• upyerkilt
  • upyerkilt
  • Unofficial king of Scotland
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  • From: Balloch, Scotland, UK, Earth
  • Registered: 2006-03-04
  • Posts: 3,290

Topic: a well tuned ukulele

Ok, I got my ukulele yesterday.

A soprano one, one with 4 nylon strings on it.


I am having fun annoying my wife with it at the moment, i only wish it was louder.  <img src="images/smiley_icons/icon_lol.gif" border=0 alt="Laughing">

so anyway, any other players out there find it goes out of tune too easily? i play it then almost instantly it is out of tune, maybe only a very small bit, but stil out of tune. And if I leave it after playing for 10 or 20 minutes all strings are out of tune. I have not used my tuner so much in such little time.


And what a hard time I am having trying to play Em and even E. I have biggish fingers, not exactly skinny wee things and this fret board is teeny.

Same as the mandolin really but on the mandolin I only have problem playing  the chord F.


anyone know about the tuning?

anyone know about bigger fingers playing chords on these instruments?



Cheers


Ken

ye get some that are cut out for the job and others just get by from pretending
  • Registered: 2006-03-04
  • Posts: 6

Re: a well tuned ukulele

i have a big hand (wedding band is a size 14), and i play a soprano uke. it just takes some time, that's all.

as far as tuning goes:

1=A

2=E

3=C

4=G


as far as staying in tune goes, if you are playing the with the strings that the uku came with, stop and change them out. i prefer Ko'olau gold, all plain, concert size.

the concert size is a bit longer and thicker than standard.  also ukulele strings tend to take longer to settle in.

some ukers like Worth, some like Aquila. i've tried them both and Ko'olau is my favorite.

if, after changing strings, you are still having tuning issues, it might be the uke.

what brand did you buy?

  • Registered: 2006-08-25
  • Posts: 3

Re: a well tuned ukulele

Whoa Fredmerz, dude, hold on a minute. Upyerkilt wrote that he got his ukulele YESTERDAY. It takes several days to break the strings in. It's totally normal that it is constantly going out of tune as the strings are stretching. Just keep on tuning it before you play it, or a couple times a day if you're not playing it, and it will steadily get better. In less than a weeks time it will be just fine.


Of course, if you've already bought expensive new string, don't worry about it. If your old strings were el cheapo, then the new ones will be an improvement. And if the old ones were already aquality set of strings well, now you have an extra set. ^_^


   Stuckinkiel

  • upyerkilt
  • upyerkilt
  • Unofficial king of Scotland
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  • From: Balloch, Scotland, UK, Earth
  • Registered: 2006-03-04
  • Posts: 3,290

Re: a well tuned ukulele

thanks the two of you

The strings have improved a lot, I think it was coz they were new, They are not wire strings though, just the nylon ones which probably made it worse.


I cant remember the brand name, I threw away the box, but it is just a wee cheap one for me to get started on to see if I liked it.

I am thinking of getting a better one with wire strings in feburary for me birthday.

I like the Uke a lot, the problem I have now is when I change from the Uke to the mandolin or vice versa I am getting confused with my chords since there are 4 string on each of the instruments.

then I go to the guitar,lol

Will take a while but I will manage through these confusing chord changes from instrument to instrument.


And for any uke lovers, Youtube has a great clip of a Uke orchestra play nirvana's " smells like teen spirit", it is a fantastic version,

yep the uke certainly is a great wee instrument.


Hanx


Ken

ye get some that are cut out for the job and others just get by from pretending
  • Registered: 2006-11-04
  • Posts: 2

Re: a well tuned ukulele

Hey UYK,


Hopefully your strings have settled down by now. You may find the two pdfs files here useful (especially if you start giving Ukes for Christmas, whic can only be a good idea)


<a href="http://homepage.ntlworld.com/vincent.hodgson/links.html" target="_blank">http://homepage.ntlworld.com/vincent.hodgson/links.html</a>


Vince

  • upyerkilt
  • upyerkilt
  • Unofficial king of Scotland
  • Offline
  • From: Balloch, Scotland, UK, Earth
  • Registered: 2006-03-04
  • Posts: 3,290

Re: a well tuned ukulele

thanks vince,

yep the strings have settled down a lot, I can pick it up and play without having to retune it every song.

I dont know this song but I might dowload it and listen, and if i like it then i might even learn it.


