Common Type of Ukuleles:
The Ukulele family, as we know it today, contains of four different type of instruments. The smallest one is the Soprano and the biggest one is the Baritone. In between these two are the Concert, which in size looks similar to the Tenor.
The Soprano is the most common one for beginners: It is relatively cheap and small to carry.
When it comes to buying your first Ukulele please do not buy the cheapest one you can find.Usually the budgetmodels will not stay in tune very well, their tuners tend to slip which makes tuning something of a nightmare.
As with any instrument, the better the instrument, the better it will play and the easier it will be to get a tune out of it. This is especially true for the less experienced player. There is not need to buy a really expensive Ukulele [only if you are inclined that way] Something in the pricerange from £30.- to £40.- will buy you a fine instrument which will last you for a long time.
Tuning:
The most common tuning is the C-tuning which reads like: G, C, E and A (low to high). Soprano’s, Concert’s and Tenors are tuned in this tuning, Baritiones are tuned similar as the top four strings of the guitar: D,G,B and E (low to high). Because of this tuning, the Baritone can be seen as a small guitar: The chordshapes are similar as the chordshapes played on the top four strings of the guitar.
Creating an Ochestra of Ukuleles:
In the previous blog I talked about the Twin Guitar Sound. It is possible to get a smiliar sound from the Ukulele: Put together various types of Ukes and play any chordsequence or song and it will create a beautiful, full sound of matching Ukuleles. If there are any people out there who are interested in putting a Ukulele Orchestra together, please get in touch as I would love to arrange music for this type of band/orchestra.!
More Ukuleles:
Apart from the Ukes mentioned above there are two more different types of Ukes, they are less common but both of them have their own sound: One is the Resonator Ukulele, this Uke looks similar as the resonator guitar with its metal body and metalic sound. This Uke is a lot louder than the more common, wooden-type body Uke.
Another type of Uke is the Ukulele-Banjo which was popularized by George Formby. This Type of Uke does sound somewhat similar as the Banjo.
Why Play Ukulele?
The sound of the Uke is quite distintive and the size of the instrument is compact which makes it an ideal travelpartner.
A lot of people tend to think the sound of the Uke is somewhat commical. It is true, with it’s C (or D) tuning, that a Uke sounds quite bright, cheerful and less mournful that it’s fuller brother: The Guitar with it’s standard Emsus4 7 tuning.
Want to develop your Ukulele playing? Stay tuned for more special Ukulele blogs about different playing styles/techinques and using guitarcapos for your Uke.
See you soon,
Eddie