Tenor (or baritone) Ukelele or Guitar?

Cafe Society
1

First off, I really have no real musical experience. I had 5 years of piano lessons in grade school, but they were all from teachers that just taught songs, no theory whatsoever. After that I took a year of clarinet, bass guitar and guitar, again, no theory, no ‘let’s start with chords’, no ‘let’s learn about keys’, no ‘practice your scales’ etc. In college I taught myself the guitar for a year or so with the a book called “teach yourself the blues” and that was my introduction to theory. It’s the only time I ever learned anything about keys (which I still don’t totally understand), scales, chords etc, but it was all self taught, but I learned more teaching myself then I learned with all my other teachers, barring piano because I (more or less) learned how to read music from her. I was so proud of myself after working with that book when I could pick a random key (well, fret) and play the 12 bar blues based around that note.

Anyways, I struggled with guitar during that year (in college), even after a year, even after I could play a little, it still never clicked.

I keep thinking I should pick it back up, I’d love to be able to pick something up and be able to play. I don’t particularly care what it is, I’m not looking to perform in front of people, I’m not looking to join a band, I’d just like to be able to play something. I’m also not looking to get real lessons, but I’m more than happy to do something online like JustinGuitar or Nars Ginley etc.
Anyways, a friend of mine (that’s musically talented) also struggled with guitar since college as well (turned out she just couldn’t open her hand wind enough to hit certain chords) suggested a tenor uke. I took a look at it and, physically, it looks easier. The strings are spread out further than on a guitar and it’s tuned the same as the four high stings on a guitar…now that I’m looking, I think I’m thinking of a baritone Uke (DGBE). Which also means, in my educated guess, that what you learn on it would transfer to a guitar.

So, for those of you that have one, or played one, how was it to learn on it? How do you think someone with no real musical background would do with it?

Seems like I could pick one up on Amazon for less than a hundred dollars, so it’s not a total loss if I hate it.

Any thoughts? I understand (really, I do) that any musical instrument takes loads of practice, but is tenor (baritone?) uke easier than guitar?

2

There is a Standard Uke, which is a Soprano instrument. There is also a “Concert” Uke which is the same tuning as Soprano, but a bit bigger in size and a bit more sonorous.

Tenors are like small guitars and tuned lower than a Soprano.

The four strings and smaller fretboard make it easier to play than a guitar for most people. Also, there are unique Uke techniques like “Chucking” which add a lot of interest to playing the Uke. I would highly recommend getting one, but go to your local Music Stores and hopefully find a salesperson who knows the Uke and can recommend a good one for your price range.

This will inspire you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2OEuyF_2u8

3

The tenor uke tunes the same as the soprano and concert models, except that it may or may not have the G string tuned an octave lower than the smaller ones. It just has a bigger body for a “darker” tone quality.

4

I would suggest not getting hung up on the number of strings being a particularly important factor, but picking the instrument whose SOUND speaks to you and fits with the sort of music you want to play - good luck!

(FWIW I own and play guitars (acoustic and electric), mandolin, ukulele…and even dabbled with a banjo for a while)

5

Yes. The ONLY thing that matters is wanting to play. Make choices, within reason and cost, that keep you interested and wanting to practice.

6

These guys have it right. When my wife started getting serious about fiddling, I tried mando, harmonica, tin whistle, guitar, and even banjo, trying to find something to accompany her. To my misfortune, I couldn’t escape the fact that I am a bass player. :smiley:

Having said that, I’d suggest uke as a good entry instrument. As you indicate, it is one of the least expensive stringed instruments you can buy, and it is relatively easy to learn chop chords that will allow you to play along with a lot of folk, bluegrass, and other acoustic music.

If you get a uke, and decide music isn’t for you, well, you have less than $100 sunk into it. Conversely, if you decide you really want to learn guitar or mando instead, well, you only have $100 sunk into it - and are that much further along to being a multi-instrumentalist!

My 2 cents - there are generally a TON more guitarists out there than just about any other instrument. And many of them have been playing since they were young. It would take you years - if ever - to catch up to what they are doing. In the meantime, you’ll find youself one of several folk just strumming chords - yawn! A uke can add interesting color to just about any jam.

I’d strongly suggest you consider mando - tho it would probably cost around $175 for an entry model. The 8 strings and small scale might look daunting, but in many respects you play the strings in pairs - essentially as a 4-string instrument. You can learn 4-5 open-string chop chords and contribute right away to many jams. When you learn the closed-string chords, they can easily transpose, simply moving up and down the neck. And mandos don’t carry any potential “toy” stigma some might have towards ukes.

