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Absolute
Lokahi
275 Posts |
 Posted - 04/30/2007 : 08:31:23 AM
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Can one use the same fingering shown on tablature for a DGBE tuned ukulele if one is playing a GCEA tuned ukulele? Do music books for GCEA tuned ukuleles then work with DGBE tuned ukuleles, or is the fingering too specialized relative to the progression of notes up the fingerboard?
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Thank you. |
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Trev
Lokahi
United Kingdom
265 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2007 : 09:33:49 AM
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Hi there!
Well the fingerings, the shapes of the chords and scales will still work, i.e. sound Ok when you play them. What won't work is the names of the chords. If you are used to playing a 'C' shape on a GCEA uke, the same shape will 'work' on a DGBE, but it won't be a C (because you're playing different notes)- it will be a G instead. |
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hikabe
Lokahi
USA
358 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2007 : 10:51:21 AM
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Stay Tuned... |
Edited by - hikabe on 04/30/2007 12:16:23 PM |
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Absolute
Lokahi
275 Posts |
Posted - 05/01/2007 : 04:33:43 AM
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Thanks. I'd tuned one of my "birdhouse" ukuleles to DGBE previously and played through "Aloha Oe" (the only tune I know from memory) on the DGBE tuned ukulele, and it sounded like "Aloha Oe". Then I went to www.chordie.com and got a tab for "Upside Down" from Curious George movie (setting the Chordie web page to produce a tab for DGBE tuning instead of GCEA tuning) and played through it on a GCEA tuned "birdhouse" using finger positions only, and it sounded okay. Of course, I was using the DGBE tab for finger positions only and not trying to create finger positions for chord names, which would have been all wrong with the different tuning.
With tabs, is an "X" or a "-" the symbol to use to indicate that a string is not used? Thanks in advance! |
Thank you. |
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Dominator
Lokahi
USA
115 Posts |
Posted - 05/01/2007 : 11:22:08 AM
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| With the Powertab software I use and X means the note is played as a muted or percussive type sound. If used in a chord diagram it would mean not to play that particular string. The - is not used in PT and I can't recall what it would represent in ASCII tab. |
www.dominator.ukeland.com
www.myspace.com/dominatoruke
Practice makes Practice Perfect! |
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Absolute
Lokahi
275 Posts |
Posted - 05/01/2007 : 4:47:27 PM
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| Thanks, to all! |
Thank you. |
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Trev
Lokahi
United Kingdom
265 Posts |
Posted - 05/02/2007 : 12:45:24 AM
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Yep, that's it with the different tuning - it will sound fine, but it will be in a different key. It's no problem if you're playing on your own, but it's worth bearing in mind that if you play with someone else you'll have changed the key. The shapes work just fine because the strings have the same 'intervals' between them. An interval is the distance between one note and another.
It might interest you to know that the top (highest) four strings of the guitar are also tuned DGBE, in 'standard' tuning - in case you haven't already got enough to think about!
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Absolute
Lokahi
275 Posts |
Posted - 05/02/2007 : 05:15:39 AM
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I'd run into the "play it the same with an instrument with different tuning" with a tin whistle, going from high to low D major scale, so the concept is not unfamiliar. I simply hadn't analyzed the intervals between the strings to a degree that enabled me to confidently come to a conclusion, even though my ears had suggested the conclusion that was provided.
The most exciting result of this, for me at least, is that I no longer feel as inclined to perceive a baritone ukulele as a "little guitar" missing two strings. It now seems to fall more into the category of a legitimate ukulele, with substantial potential, so long as you know how to play the GCEA tuned version of the music from memory, rather than having to resort to learning DGBE chord fingerings as well from DGBE ukulele books. (I suppose that's an option for guitarists.) |
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marzullo
`Olu`olu
USA
923 Posts |
Posted - 05/02/2007 : 12:02:11 PM
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the bari uke IS a legitimite ukulele. i know people who tune their bari uke GCEA, which then results in a very nice sounding and loud ukulele. the difference in the spacing between the frets means that some chords that are easy to grab on a soprano uke are harder to grab on a baritone uke.
i had been told, though, that the baritone ukulele was invented as an instrument that would make it easier to learn guitar. you first learn on the bari uke, and then migrate to the six stringed instrument. i don't know if this story is true.
changing the key of a song (which is what you would do playing GCEA chords on a DGBE uke) can make the song sound different. in our band, we lost a player to kealakekua (auë!) and so brought in another talented person (hoihoi!) he doesn't sing quite as high and so we've changed the key of some of the songs we sing. so, we're now doing 'Ulili E in A rather than C and Wahine 'Ilikea in D rather than F. for both songs, the lower-keyed one loses some "happiness" that we're still working on recovering.
speaking of all this tuning, one way to view Keola's C tuning on a guitar (CGDGBE) is as a bari uke with two handy bass strings for walking bass lines. it's kind of fun if fundamentally lazy... if you're used to a GCEA uke, then tune your guitar to Keola's C. pretend you're playing a song in the key of F (it will actually be in the key of C because you're playing DGBE rather than GCEA). when you play a I chord (you think it's an F, but it's a C) use the low C string as the bass, and when you're playing the V chord (you think it's a C but it's a G) use the low G string as the bass.
aloha,
keith
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Edited by - marzullo on 05/03/2007 03:00:10 AM |
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