I am learning to play Ukulele (aargh, is that counted as a guitar here ? (dont see any Ukulele anywhere here))
I bought a toy(ish) one as a Christmas present for my daughter (marked down to R200, hard plastic) and whilst helping her to learn off YouTube videos, I got hooked :-)
So I got a 'proper' Ukulele, now at least I know a few chords and can sort of play a few songs. Really enjoying it.
Now am eyeing my wifes guitar ... just got to get past the guardian, tune it up and give it a try :-D
Here is the Ukuleles we have, at the bottom a Mahalo MH2 Concert Guitar and the top smaller one is a Soprano, made of plastic but perfectly playable and probably perfect in price (R200) for a child, strings are nor as hard on the fingers as the Mahalo ?
RamblinLane , strings are nor as hard on the fingers as the Mahalo
I'd say that's because - the mahalo looks to be a slightly longer scale (nut to bridge measurement), longer scale usually = tauter strings and the strings on the cheepie likely arn't the same quality as I'd expect on the mahalo. Not sure if you get differing tensions of strings on a uke like you do on a classical guitar?
Just in case you didn't yet see this - still blows my mind
I've been overly tempted by the kala Ubass (21in scale)...more than once - likely I'll get one someday. My only objection is the rubber-y feel of the strings. I've played a a fair bit on tapewound strings and flatwounds and -for the moment- I've just not got into them. When I grow up some, my tastes in music will suit them.
Tuckstir The big small guitar thingy's intrigue me too..and that is sexy..its like a mini-me bass..
Absolutely - dig that little beeg thing too - I've played one acoustically - but not in a band setting. I'm told they're much like a 'normal' bass with tapewounds, warm big low end.
A bit pricey for something I'd not use regularly (around 3k is the cheapest I've seen 2nd hand), but my collection has thinned out a lot, so there's space...
guidothepimmp Offtopic.. am i the only one getting the mini jackson adverts from raru on every webpage. Those things look fun
nope.. my raru ads are pickups... but then that's what I've been browsing recently.
I've often looked at those Uke's on raru, especially when they are on sale, but i think they will just end up been wall art if I do,
He almost got me playing uke - but I got a yamaha guitalele instead, I'm lazy though - so keeping what I knew and getting a pseduo uke sound was easier. it's a 5th higher than a guitar (like playing with a capo on 5th fret of guitar).
Great to travel with, though I never got into it - prefered the martin backpacker which was as easy to travel with and in a std guitar tuning.
One thing I did notice from re-watching Jake's ted talk - he uses a bit of flamenco techniques (Rasgueado mainly I thought) - a lot of rakes with the thumb too and occasionally a triplet style strum.
Gabriella (From Gabriella y Rodrigo) does a sweet tutorial on the basic of the triplet strum - there also loads of Rasgueado tutorials on YT.
If you get into that - you'll find it a lot easier on higher tension instruments - my fingers tend to get stuck with low tensions strings/instruments. I suspect Jake's strings are reaallllllly taut. I find I get a bit more volume from higher tensions too.
Took me about six months to get close to a decent triplet and I'm still to get a passable Rasgueado going. But when you do, it sounds killer. They are also techniques that one has to keep maintaining - don't use it and ya lose it (which it my issue atm)
