To see this working, head to your live site.

Giving the uke a deeper voice

in General uke discussion

I have a low G uke - would it be a reasonable idea to fit another low string to bring it lower still ?

If so what would be the better string to replace - the C, the E, or the A ??

10 comments

Comments (10)

Commenting on this post isn't available anymore. Contact the site owner for more info.

Terence Layzell

Jul 21

Thanks for your reply, shelfung. However, what I was trying to have answered is if one tunes a ukelele lower, (forget about the resulting lumpiness), and still uses the same fingering as previously used for a tune in a higher key, will this fingering still work at the new pitch caused by the retuning or will it produce nonsense or discord? Specifically with the tuning for a higher pitch, say C, if tuning fingering for A7b9 was used after the ukelele had been retuned to a lower pitch, say g for example, would it produce E7b9?

shelfung

Jul 21

Replying to

If the only difference is the G-string is either low or high-G, then it's still the same chord from the perspective of the four notes. It's just that the note that is played on the G-string will be one octave lower in the case of the low G.

Terence Layzell

Jul 21

Thanks shelfung. I appreciate your comments but could you also just explain you use of the word 'lumpy'? What do you mean exactly?

shelfung

Jul 21

Replying to

I was just relaying what was said by people on the Ukulele Forum. But if I had to guess, I would say lumpy was a way of saying "not smooth". So perhaps a jarring sound?

barbaragabriel

Apr 11

Hi Kevin, I've been experimenting with tuning for about a year, putting strings with different tunings on various ukes. I have a couple of sizes of ukes with GCEA or gCEA. My baritone is the DGBE standard for that size. I put a set of re-entrant (high) d-G-B-E on an Anue Nue tenor and love that. Finally, I just put a set of Alex Beds' new Baby bari strings with a low D on my Pono Classic tenor which has been my workhorse uke. I'm loving the deep sound from it. (I got them from Southern Ukulele Store and they shipped within minutes. I got them in the USA just days later.)

I've never played guitar, so the DGBE tuning was new for me and at first it was difficult to go between that and the GCEA tuning on other ukes, but I keep trying and it gets easier. I know that I'm one of Matt's magpies, but I like choosing a uke for a sound that I hear for a certain song and having the different tunings helps me do that.

Matt Stead

Apr 11

You can’t really get much lower in tuning on a standard uke. Occasionally I’ve tuned every string down a tone - F Bb D G which gives a nice mellow tone. The C string is already in the same range as a low G string so you can’t really do down another octave on that one.

Terence Layzell

Jul 21

Replying to

Hi Matt Stead. I have a concert uke but I want to sing desafinado in key G using the same finger patters as given for playing and singing in key C. So I want to try lowering the uke tuning to notes low d, g, b, e, ie down a fourth and see if singing in key G can work if I still use the original fingerings for key C. You say no to lowering the low g another octave but would it sound alright to lower it to d as I describe?

shelfung

Jul 21

Replying to

If you tune to DGBE and you play the same chord shapes, then a song written in the key of C for GCEA is transposed to the key of G for DGBE. So you can play the song using the same chord shapes but know you not playing the same chord names. That would be a problem if you are playing with other people, but as a solo, go for it. However, if you want to play the song in the key of C in DGBE tuning then look up the chord diagrams in a baritone chord sheet. You will recognize the shapes, they will just have different names. For example, a C major chord will look like an F major chord. Hope I haven't confused you too much!

Terence Layzell

Jul 22

Replying to

Not at all. Thank you very much Matt. Very much appreciated. I've just bought my first ukelele which is a concert one. Soon I will also buy a baritone, based on my requirements and what you told me. I used to be a professional trumpet player so some of the problems of playing a uke are already known to me which will make uke playing a bit easier. I've still got a long way to go, I know.

shelfung

Apr 04

This question has been posed on the Ukulele Forum. People who have tried a low C say it sounds "lumpy" and have suggested going with a baritone uke if a deeper sound is wanted. Or you could get an 8 string uke and replace the C5 octave string with a C3 octave string and see how it sounds to you.

Giving the uke a deeper voice

Get the app!