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Absolute
Lokahi
275 Posts |
 Posted - 09/04/2007 : 4:46:11 PM
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I took up the ukulele largely due to the appeal of four strings. I thought that fours strings would permit me to play enough chords with three, essentially usable fingers, even if they are clumsy, to at least approximate favorite pieces of music.
Now they've developed a six string ukulele that is not strung with one or two doubled courses, but seems to be intended to function as an octave guitar. More manufacturers seem to be offering them. First there was Mr. Ho's D-VI, now Mahalo has a version on the market.
I'm curious. For whom are these instruments being manufactured? Guitarists who wish to add another toy to their collection? Professionals looking for something novel with which to wow audiences? Ukulele players who have grown tired of four strings and want to dabble with a guitar while persuading themselves they're still playing a ukulele? Parents looking for a small guitar for junior now that the price point has been dropped with Mahalo's entry into this niche? Is this product being sold merely on the issue of portability?
Are they intended to be tuned the same as guitars (either in terms of standard or slack key tunings)? Given the greater difficulty of guitar chords, and the smaller fingerboard of a ukulele, why would someone who plays a ukulele who is used to four strings not merely transition to a guitar if they find that six strings and guitar tuning is appealing to them? I know that one can find inexpensive guitars, even nylon strung, half sized, classical guitars in the fifty to two hundred dollar price range on-line if one waits for a suitable sale or close-out.
What is the appeal of a tiny, six string guitar that is renamed a "ukulele" outside of the novelty it presents for professional musicians or those who are, essentially, collectors?
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hwnmusiclives
`Olu`olu
USA
580 Posts |
Posted - 09/04/2007 : 6:02:42 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Absolute
Now they've developed a six string ukulele that is not strung with one or two doubled courses, but seems to be intended to function as an octave guitar. More manufacturers seem to be offering them. First there was Mr. Ho's D-VI, now Mahalo has a version on the market.
Actually, first there was Sam Kamaka's which he personally designed and built over 45 years ago especially for Gabby Pahinui who used it on the second Sons of Hawai`i LP.
quote:
I'm curious. For whom are these instruments being manufactured?...Are they intended to be tuned the same as guitars (either in terms of standard or slack key tunings)? Given the greater difficulty of guitar chords, and the smaller fingerboard of a ukulele, why would someone who plays a ukulele who is used to four strings not merely transition to a guitar if they find that six strings and guitar tuning is appealing to them?
You answered many of your own questions. You're an `ukulele player, so I would assume that besides liking the ease of handling only four strings, you also like the sound of an `ukulele. Otherwise, you might have just as easily have chosen a tenor (four-string) guitar!
An `ukulele and a guitar have separate and distinct tonal qualities. The largest `ukulele doesn't begin to sound like a guitar, nor does the smallest guitar approach sounding like an `ukulele.
But besides the tonal characteristics of the two, you explored the most likely possibilities. When accompanying oneself with an `ukulele, one is lacking an essential component of music that humans expect to hear - the bottom end. A six-stringed `ukulele provides that bottom end. A guitarist can easily make the transition between the two instruments. (The reverse, perhaps, is not so easily accomplished if the `ukulele player has never had to deal with the additional strings before.)
Kamaka designed a six-string for Gabby so that he could work his slack key wizardry on an `ukulele. If you have never heard that recording, you owe it to yourself to hear two `ukulele - Gabby's and Eddie's - working in concert because the two were doing vastly different things.
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What is the appeal of a tiny, six string guitar that is renamed a "ukulele" outside of the novelty it presents for professional musicians or those who are, essentially, collectors?
That is not entirely accurate. I would not call a tiny, six string guitar an "`ukulele." Based on their tonal properties, a "guitar" sounds like a guitar and an "`ukulele" sounds like an `ukulele.
Here is the converse to ponder... Different types of guitars alternately use steel or nylon strings. But an `ukulele almost universally employs nylon strings. Should we call a steel string `ukulele a "guitar" simply because it has steel strings? I don't think Eddie Kamae would think so as he has been playing a steel string `ukulele for years. And it is Bruce Spencer's steel string `ukulele that contributes to Maunalua's unique sound.
How about this... Is a seven-string guitar no longer a guitar? Is a six- or eight-string `ukulele still an `ukulele? (I bet Manuel Nunes wouldn't think so!) And a tiple is fingered just like an `ukulele but has ten strings and is called a "tiple" - not a ten-string `ukulele.
