Huuuuuuuui Uncle Kimo! Endless gratitude for you playing and sharing on youtube. I've been bouncing around music-wise for some time, and having grown up in Maui, my first love will always be ukulele. Now that I've been around the world and seen and listened to many instruments, I cannot help but come back to my first love. Before, when I was beginning my ukulele journey, I was very focused on playing as fast and loud and technical as I could (blame my Jake Shimabukuro obsession). Today, and the past several weeks, I've been falling in love all over again with ukulele, specifically jazz and baritone sounds and styles. Mahalo for sharing your talent on the internet :) I hope one day I can meet with, learn from, and maybe even have a small jam sesh with you.
Uncle Kimo, (please let me know if you'd like me to stop calling you that) Currently, I am located in Florida, but I am soon coming back to Hawaii for a very special occasion. I will be messaging you directly on youtube with the details about this, because it is both personal and I think you'll be interested.
Hello, Ryan. Whatever you'd like to call me is fine. I have no preferences or dislikes. Let me know if I can help with your special project/event. Floridia is a long ways off but I do get out there or at least get to the southeast at least once each year.
Wow, as a Korean uke player, I am very happy to hear the name of my country from the video. hehe, and another good song that I love! I am enjoying your video lessons a lot!
Simon, thank you. Relevant to "room for fingers to operate" also be concerned about the width of your baritone especially at the nut. This is very relative, but a person with your kind of span would probably appreciate appreciate a wider fretboard because it would provide your fingers more vertical space in which to operate. This is the reason I love tenors with wide necks.
Thanks for the comment. I picked that up in your video. But when you say Vertical ... What do you mean? If I really love playing, and look to a tenor to learn I was thinking a good option would be a Pono or a long neck Tenor. What models have wide or thick necks?
Simon Maxwell Great question! Vertical spacing refers to the distance between each string. Horizontal spacing refers to the distance between adjacent frets. A longer neck will provide more horizontal spacing but one's fingers can still be "squinched" too much if vertical spacing is too small. Also, vertical spacing refers to width of the neck but not thickness. Bottom line: one needs to hold the uke in order to determine appropriate spacing of any kind. Ponos have wonderful spacing.
Great explanation. Thank you. I tried a cheap tenor at a local retailer and the vertical distance between strings was quite small. My fingers were quite "scrunched" which led me to consider most tenors to be similar. Perhaps not so.
Simon Maxwell Good for you, Simon!!! Finger spacing, both horizontal and vertical can help significantly to improve our playing and enjoyment of ukulele. Now it's time to go play all your uke friends' instruments so you can get an idea of what kind of spacing appeals to you most.
I'm a retired Army Band drummer(21 years). Spent 2 yrs of my career in Korea. I just bought a bari uke for a new hobby and holy crap its hard. I can half ass strum Long long ago(2 chords). Oh the cramps!!! I hope it gets better. You make it look so easy.
Hello, Coolernie! Thanks for your post. You're going to do just fine ----- keep going. Tell me about your bari uke. I'm wondering if the reason you're having such a tough time is because the uke's action is too high. Be patient and you'll find your experience as a drummer is going to do you well. Let me know how things are going and I'll try my best to help.
Kimo Hussey If I may throw in a couple of cents worth for coolernie65, it is also important to make sure you aren't pressing the strings down any harder than it takes to fret the notes... early days and frustration can make you grip too hard without meaning to (this goes for any instrument really), and this cramps up your muscles, reducing dexterity. As you have probably worked out playing the drums, the sticks stay quite loose in your hands - not so loose that they break free and hit the singer in the back of the head (as tempting as that may be sometimes), but so they bounce smoothly off the drum... same thing with fretting and strumming the ukulele - stay loose and relaxed, and things will fall into place.
***** Thank you, Cameron. Yours is a great thought. Many times in my ukulele playing I've been guilty of gripping the fretboard harder than I needed. Sometimes this was caused by nerves and sometimes it was caused by a poor quality neck. I appreciate your thought. Thank you for sharing.
Kimo - do you play primarily with your finger tips, or your fingernails? I love my baritones, and I can't seem to keep a good nail on my right hand, since I often work outside and they are brittle. Thanks.
Hello, Smyrna5!!!! I keep my nails very short and don't use them at all when I play. You really don't need a good nail on your right hand to get any respect from a baritone uke. Your best solution is twofold: 1. adjust your strumming and picking technique to realize a better sound 2. investigate baritone strings a bit and find a high tension set I think you will hear a big difference in sound. Let me know how this goes.
Kimo Hussey Thank you. I have put some high tension D' Dario classical guitar strings on my baritones and I think it does help when playing only with finger tips and not nails.
smyrna5 Good for you, Smyrna5!!!! My personal preference with baritone ukes is to use high tension strings as I think they produce a very favorable sound and feel.
