Down- tuning a soprano uke to F-Bb-D-G

[Oldscruggsfan]

Generally, is personal preference the only goal in down- tuning a soprano uke, or should the floppier strings yield clearer notes when strumming?

Because I was dissatisfied with the sound when strumming Georgia (On My Mind) before and since SOTU 626, I’ve tried down tuning one full step. I somewhat like the “softer” feel but am not sure the notes sound either better or worse. Am I overlooking some benefit other than to get nearer my very narrow vocal range?

 

[Jim Hanks]

I think it works better for tenor scale than soprano. On tenor, the reduced tension and warmer tone are very welcome.

 

[Mike $]

It's Bb not A#

 

[Oldscruggsfan]

It's Bb not A#

Edited in the title. After posting, it occurred to me that this could be a better key for woodwind accompaniment, maybe?

 

[LorenFL]

"Floppier" strings, as much as I love them, won't generate a more clear note. I think a tighter string will give a clearer note, but you do have to pluck it (or strum it) harder.

I'm tuned down to E with a low "G" and a custom set of strings that gives me about the lightest tension I can get without being "floppy". If I hit that low string too hard, it will buzz.

This is on a Concert. I do have a Soprano with a Low G, I'm sure it's tuned down, as well. I've not touched it in a while.

A lot of factors at play. Personal preference for feel and sound, linear vs. re-entrant, size/quality/wood/construction of the instrument, what strings you have available, the phase of the moon, etc.

 

[merlin666]

People often tune down because key of song is too high for their vocal abilities and they don't know how to transpose chords. Standard scale uke tone and playing experience can be improved by tuning UP to D and not down.

 

[chris667]

GCEA is a comparatively recent standard; before the war, it was common for arrangements in sheet music to come tuned higher or lower.

So if it works for you, it works for you!

I always tune my ukes to themselves. The ones that don't leave the house are often miles out if I try to play them. So I've probably been playing some that low for years without noticing!

 

[Oldscruggsfan]

People often tune down because key of song is too high for their vocal abilities and they don't know how to transpose chords. Standard scale uke tone and playing experience can be improved by tuning UP to D and not down.

This ^^^ will be my next experiment!

 

[Ukecaster]

I like tuning soprano down 1/2 step to B, which is just a bit richer sounding to my ear.

 

[Contrails]

If you up the gauges on the strings you probably can tune down and have similiar tension to GCEA. The question is what is your purpose for doing so. If it suits your voice better than I don’t see why not.

 

[LorenFL]

This is on a Concert. I do have a Soprano with a Low G, I'm sure it's tuned down, as well. I've not touched it in a while.

I just pulled the Bruko off the wall and checked it. It's 30-50 cents flat from normal Low G GCEA tuning. I'm gonna guess that I had it tuned GCEA and just haven't touched it in several months.

I just brought it to GCEA spec. Dang, this thing has good intonation! The Low G of off at the nut, of course. But, if I tune that string at the 3rd fret, the whole uke is nearly perfect except for the first couple frets on the G. I need to spend some quality time with my Ohana and get it that good!

Anyhow, it sounds good at Low G. Compared to the Ohana, which is redwood and a Concert, it sounds "tinny" to me. Not bad, but certainly not as deep and resonant as the Ohana. Plus, the Ohana is 3 semitones down.

What was the question? Oh yeah. Downtuning a soprano...

Dang, this Bruko is LIGHT, too!

Okay, Bruko soprano (cedar top) tuned to Low F. Actually sounds quite good! With this particular uke and string combo, that off tuning on the low string got WAY worse with lower tension, though. That's probably why I was using standard Low G on it.

Having spent so much time with my Ohana in recent months, I'm coming up with all sorts of adjectives to describe the Bruko! "Punchy", "crisp", "lively". It definitely has a more traditional ukulele sound than the Concert Ohana, even tuned down to Low F.

Fun experiment. Now, I'll probably spend the next two hours plinking on it. I really should sell it to someone who will play it and enjoy it. Not doing much good hanging on my wall.