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Join me for the history of Hawaiian music and its musicians at Ho`olohe Hou at www.hoolohehou.org. |
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Absolute
Lokahi
275 Posts |
Posted - 09/04/2007 : 7:13:39 PM
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Tonight I've been reading a little about the D-VI in "Discovering the 'Ukulele" by D. Ho and H. Ohta, Jr (a part I'd previously ignored). (I got the local library to add the book to their collection, so I'm the first to get it after it was cataloged. Lots of good music in the back, and I've only had to approximate three "pinkie chords" that make my brain freeze up as I try to figure out how to put each of four fingers on the strings.) In this book, of which Mr. Ho is a co-author, the "standard tuning" of the D-VI is described as A,D,G,C,E,A (which, as Mr. Wynnes suggests, means this doesn't sound like a guitar, based upon its tuning). This tuning is presented as being "accessible" to both ukulele and guitar players. What impact will this have on chord strumming if one fingers chords as one would with a four-stringed ukulele? Will it "muddy" some of them with the additional A and D notes? Does one have to adapt to guitar chords to make this work?
(As far as the definition of an 'ukulele, in terms of mass produced instruments with which most people were familiar, six and eight string 'ukuleles meant doubled courses. Four strings meant it was an 'ukulele, with some people speaking of tenor 'ukuleles that others call tenor guitars even at musical instrument sales web sites. Four steel strings meant you had thicker callouses on your fingers! Pro's are known to go for something a little different if it differentiates them from the crowd. I'd like to know if these mass produced six string instruments are likely to appeal to those who have previously only played four string 'ukuleles, or if they are meant more for guitarists, or 'ukulele players transitioning to the guitar. Who knows. Maybe nylon is less painful in transition. ;-) |
Thank you. |
Edited by - Absolute on 09/04/2007 7:24:34 PM |
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da_joka
Lokahi
361 Posts |
Posted - 09/04/2007 : 7:14:49 PM
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I've been eyeing out da KoAloha D-VI for a while now too ... but since it's waaay out of my price range ... i goin jus keep on eyeing um out. Da ting I like about da 6-string ukulele (vs. da traditional 6-string tenors w/ double C and A strings) is how you can still play da "normal" ukulele stuff wit da bottom 4 strings if you like. BUT, if you like throw in some nice bass fo some slack key o someting, it's dea if you like use um, i guess.
Yamaha made someting ladis too eh, da Giutalele. I tink it's pretty reasonably priced too, and dea is a link on youtube of somebody playing it.
http://chiyostrings.blogspot.com/2007/06/ordered-yamaha-guitalele.html But IMHO, it sounds way more like a guitar den a ukulele ...
As fo da spacing between da strings, I tink KoAloha worked wit Daniel Ho real close on dis one to make sure dat da strings was far enough apart to do good picking. I foget wea I saw dat. Anwyays, if I had an extra grand lying around ... dis would probably be my first buy :-) till den ... I'll stick to my Pono. Kudo's to KoAloha fo da awesome design of da D-VI though ...
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If can, can. If no can, no can. |
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Absolute
Lokahi
275 Posts |
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GUke
Lokahi
188 Posts |
Posted - 09/04/2007 : 9:20:53 PM
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FYI:
There is the Brazillian cousin to the ukulele strung with four steel strings. The instrument is a cavaquinho.
Another advantage for the DVI would be the ease of transporting in comparison to a guitar.
The standard tuning for the DVI is like that of the requinto guitar.
As Bill Wynne pointed out, noted also by da joka, and why I have one on order, is more bottom sound.
G'uke |
Genaro
Should I? Itʻs only $, and where Iʻm going itʻll burn or melt. |
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da_joka
Lokahi
361 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2007 : 02:33:40 AM
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| Mele's model looks alot like da Yamaha Guitalele (#12462;#12479;#12524;#12524;)... GUke, how much longer before yours comes in? ONce it does, I'm very interested in your opinion ... |
If can, can. If no can, no can. |
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Absolute
Lokahi
275 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2007 : 04:20:49 AM
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What about the effect of the A,D,G,C,E,A tuning on chords? Do you still finger the chords as with a ukulele and strum across all six strings, or do you resort to downward thumb strums over only four strings if ukulele chords are all that you know?
(I understand some desire to reach below middle C. I just ordered an Aquila low G string set, which I plan to install on my other homemade ukulele, which usually remains in the closet, along with the Baja concert. I hope it extends my ability to write simple slack key pieces with a more pronounced bass line. Because I don't try to write music that sounds as it would on a guitar, I guess I don't feel as constrained as a guitarist would by the ukulele.) |
Thank you. |
Edited by - Absolute on 09/05/2007 04:25:32 AM |
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hwnmusiclives
`Olu`olu
USA
580 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2007 : 04:43:52 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Absolute
(I understand some desire to reach below middle C. I just ordered an Aquila low G string set, which I plan to install on my other homemade ukulele, which usually remains in the closet, along with the Baja concert.
