I play the guitar in drop D a lot. So a friend recommended a low G uke to me. But I prefer the high G ukulele tuning. Now I know why. Thanks for these insights, Phil.
Thank you. For me, as a person who previously played guitar for many years, the "high g" string is something I don't use intuitively yet. With chord-melodies I mostly just don't use this string. I hope this will change over time, so that the possibilities of the instrument can be used to the fullest :)
Aw, I’ve heard about a campanella, I knew it meant ‘bell-like’, but no one had explained about using different strings as much as possible. Thank you, that makes so much sense. And that scale is so useful. Thank you x
Helpful and inspiring. I knew that a lot of players prefer the low g, and as a guitarist that made sense to me. However, just today I realized I was missing something, that high g gives the uke its typical bright sound and often sounds prettier. I didn't know what else it was good for. This tutorial made the penny drop. Many thanks.
Thanks Phil, makes a lot of sense. I was “rewriting” some Beatles tabs from an open G note to the fretted G so my fingers wouldn’t have to jump around a lot...now I know why it sounds only ok, I’m losing the ringing of the open G string. New mantra for me: Don’t ever try to rewrite The Beatles!!!
Hi Phil I never really thought about the reentrant tuning much but your explanation makes a lot of sense. The players of the 1920s and 30s knew what they were doing. Another thing the old players did was tune a soprano uke in D. Raising the tuning brings a uke to life. I think C tuning leaves the strings a bit slack and on a cheap uke sounds terrible. Thanks for your two minute tips and your trick of the week. you are an inspiration as ever Paul Dickinson
I restrung my uke. Changed C string to G string possession, E string became C string, G string became E string. A stayed. So I had low G tuning. You have convinced me to change the strings back so I have a high G.
Coming from guitar playing, the reentrant tuning is really odd, but I am starting to get it, especially when learning fingerstyle arrangements. Just the other day I learned (in another channel) how easy is to play the intro to Golden Brown in campanella style and just gent into the groove. In linear tuning? Doable, but much more awkward.
greetings, Phil... I was drawn to the Uke after hearing classical/Spanish music being played on it. Blew my mind! So i went out and got myself a Koaloha KTM tenor and started to take online/RUclips lessons. It’s been 15 months now and I’m loving it. However, i had a low G string put on because i just thought that it was best for the music i wanted to play: classical, Spanish /flamenco, melody chords. etc. i’m sort of confused now... The G does make a big difference.... I’m 72.. Hope it’s not to late to really get good at this ..😀 Best, John
It's never too late John! That's a lovely uke, and don't get me wrong, the low G definitely has a place, and it seems you made that decision based on the music you want to make, which is great. Lots of great players uke a low 4th string (and lots of players have two ukes, one for each :-) )
Great lesson Phil. Thank you. Very helpful in helping us understand our instruments. I am also in awe of John King's amazing right hand techique. Is there any chance that you could also help us in the process of expanding our left hand technique?
Thanks Glenn. John King, wow, he absolutely blew me away when I first stumbled across his videos , and still to this day I'm not quite sure how he did it so smoothly and effortlessly. I'll have a try , but it might take me a while :-) I have done some arrangements in the campanella style in the past, like this one ruclips.net/video/S3bfQzRxWMg/видео.html . If you'd like the tablature, I'm sure I have it around here somewhere!
Thank you, that was so clear - as a violinist and mandolin player who recently started on ukelele the high G seemed odd, but now I get it. Sorry if this is a silly question but are you playing soprano or concert size in this video?
I ended up getting two concert ukes-- one strung with a low G for jazzy tunes and one with a high G for traditional songs. I think this is the sign of a damaged mind--- and the only remedy is start buying more ukuleles to add size to my addiction.
Phil, just out of curiosity- how many Ukeleles do you own? I see many different ones in your videos and of course your signature edition. I currently own 3. The two mentioned prior and a banjolele. Am I destined to start attending some Uke Anonymous meeting s?
@@rickblauw It's an addiction! I don't have that many really, just 9 :-) Of course then there my 5 string banjos, tenor banjo, guitars (acoustic, electric, lap steel), bass!
@@PhilDoleman Wow. I’ve been informed that 9 is a solid score even from the strict Russian judges. I’m starting to experiment with strings now…. Just to see if I can hear the tonal differences. And I always have my eye on better instruments. I’m sure my ukulele count will be increasing. Thanks for helping feed my addiction to this wonderful instrument.
Thank you, so many many people have low g...the value of the uke sound and ability is being lost. I want to learn more about this campella style of playing. Have 2 uses so will keep one high g. Please put out more info on the Cappella method.
Yes, it does. Funnily enough I keep my baritone with a low 4th string, though that may be because I don't use a low 4th on my GCEA tuned ukes, so it gives me something different. High 4th baritone seems to be a bit less common (most baris seem to come strung with a low 4th) but I like the sound, and if I had 2 baritones I'd have one of each tuning.
Very well explained. It's been bugging me for so long not understanding why to have a high G. Thank you!
I play the guitar in drop D a lot. So a friend recommended a low G uke to me. But I prefer the high G ukulele tuning. Now I know why. Thanks for these insights, Phil.
Thank you. For me, as a person who previously played guitar for many years, the "high g" string is something I don't use intuitively yet. With chord-melodies I mostly just don't use this string. I hope this will change over time, so that the possibilities of the instrument can be used to the fullest :)
Aw, I’ve heard about a campanella, I knew it meant ‘bell-like’, but no one had explained about using different strings as much as possible. Thank you, that makes so much sense. And that scale is so useful. Thank you x
You always explain everything so simply, thank you
Helpful and inspiring. I knew that a lot of players prefer the low g, and as a guitarist that made sense to me. However, just today I realized I was missing something, that high g gives the uke its typical bright sound and often sounds prettier. I didn't know what else it was good for. This tutorial made the penny drop. Many thanks.
