These miniature four-stringed guitars appeared relatively recently, but quickly conquered the world with their sound. Traditional Hawaiian music, jazz, country, reggae and folk - the instrument has perfectly got accustomed in all these genres. And it is very easy to learn. If you know how to play the guitar a little bit, you can make friends with the ukulele in a matter of hours.
It is made of wood, like any guitar, and very much resembles it externally. The only differences are just 4 strings and much smaller size.
Ukulele history
The ukulele appeared due to the development of the Portuguese plucked instrument - kavakinho. By the end of the 19th century, Pacific Islanders played everywhere on it. After several exhibitions and concerts, the compact guitar began to attract the attention of US residents. She was especially interested in jazzmen.
The second wave of popularity of the instrument came only in the nineties. The musicians were looking for a new interesting sound, and found it. Now ukulele is one of the most popular tourist musical instruments.
Ukulele species
The ukulele has only 4 strings. They differ only in size. The larger the scale is, the lower the instrument is played on.
- Soprano - the most common type. Tool length - 53 cm. Configurable in the GCEA (more on the lines below).
- Concert - a little bigger and louder. Length - 58cm, build GCEA.
- Tenor - this model appeared in the 20s. Length - 66cm, build - standard or reduced DGBE.
- Baritone - the largest and youngest model. Length - 76cm, build - DGBE.
Sometimes you can find non-standard ukulele with twin strings. 8 strings are broken into pairs and tuned in unison. This allows for more surround sound. This, for example, uses Jan Lawrence in the video:
As a first instrument it is better to buy a soprano. They are the most versatile and easiest to find on sale. If miniature guitars interest you - you can look closely at the other varieties.
Stroy ukulele
As can be seen from the list, the most popular system is GCEA (Sol-Do-Mi-La). It has one interesting feature. The first strings are tuned like on regular guitars - from the highest to the lowest. But the fourth string is Sol. refers to the same octave, as the other 3. This means that it will sound higher than the 2nd and 3rd strings.
Such a system makes playing the ukulele a bit unusual for guitarists. But, it is quite convenient, and getting used to it is simple. Baritone and, sometimes, a tenor are tuned to DGBE (Re-Sol-C-Mi). The first 4 guitar strings have a similar structure. As in the case of GCEA, the string Pe (D) belongs to the same octave as the others.
Some musicians use and increased performance - ADF #B (La re-fa flat-c). It finds its use in Hawaiian folk music. A similar system, but with the 4th string (A) lowered by an octave, is taught in Canadian music schools.
Tool setting
Before you start learning ukulele, it must be configured. If you have experience with guitars, there should be no problems. Otherwise, it is recommended to use the tuner or try to tune by ear.
Everything is simple with the tuner - find a special program, connect a microphone to the computer, pull the first string. The program will show the pitch. Twist peg until you get First octave (denoted as A4). Similarly, tune the rest of the strings. All of them lie within one octave, so look for the notes of Mi, Do and Sol with the number 4.
Tuning without a tuner assumes the presence of a musical ear. You need to play any instrument (you can even on a computer midi-synthesizer) the necessary notes. And then adjust the strings so that they sound with the selected notes in unison.
Ukulele Basics
This part of the article is intended for people who have never touched plucked instruments, for example, a guitar. If you know at least the basics of guitar skills, you can safely move on to the next part.
A description of the basics of musical literacy will require a separate article. Therefore, we proceed immediately to practice. To play any melody you need to know where the note is located. If you use the standard for ukulele stitch - GCEA - all the notes that you can extract are collected in this picture.
On the open (not clamped) strings you can play 4 notes - La, Mi, Do and Sol. For the rest of the sound you need to clamp the strings at certain frets. Take the instrument in your hands, strings from yourself. With your left hand you will press the strings, and with your right hand you will play.
Try to clamp the first (it will be the lowest) string on the third fret. You need to press with your fingertip right in front of the metal threshold. Pin the same string with the finger of your right hand and the note “Do” will sound.
Further need persistent training. The technique of sound extraction here is exactly the same as on the guitar. Read the tutorials, watch the video, train - and after a couple of weeks your fingers will play around the neck briskly.
Ukulele chords
When you can confidently clamp the strings and extract sounds from them, you can start learning chords. Since there are fewer strings here than on a guitar, it is much easier to clamp chords.
The picture shows a list of the main chords that you will use during the game. Dots marked frets on which you need to clamp the strings. If there is no point on any string, it means that it should sound in the clear.
At first, you only need the first 2 rows. it major and minor chords from every note. With their help, you can play the accompaniment to any song. When you cope with them - you can learn the rest. They will help you to decorate your game, make it more bright and lively.
If you do not know that you can play on the ukulele, visit the site //www.ukulele-tabs.com/. It collected a huge variety of songs for this wonderful tool.
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