I’d probably suggest against any “unusual” instrument as a beginner. Just start with a standard uke or banjo uke, then add to your collection later. If you show up to a jam with something unusual, there’s a good chance the folk you meet will have higher expectations of you than you may wish as a beginner.

7

Like I said, I’m not looking to play with anyone. The chances of anything I do, being done in public is pretty close to zero, it’s just for myself.

Anyways, I picked up a Kala Baritone Uke from Amazon. Should be here Monday. I hemmed and hawed about getting a regular Uke because of the 4 Ukes, this is the only one that’s tuned different (it seems to be like a mini guitar than a big uke), but I decided I’d rather be able to move to guitar than another uke. Besides, if it ‘clicks’ for me unlike guitar ever did and I want to move to a uke, I’ll learn that.

8

I had never heard of a baritone guitar until about a week ago, when I read a review of a Japanese punk rock band The Husky. The review states that baritone guitar is used in this song Story.

It’s a great song:D

And now, there’s a thread about baritone guitars!!

9

I should probably update this. I did get a bari Uke on Monday. I’ve been playing with it but having a really difficult time finding online tutorials/lessons for it since it seems to be somewhat obscure in a world dominated by regular Ukes and Guitars.
I’m very strongly thinking about picking up a regularly tuned Uke OR since I have to bring it into a shop to get the D string looked at (it buzzes), picking up a capo which essentially turns it into a Uke.
With the seemingly infinite amount of resources for the Ukulele, it might be nice to either pick one up (I mean, they’re like 50 bucks) or capo this one so I can get some experience and confidence. Also, I know (and somewhat understand how) it’s just a matter of changing the chords to go back and forth*…so maybe I should pick one up.

Huh, I may have just convinced myself. I got this one on Amazon, but like I said, I’m running it up to a music store to have it looked at. If I can get a decent Uke for $100 or less, maybe I’ll grab that (and a bari uke capo).
*I do remember a little bit from teaching myself the guitar. But other then some of the chords feeling a little familiar, I’m still starting from nothing.

10

Ever heard of a guitalele? It’s a 6 string guitar not much bigger than a uke. The Yamaha GL1, though only $100, sounds really nice and plays easy. Best, IMO, for open chords and stuff down at the end because the frets get pretty tight higher up. I got one by my easy chair and pick it up all the time. Check Youtube for videos.

11

I learned on one, back in the day and I loved it. I was a 10 year old kid and had very small hands, so it was much easier than starting on a guitar, not to mention that chording uses only a finger or two. A few years later the transition to a guitar felt like a natural progression.

12

Look at alternate tunings as well. If you decide to go with a guitar you’ll have no issues then… :slight_smile:

13

The baritone uke is tuned just like the top four of a guitar - DGBE and the other types are tuned GCEA. These are the same intervallic relationships, just at a different pitch.

You can learn with standard uke diagrams etc. The tuning of a’normal’ uke is simply that of a baritone uke with a capo on the 5th fret. So the only difference is the relative pitch, and since you’ll be playing alone, that won’t matter.

14

Update.
A)I took the bari Uke to a guitar shop. There’s an allen screw inside, under the fret board that needed to be adjusted, the guy (at the register) took one look at it and said the fret board was bowed one way or the other. I’d be surprised, but it must have a truss. It doesn’t look like it, it most be internal, there’s nothing running up the back.
B)while I was there, partially because I felt bad that he did it for free, I picked up a capo (to make this a soprano uke) and I liked it a lot more since there’s a world of tutorials out there instead of like 3
C)I bought a Soprano Uke. I know I could have stuck with the capo’d bari uke, but this was like $50 so I’d rather just do it right.

So that’s where I am now. Plugging along with a ‘regular’ uke. It’s clearly going to take some practice. Problem is, all the tutorials are either 4 chords (C, G, A, F) and I end up spending some time working on transitions (with I knew would happen) and a lot more time concentrating on strum patters (which I didn’t expect so early on, but it does seem like that’s a big part of making the song sound right, and some of those strum patters are actually kind of difficult).
OR, a song will have like 7+ chords with a bunch of bar chords and I’m just not ready for that many barre (bar?) chords, plus I’m just don’t have the dexterity for that yet. Even after a year+ of guitar, I wasn’t there yet.