Can I bribe you to tell me where you ordered that Aquila Low-G string set from? I find myself usually buying two sets of Kamaka tenor strings and using the wound string from both sets for the third and fourth strings. And that wound "C" string in that set is not quite the right gauge to wind down to "G" without it wobbling around a little.
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Join me for the history of Hawaiian music and its musicians at Ho`olohe Hou at www.hoolohehou.org. |
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Reid
Ha`aha`a
Andorra
1526 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2007 : 05:53:10 AM
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A,D,G,C,E,A (lo to hi) is simply "standard" tuning as if capoed at the 5th fret - just look at the intervals (when figuring out a tuning, notes don't count - since they are cyclic; intervals do) which are 4,4,3,4. Same as EADGBE (lo to hi). The `ukulele Low G, is simply the top 4 strings of "standard" guitartuning at the 5th fret.
Daniel plays either in his "own" tuning or in "standard", so, as with Keola's C, it is easy for those who know "standard" (lots of people except me) to play the bugger.
So, in order to get the chords you want, you just use "standard" tuning chord forms. Some are beastly knuckle busters, but that is "standard", for you.
Kaliko plays his nylon guitar in "standard" just like a `ukulele, and there are thousands of guitar strummers out there, so it can be done - if strumming is what you want.
And, in slack key, strumming and brushing on just some of the strings, including interior strings, is a standard (without quotes) technique. Even I can do it.
Use the Alternate Tuning applet on this site to find the chords you want.
...Reid |
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Reid
Ha`aha`a
Andorra
1526 Posts |
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Darin
Lokahi
USA
294 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2007 : 07:06:14 AM
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| I just received a D-VI from Koaloha a few months ago. They are beautiful instruments, if you can find them. If you play it like a uke, it performs like a low-G uke. If you play it like a guitar, it still has that koa "uke" sound to it. You need to be more precise with the D-VI than a normal guitar, due to the string spacing, but once you get the hang of it, it has a great sound. It works better in taropatch and c-wahine than in standard tuning. And, it's great for traveling. I took it to Europe, and it was so much easier than lugging a guitar. |
Darin
http://www.hawaiiguitar.com/ |
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Absolute
Lokahi
275 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2007 : 07:48:05 AM
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I like Elderly, but I don't order strings from them if that's all I'm buying. I bought my tuning pegs and strings from them for my cigar box ukuleles, but they charge six dollars to send you a postage stamp.
I ordered my strings, which were just ordered yesterday, from E-bay from "Musicguymic", who is a Hawaiian ukulele dealer. He charges less than a dollar for shipping, which brought the whole deal for one set of strings in under ten dollars. (He also seems to have some nice deals on low end tenor ukuleles, which he says he sets up and guarantees.) |
Thank you. |
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Absolute
Lokahi
275 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2007 : 07:50:08 AM
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| If a six string ukulele performs like a low G ukulele, then my decision to install low G strings on one of my ukuleles sounds like a good decision, given that I know no guitar chords, and take the "knucklebuster" warning seriously in that regard. (The string spacing would probably also get me.) Good information! Fortunately, I don't have to remind myself to be happy with my four stringer. I'm fairly well enchanted with it! |
Thank you. |
Edited by - Absolute on 09/05/2007 07:54:27 AM |
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Lawrence
Ha`aha`a
USA
1597 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2007 : 07:51:53 AM
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quote:
What is the appeal of a tiny, six string guitar that is renamed a "ukulele" outside of the novelty it presents for professional musicians or those who are, essentially, collectors?
quote:
That is not entirely accurate. I would not call a tiny, six string guitar an "`ukulele." Based on their tonal properties, a "guitar" sounds like a guitar and an "`ukulele" sounds like an `ukulele.
I have heard small six-nylon-string guitars (of the type used in Mariachi bands) that sound essentially identical to a six string "Guilele". So does just being Koa make it an Uke instead of a Guitar? I don't think so!
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Mahope Kākou...
...El Lorenzo de Ondas Sonoras |
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Reid
Ha`aha`a
Andorra
1526 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2007 : 08:11:00 AM
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Oh my! Didn't we do this `uke categorization thing recently? Where is Hikabe?
(BTW, my "non-standard set" thingies apply here, too.) If you use "thingy", it covers all bases and people can only get upset at you for not being more specific.
...Reid
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