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By the way — one of the benefits of carbon fibre instruments is that they are very sturdy and will not readily scratch or crack or be damaged by getting wet. One carbon fibre harpmaker advertised his large celtic harp by tossing it off a balcony into a swimming pool and hitting it with a hammer. They generally require less tuning since they aren’t affected by humidity.
Some studies have found that carbon fibre instruments have different tonal qualities than wooden instruments do, with the sound penetrating more widely through a room.
Linda
Yes. It has a high action, but I’m getting used to it (I’d had the instrument for only a few days when I recorded). A high action can be good for tone which I like — and I’m not finding it hard to fret in the first fret (I had that problem on a mandolin and had to get the action lowered). I’m finding the tone has a bell-like sound which is especially pleasant for more classical pieces.
Also, because it’s man-made materials, it’s in tune with itself — which I like a lot.
I find it interesting that the uke is much heavier than my other tenor. I would have thought that carbon fibre would be lighter. I like the very smooth rounded neck — my fluke tenor has a bit of a corner on the neck which occasionally irritates my thumb.
I got it with a pickup and am curious to play with it and an amp and effects down the road.
Linda
Thank, Stephen! I’ll definitely work longer with the metronome on this. It’s a new ukulele and I’m enjoying the sound and the piece.
Linda
Thanks for the feedback, Stephen! I’ll definitely work more on that section (I found that part a bit of a challenge).
Linda
Hi,
I tried Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love this month. I really enjoyed the arrangement though I’m sure my playing of it needs work. The video angle makes my wrist look more bent than it was. I find the flat ukulele rather hard to hold onto….
Linda
I am a premium memberHi Amy,
I read sheetmusic and like to see it with the tab since it lets me know a bit more clearly the weight of the notes — whether it’s a quarter note or half note or part of a triplet etc. It can also be helpful if I want to try out something on a different instrument. There are some tab programs that display the note values as part of the tab and if that is there I’m happy to do without the traditional sheetmusic part.
However I definitely always want the tab since that tells me what string is meant to be played for that note since a single musical note can often be played on several strings. That information is an essential part of an ukulele arrangement.
So, if the tab displays note value, we can live without the sheetmusic part, but the sheetmusic without the tab isn’t too useful.
Linda
Hi,
I tried the Beauty and the Beast accompaniment this month. I’m not a singer so I whistled. I dropped the pitch of the Baritone ukulele a couple of notches though to get it closer to a range that might work for other than bats.
Linda
I am a premium member.
Thanks AJ! I’ll keep working in both pieces. I really struggle with barre chords (and have worked through the instructions here) but am gradually getting better at them. I had real fun with the L-O-V-E on the little uke despite having trouble with the barres especially on the little uke.
Linda
Hi,
I worked on two pieces this month, so ended up recording both. You’re welcome to review either.
Spanish Romance
Linda
I’m a premium member
Thanks, Stephen! I really struggled with two or three of the bar chords (strangely they were dead easy on the Baritone uke) so found this piece good training. I was looking for a way to make the second part just a bit different and thought of the harmonics — and took long enough getting the bar chords possible that my right-hand thumbnail grew a bit longer so the harmonics were easier to do). And pinch-harmonics impress my guitar-playing son :-). I’ll work on those half-notes more.