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| I think I can see why you guys are playing Baritones. - Baritone Uke - Ukulele - ezFolk Forums | |||||||||||||||
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molinee Approved
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I have just recently acquired a Lanikai Baritone and also a KALA solid top Tenor. Coming from a guitar background it is a shock to go to this much smaller instrument. I realize that players of a soprano Uke will think I am nuts....  I did receive the Baritone first and was amazed at how little it was. Noodled around with it a little while in its DGBE and liked the sound of it for sure. Now I just picked up a nice KALA Tenor and it seems like a real quality Uke also. So I play the Baritone for a few minutes.... Then the Tenor for a few minutes...... And then the Baritone...... etc. My initial conclusion is that the Baritone is LOUDER and has a lot more FINGER ROOM and fits better to my arm and body. The Tenor, on the other hand, is quieter, has little finger room and is harder to cradle. This is just my initial feeling and it may change over the next few months. Do you guys on this Baritone Forum feel the same way or do you play the Baritone for different reasons..... tunings..... sound...... etc?I'm not saying that I don't like the Tenor, because I think I do..... but for size and comfort I am leaning at this point to Baritone. Also I am thinking that as I start to become more proficient at playing the Uke that going to the Tenor won't seem like a big deal...... Or maybe not...... 
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Will Approved 
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molinee wrote: I have just recently acquired a Lanikai Baritone and also a KALA solid top Tenor. Coming from a guitar background it is a shock to go to this much smaller instrument. I realize that players of a soprano Uke will think I am nuts.... If you've played guitar, the baritone uke is very familiar. Its small size and lack of the low E and A bass strings takes some adjustment. I played baritone uke as a stepping stone to learning to play guitar. Some five years before I played baritone uke, I had tried to teach myself to play guitar, and I went nowhere. (Having bought a really lousy guitar didn't help things.) It took me about 2 weeks to be proficient on the baritone uke, then about a half year later I bought a tenor guitar and a tenor banjo that I tuned to DGBE. In the meantime, I also acquired tenor, concert, and soprano ukes tuned to GCEA. The baritone uke, despite being a much smaller instrument than the tenor guitar or tenor banjo, does have a wider fingerboard than those 2 instruments, which made it easy to learn the chords and acquire the fingering skills. About 2 years after I first started playing the baritone uke, I started playing 6-string and 12-string guitar.
____________________ Will http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/297/ Loose Change & Friends http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/245/ http://loosechangeandfriends.com The Earth Tones http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/337/ |
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gardner321 Approved
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I firmly believe that Will could make beautiful music from an ole timey scrub board. What a great source of help to all of us on this forum. Because of carpel tunnel surgery and damage to the middle finger of my left hand, I am unable to handle guitar with the narrow string spacings. The barritone is the only thing that I can play, but thank God I can do pretty good and bang on it every day. Tom LOL
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Swirl Approved
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I'm a baritone player by happy accident. When my wife & kids gave me my first uke, they went to a pawn shop and bought the only uke they had, which was a baritone. Neither they nor I knew at the time that ukes were made in different sizes. Like Will before me, I too had tried my hand at guitar but it just didn't stick. They were just too darned big! But the baritone suits me perfectly. I do love the tone and also like that I can pick up a guitar chord book and, with a few exceptions, play straight from it. My wife says she prefers the mellow, almost guitar-like sound better than the higher register sounds of smaller ukes. As for finger room, I think it's a matter of taste and experience. My second baritone is a Pono and has a longer scale than my first baritone, therefore more finger room. At first I really liked that because some chords were easier to form. But then a year passed, I got a little better, and one day tried a tenor and a soprano at a music store. I was surprised at how easy it was to form the chords and, in some ways, preferred the smaller fret spacing because I didn't have to spread my hand out so much! Go figure. In time you'll discover what your own preferences are too. In fact, it seems you already have.
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molinee Approved
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Thanks guys! And I agree with gardner321 about Will's ability to play about anything... Swirl - I live just down the road from you in Littleton. What strings would you recommend after a year or so of playing? Do you also have a tenor or concert to go with your bari? Do you do anything about low humidity where you are?
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Swirl Approved
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molinee wrote: Thanks guys! And I agree with gardner321 about Will's ability to play about anything... Hiya neighbor! Yes, absolutely, Will is king! Funny you should ask about strings because I'm presently in the middle of trying out several brands to find out for myself which ones I like best. Most people here like Aquila and Worth. I tried them and really like how they sound, but neither brand worked well for me and my Pono bari. (The 4th Aquila string broke -- at the saddle, I should add -- after only 2 days, while the 4th strings in the Worth sets were either too floppy or sounded dull.) I wonder whether it's due to my own uke and playing style, or is it that Worth and Aquila just aren't that great for baritone ukes in general? The jury is still out regarding the other brands I've tried and am planning to try. Maybe I'll post a review of them all one day. No, I don't have any other ukes besides my two baritones, but am coveting several Tenors that musicguymic has on Ebay. Regarding humidity, I keep two Herco humidifiers in the case with my Pono, along with a digital hygrometer. The humidity hovers around 45%, give or take 5%, depending on (1) the ambient humidity in the room and (2) how often I remember to refill the Hercos. Last edited on Wed Mar 26th, 2008 05:53 pm by Swirl |
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RSteve Approved
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The baritone often is criticized because it doesn't typically have the re-entrant "ukey" sound. To get that sound, isn't all that difficult. Normally the baritone is strung: 1-E (329.6) 2-B (246.9) 3-G (196.0) 4-D (146.8) for a more ukey sound, you'll need an extra E (329.6) string which will be tuned down to d as in: 1-E (329.6) 2-B (246.9) 3-G (196.0) 4-d (293.6)
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| ezFolk Forums > Ukulele > Baritone Uke > I think I can see why you guys are playing Baritones. | |
