I think this really illustrates nicely the benefits and challenges of switching from a re-entrant tuned ukulele to one with a Low G string.
The pluses are:
- a deeper sound (even if it‘s just a little bit);
- often your major chords have a fuller sound (still doubling a note, but an octave apart is possible);
- a greater range — five extra notes‘ worth!
On the other hand…
- some easy picking patterns become more difficult (the low G really stands out);
- most tabbed songs (for solo uke) assume a high g and you‘ll need to do some on-the-fly thinkin‘
At one point I would have included the string itself as a negative: until quite recently most low G strings were wrapped wire, just like a guitar string, and tended to wear out quickly. Not so now with Aquila‘s reds or the Worth nylon low Gs.
All told I enjoy the sound my Low G (over reentrant tuning) adds to my mediocre playing.
Range Comparison, Part 1: low G v. high g Fretboard Mapped to Piano
-
- Standard high-g, re-entrant tuning
-
- Low G tuning
A couple more visual aids on “Low G” versus ukulele‘s standard reetrant (High G) tunings, here‘s the ukulele strings mapped onto a piano keyboard, low and high G, illustrating the odd (but nice sounding) re-entrant tuning versus the more intuitive “do ray me fa” progression available with a low G string.
If you‘ve ever wondered why sometimes you see the strings written gCEA, well, that‘s a common way to indicate low g
(unless I just got that reveresed… hmmm, I should Google that)
Range Comparison, Part 2: Range on Piano Keyboard
Range comparison, re-entrant ukulele tuning (high G) versus Low G for typical soprano ukulele. You can see that a low G string extends your range by five extra notes (G, Ab, A Bb, & B).
(Note: Range mapped onto a piano keyboard because, even if you don‘t play, it‘s nice to see relative positions laid out on physical objects — we‘re visual critters after all. The black keys are the sharps and flats.)
(graphics from a never completed video I‘d begun over a year ago. Sigh. Perhaps some day… )
Tags: lessons, tuning
