[buckinghamfan]

Been playing guitar for about 12 years now I guess. It's time for me to branch out. I wanna start playing ukulele, (i hear it will greatly increase my rhythm playing skills)

Does anyone have one? I saw one locally here and they are pretty sweet...I think it was $199...I know the NZ markup is really high on instruments. If any of you own any could you recommend a few? Price is no object.

[noodle69]

i have Mahalo ukulele . nice tone , very playable .
they are very easy to learn . i play a concert uke tuned g C E A . the g is the re-entry string . the tuning is like using the top 4 guitar strings with a capo on the 5th fret.
my rhythm playing has improved somewhat and its helped me look at the guitar in a different way too , which is a bonus !

dont buy a cheap uke they are rubbish !

a uke i would like to get eventually would be one made from Koa wood . i guess they would cost about $2500 in NZ .
in the meantime i'd really like an electric one for gigging with.

[igorski]

I too have a Mahalo uke, one of those funky looking flying V shapes, so not necessarily the cream of the crop, but something to dick about on surprising people with odd thin sounding renditions of popular songs and themes

If anything it DOES help you to look at the guitar in a different manner, having to use different voicings and fingerings for chords reopens the guitar fretboard for you.

As for recomming one... hm, I don't know, I know how to play one, I don't know good ones, if anything try a few out and see how the tuning holds up, mine is horrible.

[buckinghamfan]

i have Mahalo ukulele . nice tone , very playable .
they are very easy to learn . i play a concert uke tuned g C E A . the g is the re-entry string . the tuning is like using the top 4 guitar strings with a capo on the 5th fret.
my rhythm playing has improved somewhat and its helped me look at the guitar in a different way too , which is a bonus !

dont buy a cheap uke they are rubbish !

a uke i would like to get eventually would be one made from Koa wood . i guess they would cost about $2500 in NZ .
in the meantime i'd really like an electric one for gigging with.

Thanks for the advice! I was thinking of getting a Kamaka.

http://www.kamakahaw...nstruments.html

Maybe the HF1 or the HF2?

[noodle69]

they look really good .

they go out of tune a lot and take ages to play in , generally , but i think the kamaka may take less playing in . but i dont really know that much about them .

[buckinghamfan]

they look really good .

they go out of tune a lot and take ages to play in , generally , but i think the kamaka may take less playing in . but i dont really know that much about them .

Hmm...so you'd recommend something else?

[noodle69]

nope - they all go out of tune for the first month of playing them daily . lol - its the way they are !

[buckinghamfan]

nope - they all go out of tune for the first month of playing them daily . lol - its the way they are !

I guess because the wood is so thin. The weather/humidity and all that probably affects them more often eh?

[noodle69]

the strings & the design as well .yes definatley .

i took mine to the bush a couple of weeks ago and the heat there caused the bridge to pop off - lol - i'll glue it back - it happens every year here when the temperature rises to more than 40 . i think the koa wood ukes of high quality would be less likely to suffer from humidity problems as the wood is hawaiian and i believe hawaii has a high level of humidity.

they are a lot of fun to play . i have learned lots of songs on it that i would never bother with on an acoustic as guitars can sound a little dull sometimes and even kill off a good song.

i havent yet tried to record it , as ive been waiting until i get one with a pickup , but i know it will sound interesting alongside other instrumentation.

[buckinghamfan]

the strings & the design as well .yes definatley .

i took mine to the bush a couple of weeks ago and the heat there caused the bridge to pop off - lol - i'll glue it back - it happens every year here when the temperature rises to more than 40 . i think the koa wood ukes of high quality would be less likely to suffer from humidity problems as the wood is hawaiian and i believe hawaii has a high level of humidity.

they are a lot of fun to play . i have learned lots of songs on it that i would never bother with on an acoustic as guitars can sound a little dull sometimes and even kill off a good song.

i havent yet tried to record it , as ive been waiting until i get one with a pickup , but i know it will sound interesting alongside other instrumentation.

Well, I wanna make George Harrison proud! haha

Yeah I've always liked them, just never really thought about picking it up and actually learning it. I think it'd help with my guitar playing to get me interested again. Maybe I've just lost a bit of my drive.

[noodle69]

i get the drive lull occasionally . its usually cos im bored of being repetetive and need new stuff . the uke really helped , they really are quite an easy instrument , so there is the instant gratification from playing a tune or song quickly . meet other musos and jam more , its the only way.

[buckinghamfan]

Yeah I havent jammed with anyone in about a year. I find it hard to "jam" with people...its like trying to find a long lost brother or something.

[noodle69]

lol , yes definately - ive been jamming with a guy for over a year and although we have , or i have written some songs and musical pieces for us to play , we just dont gel musically . he tends to work entirely on feel , which is perfect for creating a groove and jamming it out , but is rubbish if you have music already written and want it to sound the same every time.
i work both ways , but ive been leaning more towards creating set pieces of music over the last year or so and the jamming is taking a back seat .

with the uke ive been having fun learning , rockn roll aint noise pollution , holiday in cambodia , brittany spears toxic , universe song and a few others when i get the time .


theres a decent forum called

http://www.ukuleleun...forum/index.php

which is pretty resourceful , full of useful tips and cool tunes you would never have thought would work on a ukulele .

ive have to say that i have been going on a bit about the uke and i haven't even fixed mine yet , so i better go and find the glue wheres the glue ? i need the glue !!!

[torres007]

Hello friends.Nice to meet you all.I'm cristiano from spain.I have been playing guitar for about 12 years now I guess. It's time for me to branch out. I wanna start playing ukulele.Where can I start?
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[noodle69]

buy a uke !!!

its easy !!
its not really branching outwards tho - branching out would be learning an entirely different instrument .