Since I know a lot of uke players through my wife, I’ve been getting a lot of pressure to learn to play uke for a long time. I’ve been resistant because I didn’t want to take away time from learning guitar or for the information to get mixed up in my brain. Of course, those uke players countered by recommending I get a baritone uke (tuned DGBE) because it’ll be easier. I was still resistant, being so new to guitar.
At this point, I feel like I have room in my head to add a baritone uke. My wife introduced me to the Flight Maia steel string baritone a long time ago. It must have been new because I couldn’t find one available anywhere. I was interested, though.
Recently I saw one pop up on the local marketplace for a decent price. I went to take a look at it and came home with it today. It maybe isn’t the prettiest mango top I’ve seen, but it’s still beautiful.
I recently got a much stronger push to pick up a uke. One of my wife’s good friends who plays uke wants to go to a uke fest in Ireland next year for her birthday and then do a bike tour afterwards. I’m not going to say no to a trip like that. I was last in Ireland in 1994 and I loved the country. But it would suck pretty bad for my trip companions to head off to the uke fest and for me to be left to my own devices for those days. If I’m actually planning a solo trip that’s one thing. But planning to go with others and then needing to entertain myself for a few days? Doesn’t sound like my preferred way to have a good time.
Getting the baritone now gives me some time to get accustomed to it. The string spacing will take a minute to get used to. moreso than the scale length. Chords will be less of a concern I think. In fact I think I’ll have an easier time with more chords that I find difficult on guitar.
This one didn’t come with a case, unfortunately (the guy I purchased it from got it used sans case). But I’ll get to choose one that will suit my needs. I’ll talk to my wife about what uke she plans to travel with and what case she’ll be using. One of her tenors has a super fancy airline-approved fiberglass hard case. The previous owner did change the tuners from the stock ones to a more suitable gear ratio so tuning was less touchy.
Congratulations, and welcome to the uke gang, Nate. I played 5 string banjo, finger style for years. The online course I was taking for banjo offered uke lessons, and piano, which I browsed thru, but after 5 years of piano lessons I didn’t spend a lot of time with it on that site. I got the uke. First was a concert, recommended by the site operator/host. It was too small for my mitts. I went for a tenor. It worked well. Took a while, not long, to learn some chords. Then they offered fiddle courses. I thought, you know what, Jim, you need to learn how to play fiddle. So I got one on Craigslist locally, and gave it a shot. I can plink out a tune or two and only play for my own enjoyment. Next came clawhammer banjo. I tried it early on, gave it up, and went back to it. After 1.5 years now, and 2 camps later, it’s coming along. Guitar? Glad you asked. I got one about 1.5 years ago as well. I tried a few books and someone led me to Justin Guitar. It’s been a lot of fun. I’ve finished Blim, got an electric guitar, and enjoy both that and the acoustic. I joined a local uke group. I did see Justin also offers uke lessons. I go once a week and play with the uke group. We do a few local gigs throughout the year. Someone at the uke group had a baritone/aka Bari. I thought, I need one of them. It plays as you said, same as the bottom 4 strings on a guitar. I get mixed up once in a while between the concert and bari ukes. I play the wrong chords. Oops. I also realized, if I change the bottom string on the bari from e to a D, it will play like a banjo, minus the top 5th drone string. All good fun. Won’t be long before you venture further and get a boatload of instruments like I did. There’s more I dabble with, for another time.
my first taste of music was a trumpet WAY long ago. I enjoyed it and would have stuck with it if school didn’t force you into 4 years of marching band before you can choose concert or jazz band. honestly wouldn’t mind getting one again so I can add some horn on the occasional song. in college I took a piano class, as well. I won’t say I was ever great at it, but I wasn’t terrible, either. I also consider picking up some used keys occasionally. Those are a lot easier to find than trumpets. But they take up way more space than I have available.
as for the uke, I’ll be able to go to uke jams without getting the pokes to buy a uke finally. I go occasionally (and play guitar) with my wife. There are a number of uke groups around here locally, so there’s no shortage of jams to choose from. there’s also a guitar group locally but it’s a real struggle to get them to accommodate beginners better. the uke groups do that much more effortlessly, which is why I play with them instead.
The Uke is a great instrument. Gives beginners a LOT of fun even if it sounds a bit cringe worthy to others and in the right hands is just as musical as any other instrument.
My wife, seeing the pleasure I was getting from my guitar, got a uke some years ago. She didn’t like the high pitch of her concert uke, so upgraded to a baritone.
Lately I’ve been obsessed with triads on my guitar, only on the 4 higher strings at this point and have wondered if I should get a tenor guitar. But I also realize I should grab my wife’s baritone and play around with it.
I hear a LOT of uke. I wouldn’t call it cringe worthy, but I do prefer the sound of steel strings. especially in comparison to inexpensive nylon string ukes. which is why this steel string baritone really caught my eye. This will sound super nice paired up with my wife on nylon strings.
Of course I won’t ONLY be playing this when I play with her. Sometimes I’ll play one of my guitars, too. We’ve been talking for a bit about me playing more slide on songs with her (I’ve done a single 30 sec song playing slide on my Taylor. It was a lot of fun). I’m resonator shopping - I know exactly which one I want…I’m just waiting for the manufacturer to list it for sale. I think their most recent shipment has been stuck in customs for awhile. So, it’ll be a fun way to mix things up. It’s my fault for wanting something that’s not widely/affordably available.