Kimo, I have been playing the tenor uke since July 2011. It is my first fretted instrument. Is there a way of tuning a Bari like a tenor with a low G. I have seen some problems with my fingers going numb and the uke has been great therapy. I thought playing the Bari as a Tenor could make it a little easier for me. Do you have any thoughts on this? - FLOYD
Hello, Floyd! No problem tuning a bari to low G tenor but you need do it with the right set of strings or you'll ruin your baritone uke. So you might check with a local music store to make sure you get the right set. Doing this will make your baritone sound like a tenor. I LOVE the natural sound of baritone ukes because they're so beautifully mellow. Let me know how it goes.
I play guitar also, but I Love both my Ukes, Baritone and Tenor, the more I play them the more I learn their specific sounds, I have a nylon string Acoustic guitar too, but my Baritone Uke sounds better in my opinion, plus easier to play, the only draw back I have about Ukuleles is; vs guitar , is basslines, if any of you know how to subsitute basslines on the Uke, let me know
Great comments, Deroy, thank you. The uke cannot do what a guitar can and vice versa, so substituting basslines on uke is a matter of technique and using what the uke provides. The rest of my reply to this question involves playing. Where do you live? Perhaps we could get together sometime. Aloha, Kimo
Kimo Hussey I live near Pittsburgh PA . The Uke is not Popular around here, meaning no one plays it live. The Guitar and piano are worshipped round here but I think kids would love to learn I was having dreams about a four stringed guitar, then I noticed the Uke on RUclips, I started watching videos and quickly became a fan. I bought my first Tenor right before Christmas If you have some good training material for me, let me know, thanks
Aloha from Brasil! big fan, I bought a baritone because of you.
Fantastic tone - tea with a jazzy swing!
Thank you, StonyRC!!!!!!
Huuuuuuuui Uncle Kimo!
Endless gratitude for you playing and sharing on youtube.
I've been bouncing around music-wise for some time, and having grown up in Maui, my first love will always be ukulele.
Now that I've been around the world and seen and listened to many instruments, I cannot help but come back to my first love.
Before, when I was beginning my ukulele journey, I was very focused on playing as fast and loud and technical as I could (blame my Jake Shimabukuro obsession).
Today, and the past several weeks, I've been falling in love all over again with ukulele, specifically jazz and baritone sounds and styles.
Mahalo for sharing your talent on the internet :) I hope one day I can meet with, learn from, and maybe even have a small jam sesh with you.
Hello, Ryan! Thanks for your inquiry and interest in ukulele. I'd love to meet sometime to share ideas with you about ukulele. Where do you live now?
Uncle Kimo, (please let me know if you'd like me to stop calling you that)
Currently, I am located in Florida, but I am soon coming back to Hawaii for a very special occasion. I will be messaging you directly on youtube with the details about this, because it is both personal and I think you'll be interested.
Hello, Ryan. Whatever you'd like to call me is fine. I have no preferences or dislikes. Let me know if I can help with your special project/event. Floridia is a long ways off but I do get out there or at least get to the southeast at least once each year.
Thanks for the slow playing. I think a lot of people think playing fast is impressive but a lot of the beautiful sounds of the ukulele get lost.
You're right, Pixpusher, thank you for your post.
Wow, as a Korean uke player, I am very happy to hear the name of my country from the video. hehe, and another good song that I love! I am enjoying your video lessons a lot!
Thank you very much. Perhaps we could get together to practice when I visit Korea next.
Aloha,
Kimo
Thanks for another great video Kimo. I love my Baritone Uke I have a 9.5 " span on hands. So the larger neck gives me room for my fingers.
Simon, thank you. Relevant to "room for fingers to operate" also be concerned about the width of your baritone especially at the nut. This is very relative, but a person with your kind of span would probably appreciate appreciate a wider fretboard because it would provide your fingers more vertical space in which to operate. This is the reason I love tenors with wide necks.
Thanks for the comment. I picked that up in your video. But when you say Vertical ... What do you mean? If I really love playing, and look to a tenor to learn I was thinking a good option would be a Pono or a long neck Tenor. What models have wide or thick necks?
Simon Maxwell Great question! Vertical spacing refers to the distance between each string. Horizontal spacing refers to the distance between adjacent frets. A longer neck will provide more horizontal spacing but one's fingers can still be "squinched" too much if vertical spacing is too small. Also, vertical spacing refers to width of the neck but not thickness. Bottom line: one needs to hold the uke in order to determine appropriate spacing of any kind. Ponos have wonderful spacing.