So, lots more practice, but I’l like to find some better online teachers rather than “Hi, today I’m going to teach you how to play _____”. I’ve heard lots about Justin Guitar over the years (for guitar), but he only has a very small selection of uke tutorials.

Part of me things that if I’m going to spend this much time on it, I should try guitar again (I already have one, so I wouldn’t have to buy it). FTR, when I tried to teach myself the guitar back around '99, there was no Youtube, so it could be totally different now. All I had was a single book. OTOH, maybe I should just stick with one thing for a while and this is kind of fun. Plus, I can play it sitting in my recliner and I can even practice strum patters after the kid goes to sleep by muting the stings.

15

My advice remains the same - forget about issues like number of strings, tuning, capoing, strum patterns, youtube videos, etc. (as picker says, the intervallic relationships are all the same)…learning any of them will, of course, require LOTS of time spent practicing, so pick the instrument whose SOUND speaks to you and fits with the sort of music you want to play.

16

Joey P, I have 3 recommendations for you:

  1. Get a uke chord dictionary. A spiral bound one if possible. It doesn’t matter if it’s bound on the top or the side.

B. Get a songbook. Who’s your favourite acoustic performer? What’s your favourite acoustic album/CD? Buy the songbook. Make sure it’s got at least 2 of your favourite songs in it. Back in my day, it was a Beatles songbook. I spent hours and hours playing “I Should Have Known Better”. Get the songbook you like and start practicing. Sure, you’ll have write in the uke version of the chords, but you’ll be motivated to learn them and to play the songs, you’ll get practice changing chords.

iii. Practice in front of a mirror. You’ll do better looking at your left hand in the mirror for finger placement than you will turning the instrument up or bending your head around to see your fingers on the fretboard. And it’ll be easier on your wrist.

17

Here’s a site with lots of songs. The arrangements are pretty easy.

If there’s a song I’m dying to play and there’s only guitar chords for it and I don’t know the ukulele versions, I’ll pull up guitar toolkit on my phone, set the instrument to ukulele and look up the chords that way. Or better yet just build the chords myself.

18

While I totally understand that, I would love to be able to play the guitar, but what I taught myself on the uke (bari or soprano) in the first week or so probably took me two months on the guitar.
Don’t get me wrong, if I played either one for years, I wouldn’t be sitting there thinking about those first few months, but there’s something about playing for 15 minuets (on your first day) and being able to play a recognizable song (with chords, not just picking). I suppose I do have a leg up since I didn’t have to learn tabs first.

In a perfect world I’d go out and get a handful of lessons before I end up with some bad habits, but in the mean time I’m having some fun.

Like I said, I hear Justin Guitar is great for guitar, maybe I’ll break that out and try some of his lessons. But I really did struggle with it, twice, for a year each time.

So, I’ll play with the uke for a few months and go from there. Who knows, maybe I’ll transition to a guitar…maybe I’ll try it and say ‘how can anyone play this, the strings are so close together and this thing is so big?’

Anyways, like I said, I’m going to screw around with it for a while and see it clicks anytime soon. I give it a half hour to an hour every night. I just need that ‘click’, that day when I can move from one chord to another (or some chord back into G) a bit easier, and then the sky’s the limit.

ETA, and there is something to be said for the 8 billion youtube videos out there that make me thing if all those people can pick it up and play it, maybe I can too.

19

I have nothing against ukes at all - I have a Flea which I enjoy playing! - my point FWIW is simply that you can’t make guitar music on it, if that’s what you really want to do.

20

That’s okay, I’m not interested in making guitar music on it. Maybe moving (back) to guitar someday, but, really, my goal is to make some kind of music. I’d love to be able to pick up an instrument and…play. Over the years I’ve played (and taken lessons) on piano, clarinet, guitar (acoustic and electric) and bass guitar and nothing ever really clicked. I did 5 years on piano and a year on all the others. Again, real lessons, with an instructor. The uke (or the bari uke to begin with) seemed like a new entry point for me. Maybe I’ll hate it and it’ll end up in the basement in a few months…maybe it’ll be the one that’ll click for me. Won’t know until I give it a chance.
At least I have some kind of background with it (guitar) so I have some idea as to what to expect. I have a some (very) minimal guitar theory and I’m not sitting here everyday wondering why my fingers hurt so much. So that’s good. FTR, my fingers don’t bug me nearly as much as they did with an acoustic guitar.