I dont know about a uke for crimbo yet, the woman that must be obeyed is atlkaing about getting me a scotland football top , which I cannot argue with either, so if I get that I either wait til feburary for a new uke or just go out and buy one,lol

hanx


Ken

ye get some that are cut out for the job and others just get by from pretending
  • Registered: 2007-03-12
  • Posts: 2

Re: a well tuned ukulele

As with all nylon strings uke strings take a while to stretch out before they stay tuned. When it comes to Em If you are playing on a GCEA tuning I recommend bridging CE and A on the second fret then placing your other fingers on C fret 4 and E fret 3 for E bridge all strings on the 4th fret and place a finger on A fret 7 this is a higher E but much easier to play

          -Travis

  • rbrown
  • Junior Member
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  • Registered: 2006-06-23
  • Posts: 2

Re: a well tuned ukulele

Hope you've gotten used to your uke by now. About wire strings... if you put them on a uke it'll probably twist the whole thing out of shape. Ukes aren't made of materials that can stand up to metal strings. If you really want one though, look for a cavacihno (spelling?). It's a Brazilian instrument inspired by the same Portugese sailors that taught the Hawaiians about ukes, but they have wire strings. Check out some recordings on You Tube to hear what they sound like. You can find them eBay, but I have no idea what the quality's like.

Happy plunking!

  • upyerkilt
  • upyerkilt
  • Unofficial king of Scotland
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  • From: Balloch, Scotland, UK, Earth
  • Registered: 2006-03-04
  • Posts: 3,290

Re: a well tuned ukulele

Thanks Rbrown, the reply I was looking for, but not wanting to hear, lol, if ye know what I mean.


Good to hear I am not going to ruin my uke with wire strings!!

I have gotten well used to the uke now, I love it.

And I will look up this other instrument you mention, I have never heard of it but then that is no suprise, there are probably over 100 instruments i have never heard of.


Cheers

Ken

ye get some that are cut out for the job and others just get by from pretending
  • Registered: 2006-03-04
  • Posts: 1

Re: a well tuned ukulele

i have two cents about tuning.  i have soprano, concert and baritone ukuleles.  for at least a year i struggled with georgemartin and a sour sound.  most sopranos sound much better tuned in d at adf#b rather than gcea.  give it a try.  welcome to the ranks of ukers.

  • From: Glasgow, UK
  • Registered: 2010-01-05
  • Posts: 5

Re: a well tuned ukulele

Hello All ~ my first post!

I've used the site before for chords for songs etc but my first time on the forum - I googled "why does my ukulele go out of tune so quickly?" and hey presto!

Good to know this will normalise but I also found advice on another site that if the nut is too high your uke will sound too sharp.

My uke came with Aquila nylgut strings which everyone seems to rate so I'll persevere.

~*Z*~

  • From: Gloucester, England
  • Registered: 2009-09-27
  • Posts: 71

Re: a well tuned ukulele

welcome to the site...

yeah, they do go out of tune fast when new... and high default nuts cause them to play sharp, but if yours came with nylgut strings, then I'm expecting it to be a pretty decent Uke and not a Mahalo or other equivalent "starter" Uke.

Not that I've got much wrong with Mahalos, but you have to ensure you get the ones with geared tuners and not the friction pegs... geared tuners are far easier to tune and more stable when playing...

[url=http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w9/paulcooke100/Paul.jpg]a better photo of me[/url]
[url=http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w9/paulcooke100/IMGP0556.jpg]My basses[/url]
haven't photographed my guitars yet... smile
  • From: Glasgow, UK
  • Registered: 2010-01-05
  • Posts: 5

Re: a well tuned ukulele

I started on a pink(!) mahalo with friction pegs that my brother had bought for one of my daughters but I got my own Kala for xmas so I'm much happier thanks!

  • From: Essex, UK
  • Registered: 2009-06-07
  • Posts: 25

Re: a well tuned ukulele

To echo manicbassman and stuck new ukes will fall out of tune quickly. You just need to play the crap out of them, tune up, play some more. I call it "settling" but dont know if theres a proper term for it.

Do just cain it. If you're new to the instrument, your fingertips will turn raw quite soon too so both your strings and fingertips will improve with practice.

big_smile [b]Its in the name![/b]
  • Registered: 2009-09-30
  • Posts: 1

Re: a well tuned ukulele

As a violinist primarily, I must say that friction pegs, when done right, work fine.

On an el cheapo uke... yes, they would suck.