Great explanation. Thank you. I tried a cheap tenor at a local retailer and the vertical distance between strings was quite small. My fingers were quite "scrunched" which led me to consider most tenors to be similar. Perhaps not so.
Simon Maxwell Good for you, Simon!!! Finger spacing, both horizontal and vertical can help significantly to improve our playing and enjoyment of ukulele. Now it's time to go play all your uke friends' instruments so you can get an idea of what kind of spacing appeals to you most.
Beautiful
Smyrna5, thank you!!!!!
beautiful . Kia ora .
Thank you, Venus! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
I'm a retired Army Band drummer(21 years). Spent 2 yrs of my career in Korea. I just bought a bari uke for a new hobby and holy crap its hard. I can half ass strum Long long ago(2 chords). Oh the cramps!!! I hope it gets better. You make it look so easy.
Hello, Coolernie! Thanks for your post. You're going to do just fine ----- keep going. Tell me about your bari uke. I'm wondering if the reason you're having such a tough time is because the uke's action is too high. Be patient and you'll find your experience as a drummer is going to do you well. Let me know how things are going and I'll try my best to help.
Kimo Hussey If I may throw in a couple of cents worth for coolernie65, it is also important to make sure you aren't pressing the strings down any harder than it takes to fret the notes... early days and frustration can make you grip too hard without meaning to (this goes for any instrument really), and this cramps up your muscles, reducing dexterity. As you have probably worked out playing the drums, the sticks stay quite loose in your hands - not so loose that they break free and hit the singer in the back of the head (as tempting as that may be sometimes), but so they bounce smoothly off the drum... same thing with fretting and strumming the ukulele - stay loose and relaxed, and things will fall into place.
***** Thank you, Cameron. Yours is a great thought. Many times in my ukulele playing I've been guilty of gripping the fretboard harder than I needed. Sometimes this was caused by nerves and sometimes it was caused by a poor quality neck. I appreciate your thought. Thank you for sharing.
Kimo - do you play primarily with your finger tips, or your fingernails? I love my baritones, and I can't seem to keep a good nail on my right hand, since I often work outside and they are brittle. Thanks.
Hello, Smyrna5!!!! I keep my nails very short and don't use them at all when I play. You really don't need a good nail on your right hand to get any respect from a baritone uke. Your best solution is twofold: 1. adjust your strumming and picking technique to realize a better sound 2. investigate baritone strings a bit and find a high tension set I think you will hear a big difference in sound. Let me know how this goes.
Kimo Hussey Thank you. I have put some high tension D' Dario classical guitar strings on my baritones and I think it does help when playing only with finger tips and not nails.
smyrna5 Good for you, Smyrna5!!!! My personal preference with baritone ukes is to use high tension strings as I think they produce a very favorable sound and feel.
Kimo, I have been playing the tenor uke since July 2011. It is my first fretted instrument. Is there a way of tuning a Bari like a tenor with a low G. I have seen some problems with my fingers going numb and the uke has been great therapy. I thought playing the Bari as a Tenor could make it a little easier for me. Do you have any thoughts on this? - FLOYD
Hello, Floyd! No problem tuning a bari to low G tenor but you need do it with the right set of strings or you'll ruin your baritone uke. So you might check with a local music store to make sure you get the right set. Doing this will make your baritone sound like a tenor. I LOVE the natural sound of baritone ukes because they're so beautifully mellow. Let me know how it goes.
I play guitar also, but I Love both my Ukes, Baritone and Tenor, the more I play them the more I learn their specific sounds, I have a nylon string Acoustic guitar too, but my Baritone Uke sounds better in my opinion, plus easier to play, the only draw back I have about Ukuleles is; vs guitar , is basslines, if any of you know how to subsitute basslines on the Uke, let me know
Great comments, Deroy, thank you.
The uke cannot do what a guitar can and vice versa, so substituting basslines on uke is a matter of technique and using what the uke provides. The rest of my reply to this question involves playing. Where do you live? Perhaps we could get together sometime.
Aloha,
Kimo
Kimo Hussey I live near Pittsburgh PA . The Uke is not Popular around here, meaning no one plays it live. The Guitar and piano are worshipped round here but I think kids would love to learn
I was having dreams about a four stringed guitar, then I noticed the Uke on RUclips, I started watching
videos and quickly became a fan. I bought my first Tenor right before Christmas
If you have some good training material for me, let me know, thanks
Wow, great sound. Would you be willing to share the chords?
do you remember where in korea this factory is?
I don't know where the factory is located and I've never been there, but the maker and I are very good friends and I can contact him anytime.
Nice nice nice nice nice
Thank you so much!!!!!
OH shitn kimo hussey's got a youtube channel.
I know what Im doing for a bit.
Thanks for your interest in music and ukulele.