 

[LorenFL]

Here ya go. Low E tuning on a Soprano. Playing is sloppy, pure noodling on a soprano when I'm used to playing a concert, and phone has crappy sound. But, it works.

 

[ripock]

It's Bb not A#

Doesn't that depend on your key? I spend almost all my time on the right-hand side of the circle of fifths where there aren't any flats. For me the note between A and B is A#. However if we're talking about a key or a tonic, then I'd always use Bb because the key of A# is perverse.

 

[merlin666]

Doesn't that depend on your key? I spend almost all my time on the right-hand side of the circle of fifths where there aren't any flats. For me the note between A and B is A#. However if we're talking about a key or a tonic, then I'd always use Bb because the key of A# is perverse.

Yes depends on key. As far as I know only keys with A# are B and F#, and that one also includes the popular E#.

 

[Mike $]

Doesn't that depend on your key? I spend almost all my time on the right-hand side of the circle of fifths where there aren't any flats. For me the note between A and B is A#. However if we're talking about a key or a tonic, then I'd always use Bb because the key of A# is perverse.

Yes depends on key. As far as I know only keys with A# are B and F#, and that one also includes the popular E#.

The interval from F is a perfect 4th, so, not A#, Bb. Always try to use the note names that make the most sense no matter what your scale preferences are. If that note is A#, then the F turns into E#, the D would be C## and the G would be F##. It's not very elegant. OF course, when you play in certain keys that note changes names.

 

[Oldscruggsfan]

Via PM, one of the many UUF members with far superior musical acumen to my own explained it in this manner:

If you’re lowering the C string one full step, refer to the result as Bb (half- step to B, another half- step to Bb)
if you’re raising the G string one and one-half steps, refer to the result as A#.

 

[dancephoto]

The symbols, conventions, and language used to by musicians can be confusing. To musicians conversant in standard musical notation, describing the pitches of the strings of a ukulele that has been tuned one whole step lower than the current general standard of G C E A as F Bb D G makes perfect sense. That is just the way it is. But trying to explain why "that is just the way it is" to someone not familiar with standard musical notation could be a very long process because (as I said) the symbols, conventions, and language used to by musicians can be confusing.

It is a little bit like trying to teach someone how to do a simple thing (if you can already do it) like "telling"(!) time "using"(!) the "hands"(!) of a clock.

Click Watch on YouTube below to watch Dave Allen trying to do it. I think it will put things into perspective nicely.

 

[Oldscruggsfan]

Edit to clarify the comment paraphrased in my earlier post:
“The convention is to use the same letter name as the [string/ note] you're lowering (or raising).”

 

[ripock]

I prefer playing in what I think of E A C# F#. From what I've observed on this thread, I think I should be calling it E A Db Gb. But then again E, C#, and F# are all in the key of A and make more sense. I think I'm overthinking and confusing the topic. In the original scenario of this thread, we're downtuning to Bb and Bb as well as F D and G are in Bb. I am downtuning to A.

I was just thinking about the fret board and noticed something cool. When you first take up an instrument everything seems so random, but a after a while you can see there is an inner-logic. If you keep downtuning half-step by half-step the key of the tuning alternates from a key with flats to a key with sharps: from C you go to B (sharps) to Bb (flats) to A (sharps), etc. The one exception is the Gb tuning. But that's not a shock at all because Gb is always upsetting. Gb has six flats but its enharmonic equivalent, F#, has six sharps. So there is no advantage to using one name versus the other.

Another way to look at it is via the circle of 5ths. You move five positions clockwise from C and you get B. And five from B is B flat.

Another way is to think of it as moving in 7ths. Starting at C, B is the 7th interval of C and Bb is the 7th interval of B and A is the 7th interval of Bb.

Again, I am not offering any thesis here. It is just cool to see how symmetrical music is, no matter how you slice it.

 

[ploverwing]

I think I'm overthinking and confusing the topic.

I think that you are not alone in that.