fifths (usually C3 G3 D4 A4, similar to the tenor banjo, mandola, or the viola) although other tunings are also common, such as "guitar tuning", "Chicago tuning," or baritone ukulele tuning (D3 G3 B3 E4), "Irish" or "octave mandolin" tuning (G2 D3 A3 E4, like a mandolin or violin but one octave below) and various "open" tunings, for slide playing. The tenor guitar can also be tuned like a soprano/concert/tenor ukulele, using various versions of G3 C4 E4 A4 tuning.

When the tenor banjo fell out of favor in the 1920s, guitar companies started making a four string version so banjo players could find work. Since the tenor banjos were tuned CGDA, that’s how TG started out. Now all different tunings are being used. I think this most recent wave of ukulele interest has led even more folks eventually to TG. Since they are not comping from a banjo background, they are more likely to think DGBE. So that tuning is getting more and more popular.
I like GDAE tuning. I like the range. It’s most associated with Celtic music which I only occasionally play. I use 40, 30, 20, 11 on my 23” scale TG.
 
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Wikipedia:
Tenor guitars are normally tuned in fifths (usually C3 G3 D4 A4, similar to the tenor banjo, mandola, or the viola) although other tunings are also common, such as "guitar tuning", "Chicago tuning," or baritone ukulele tuning (D3 G3 B3 E4), "Irish" or "octave mandolin" tuning (G2 D3 A3 E4, like a mandolin or violin but one octave below) and various "open" tunings, for slide playing. The tenor guitar can also be tuned like a soprano/concert/tenor ukulele, using various versions of G3 C4 E4 A4 tuning.

When the tenor banjo fell out of favor in the 1920s, guitar companies started making a four string version so banjo players could find work. Since the tenor banjos were tuned CGDA, that’s how TG started out. Now all different tunings are being used. I think this most recent wave of ukulele interest has led even more folks eventually to TG. Since they are not comping from a banjo background, they are more likely to think DGBE. So that tuning is getting more and more popular.
I like GDAE tuning. I like the range. It’s most associated with Celtic music which I only occasionally play. I use 40, 30, 20, 11 on my 23” scale TG.

I agree with this post completely, bunnyf. My Kala KA-GTR came tuned to CGDA which I really don’t care for, so I changed it to DGBE. However, then I bought a Blueridge tenor guitar (also tuned to CGDA) and changed it to DGBE also. Then I had two exactly tuned guitars . . .

So I decided, since I needed somethin’ to use for plectrum music, to change the Kala to CGBD. Now I use it to play plectrum folk tunes and classical music.

Anyway, I guess I’m sayin’ that tenor guitars are pretty versatile. I like mine a lot. :eek:ld:
 
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I bought a set of Baritone Aquilas for GCEA tuning(Gunpowder Grey Packaging) by error. I have a couple of Baritones, so when the strings got worn on one, I thought I'd try and see how they sounded. Now what I would like to know is how tense should those strings be. They sounded too floppy at a low tension, but they are beginning to feel too tense at several tones below GCEA.. should I continue or am I an octave above where I should be?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.
 
I bought a set of Baritone Aquilas for GCEA tuning(Gunpowder Grey Packaging) by error. I have a couple of Baritones, so when the strings got worn on one, I thought I'd try and see how they sounded. Now what I would like to know is how tense should those strings be. They sounded too floppy at a low tension, but they are beginning to feel too tense at several tones below GCEA.. should I continue or am I an octave above where I should be?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

It’s been awhile since I tried gcea on a baritone. I tried living water linear and found the g too thick and in general they were floppy. I also tried south coast reentrant and of course the high g was better but in general the tension was floppy.

Use a tuner (free online) that has the octave #. You should be in octave 4.
 
I did this a few years back and I still love the sound of it.

For a standard DGBE Baritone, de-tune the D down to a C to try this out.

Play the C chord and you get a feel for why I went this way. I use a D'Addario .035w for Low C

This chart is a WIP... ;)

-Wiggy

<edit> The "o" means optional fingering.'
 

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I use CGBD to play Plectrum Banjo music on my Kala guitar and my Lanikai banjolele.. If one added the g it would be the old time (gCGBD) 5 string banjo tuning. :eek:ld:
 
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D-U-D: gCGBE is exactly how I tune my Gold Tone Banjola. The CGBE are the same pitch as my Baritone. I just kinda figured it out on my own... how would I know somebody else figured it out long before me?

That was a joke, BTW!

I can tune the 5th (drone) string from C up to A for keys C-D-E-F-G-A. Tuned C, it is a bit loose, but still useable. It is an .011" and will break if I try to tune any higher than A. It is reliable at A. I tried an .010 and .012, but .011 is the best compromise.

-Wiggy
 
D-U-D: gCGBE is exactly how I tune my Gold Tone Banjola. The CGBE are the same pitch as my Baritone. I just kinda figured it out on my own... how would I know somebody else figured it out long before me?

That was a joke, BTW!

I can tune the 5th (drone) string from C up to A for keys C-D-E-F-G-A. Tuned C, it is a bit loose, but still useable. It is an .011" and will break if I try to tune any higher than A. It is reliable at A. I tried an .010 and .012, but .011 is the best compromise.

-Wiggy

I’m sorry, but I just don’t understand what the heck you are talking about. Why are you retunin’ the drone up and down? Are you just experimenting or what? I play in gDGBD, gDGCD and gCGCD, so you can see that I never need to change my drone string except to tune it.

I’d rather play tunes than piddle around changing everything on my instruments. Right now I’m working on Irish music with my GDAE tuned Irish banjo.
:eek:ld:
 
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