These videos never get boring!
Thanks Phil, makes a lot of sense. I was “rewriting” some Beatles tabs from an open G note to the fretted G so my fingers wouldn’t have to jump around a lot...now I know why it sounds only ok, I’m losing the ringing of the open G string.
New mantra for me: Don’t ever try to rewrite The Beatles!!!
Hi Phil I never really thought about the reentrant tuning much but your explanation makes a lot of sense.
The players of the 1920s and 30s knew what they were doing. Another thing the old players did was tune a soprano uke in D. Raising the tuning brings a uke to life. I think C tuning leaves the strings a bit slack and on a cheap uke sounds terrible. Thanks for your two minute tips and your trick of the week. you are an inspiration as ever
Paul Dickinson
Thanks Paul. I agree, especially with vintage ukes, they really come to life in D tuning. I always keep one uke tunes up to D.
It's nice to have multiple ukuleles for high and low. I currently have 4. I like all the ukuleles because of the different sounds.
Absolutely!
Then you or Phil should do a tutorial on how to convince my wife that I need a whole collection of ukes.
Always loved the high G. Now I know why.
Excellent as always Phil.
I restrung my uke. Changed C string to G string possession, E string became C string, G string became E string. A stayed. So I had low G tuning.
You have convinced me to change the strings back so I have a high G.
You don't see that method very often, but I believe that was the way it was always done before string manufacturers caught on.
Coming from guitar playing, the reentrant tuning is really odd, but I am starting to get it, especially when learning fingerstyle arrangements. Just the other day I learned (in another channel) how easy is to play the intro to Golden Brown in campanella style and just gent into the groove. In linear tuning? Doable, but much more awkward.
I came from guitar too, but I started to play 5 string banjo before the uke, so that prepared me for having a high string in the wrong place!
Thanks Phil. Happy Easter to you and your family.
Happy Easter!
greetings, Phil... I was drawn to the Uke after hearing classical/Spanish music being played on it. Blew my mind! So i went out and got myself a Koaloha KTM tenor and started to take online/RUclips lessons. It’s been 15 months now and I’m loving it. However, i had a low G string put on because i just thought that it was best for the music i wanted to play: classical, Spanish /flamenco, melody chords. etc. i’m sort of confused now... The G does make a big difference.... I’m 72.. Hope it’s not to late to really get good at this ..😀 Best, John
It's never too late John! That's a lovely uke, and don't get me wrong, the low G definitely has a place, and it seems you made that decision based on the music you want to make, which is great. Lots of great players uke a low 4th string (and lots of players have two ukes, one for each :-) )
Master of uke.Great stuff..
Great lesson Phil. Thank you. Very helpful in helping us understand our instruments. I am also in awe of John King's amazing right hand techique. Is there any chance that you could also help us in the process of expanding our left hand technique?
Thanks Glenn. John King, wow, he absolutely blew me away when I first stumbled across his videos , and still to this day I'm not quite sure how he did it so smoothly and effortlessly. I'll have a try , but it might take me a while :-)
I have done some arrangements in the campanella style in the past, like this one ruclips.net/video/S3bfQzRxWMg/видео.html . If you'd like the tablature, I'm sure I have it around here somewhere!
Thank you, that was so clear - as a violinist and mandolin player who recently started on ukelele the high G seemed odd, but now I get it. Sorry if this is a silly question but are you playing soprano or concert size in this video?
Thank you! I'm playing a soprano in the video.
I ended up getting two concert ukes-- one strung with a low G for jazzy tunes and one with a high G for traditional songs. I think this is the sign of a damaged mind--- and the only remedy is start buying more ukuleles to add size to my addiction.
Phil, just out of curiosity- how many Ukeleles do you own? I see many different ones in your videos and of course your signature edition. I currently own 3. The two mentioned prior and a banjolele. Am I destined to start attending some Uke Anonymous meeting s?
@@rickblauw It's an addiction! I don't have that many really, just 9 :-)
Of course then there my 5 string banjos, tenor banjo, guitars (acoustic, electric, lap steel), bass!
@@PhilDoleman Wow. I’ve been informed that 9 is a solid score even from the strict Russian judges. I’m starting to experiment with strings now…. Just to see if I can hear the tonal differences. And I always have my eye on better instruments. I’m sure my ukulele count will be increasing. Thanks for helping feed my addiction to this wonderful instrument.
Another great video Phil👍
Thank you, so many many people have low g...the value of the uke sound and ability is being lost. I want to learn more about this campella style of playing. Have 2 uses so will keep one high g. Please put out more info on the Cappella method.
Thanks, I will!
Any fan of "90s David Letterman shows will recognize this as the introductory bars of the music for Marv Albert's sports bloopers segment.
As a 5 string banjo player, I absolutely love the high G
@@alanr1062 Me too!
Does this apply to the D string on a Baritone too… are Baris best in reentrant tuning?
Yes, it does. Funnily enough I keep my baritone with a low 4th string, though that may be because I don't use a low 4th on my GCEA tuned ukes, so it gives me something different. High 4th baritone seems to be a bit less common (most baris seem to come strung with a low 4th) but I like the sound, and if I had 2 baritones I'd have one of each tuning.
@@PhilDoleman Thanks...... I think I hear the justification for a second Baritone... Hmmmm.