Tenor Ukulele Tuning – Low G or High G?
When it comes to the tenor ukulele there's an important decision to be made: should you use low-G or high-G tuning? (Alternatively low-A or high-A for D tuning). Each has its own advantages and works well in certain situations.
Advantages of High-G Ukulele
The high-G ukulele creates the close harmony chords that give the ukulele its distinctive sound. Making it perfect for chordal accompaniment.
It's also great for single note runs. The close tuning lets you move down a scale across the strings rather than down them. This means you can let the notes ring into each other. A style of playing that John King refers to as 'campanella'. I love this style of playing; it creates a very pleasing, harp-like effect.
Advantages of Low-G Ukulele
Having the low-G string widens the ukulele's range considerably. You have a lot more bass notes to play with. If you are playing solo, instrumental pieces this can be a big advantage. You can accompany your melodies with bass notes. It also gives chords a fuller sound.
Pro's Choice
There's no real consensus on tuning amongst the pros either. Both tunings are used. And not necessarily in the way you'd expect. Israel Kamakawiwo'ole used low-G tuning (you can hear his low bass note followed by strums of the higher strings on his version of Over the Rainbow). On the other hand, Jake Shimabukuro uses high-G tuning for his solo flights. Whereas James Hill most often uses the low-A tuning.
My Choice
If I had to choose one of the tunings, I'd go with the high-G. The low-G tuning feels almost like a completely different instrument to me. You have to change your style of playing quite significantly to take full advantage of the low-G tuning. And I just love the re-entrant sound too much.
No related posts.
March 25th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
That’s a good discussion, and you’ll find that there are those purists out there who get really bent out of shape when you mention the low G. I took up the uke late in life, after having played other instruments professionally (mainly the clarinet) for over fifty years.
My goal was to play both good accompaniments for my voice and chord solos. Having had a thorough knowledge of chords from my musical experiences, I found it was much easier to get into chord solo playing by using the low G string. The addition fourth added to the range of the uke by using the low G string makes solo playing much easier, enabling the player to play in keys with which he can avoid some of the higher chord positions. Example: Play Mockingbird Hill in F, and your F, Bb, and both C7s will all be in first position. Also if you want to do any “slack key” style playing on the uke, you’ll appreciate that low G string. Also it’s easier for guitar players, when playing uke, to have that 4th string below the third string, because that’s what they are used to.
By the way, James Hill does use both, but his great forte, other than his unbelievable technique, is composing, and he does appreciate the greater range offered by the extra fourth and uses it in many of his originals.
May 6th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
i use low g coz it is better for solo coz u have a big note range
June 8th, 2009 at 10:52 am
I would like to try using a standard G (guitar tuning) DGBE on my Tenor Uke, so that I can try out playing some guitar tunes.
What strings should I use? Are any available? Obviously not as a set, but presumably available individually?