Yay! Yas! Good call, Nate!
Happy New Gear Day!!
She sure is beautiful, and mango top would sound awesome
I love playing my uke, though I admit I do spend much more time with my guitar too.
I dón’t think of it as something for children,or a toy, any more than any other instrument. And yes, can sometimes sound cringy, but also sound amazing - just like any other instrument, IMHO
I would recommend an airline approved travel case for travel, if you can.
Have fun with her, and at the uke fest!
I hear a lot of great sounding ukes but have also heard my share of cringe worthy performances. I recall a Uke festival where 50 some odd uke players were all playing a credence clearwater song with the uke strum and no back beat or groove that suited that song. At that same festival, I attended a uke workshop where the guy leading the workshop pointed out to the attendees that while such group playing is a lot of fun, it doesn’t really advance one’s musicality.
The cool thing about that festival, and the uke, was meeting people who six months earlier had never played an instrument in their life and now were joining in jams and having a ball. Wonderful genuine joy
I considered it. But there’s no way I’m checking an instrument. Ever. I spoke with a friend who tours internationally (he is doing a little tour in Germany now in fact). He uses a lot of hard cases, but he also uses a well padded rigid foam cases. And that’s what I ended up buying. It will be just fine in an overhead bin in that. My wife will be bringing one of her Klos ukes that has an even less padded case (though the instrument is probably a good bit more durable to start with).
Ah, yes, I know the type of playalong you describe. From what I’ve seen, the vast majority of people don’t want to play any more than that. That’s fine, but it’s true that it lacks musicality. When I play with my wife, I do try hard to do something different. When I play guitar, emphasizing the lower end and simply providing a “fuller” sound is where I tend to focus most of the time. That usually means I’m just doing whole or half note strums, but sometimes I’ll do 8th note downstrums or I’ll attempt a “boom chick” or similar. Usually the tempo is pretty fast for me on the boom chick stuff so I have a hard time keeping in time. But it’s good practice.
I will say that the uke jams I’ve been to are MUCH better than the local guitar jams. At least most uke people are trying to play the same thing and when they stay together, it is fun. But a lot of the guitar jams I’ve been to, man, people can’t stay together to save their lives. Everybody’s got in their own head what they want to play and it’s like more than half of them have never tried to even play with the recording or a basic drum beat or anything. The sound usually winds up having more in common with chaos than anything else. I just can’t with them. I tried. I tried to get folks to dial back a bit to help this beginner hear whatever TF is going on. And I got nowhere with it.
I found a jam buddy I can play guitar with and the way we’ve set things up is when we choose a song, we also choose parts to play. I’m usually on rhythm and he’s more free to do the solos and maybe arpeggiate or fingerpick or use a different chord voicing during some rhythm stuff. He’s helping to push me towards trying to solo because he doesn’t want to feel like he’s hogging it. So far it’s working pretty well.
I do plan to bring some of that along when I’m playing uke. Not that I can get too fancy with it, but I definitely don’t want to get stuck playing the “island strum” aka “old faithful” all the time. though I might kinda get trapped sometimes because I’ve seen uke groups play everything in 4/4 time, too. and down here in southern Appalachia, we’ve got a LOT of old folk tunes in 3/4.
Sounds like another uke fan here, Tony. I enjoy my ukes. I agree, playing in a group, while fun strumming and singing, doesn’t offer the advancement in playing solos, up the neck, etc. Most of us play near the nut. One or two can do a nice riff to get a song going. I just enjoy it all around though. Once in a while we get someone new who sticks with it and joins in the fun.
I wonder how many other uke players are out there and haven’t mentioned it.
With the steel strings and same tuning, does is sound very much different from an acoustic guitar? Obviously, with the shorter scale and smaller body, the physics of the sound is different, but I’m wondering how different are the 2 instruments?
It would be super-cool if you could do a side-by-side comparison and post it!
That’s mango wood for you. My wife has a concert uke made of mango and it has a similar depth to it. Hers has some top-notch quilted mango (and is handmade to boot), whereas the quilting on mine only shows up in a couple spots.
They do have a very similar timbre to them. The uke sounds “sweeter” than the guitar but it’s a somewhat subtler effect. The guitar has a lot more depth, of course. Even playing the exact same chord (using the mini F on guitar, since the baritone uke chord is identical). The guitar pushes a bit more low end. Now, at some level the characters of the woods will start to come into play since so many other things are the same.
My Taylor has a “torrefied” sitka spruce top instead of the mango. Both have laminate rosewood back/sides. from my reading, it seems mango is often described as sweet or sparkly. I’ll try to get a recording of the two of them playing the same thing later on today. I’ll probably just choose a misc chord progression rather than a specific song. and maybe a little fingerpicking.
So, they’re very similar, sure, but they are also distinct.
That little one on the right cost four TIMES as much as the one on the left…brand new. I’m thrilled to find something so beautiful at a modest price. And it sounds lovely, too.
Hi Nate,
Happy NUD
This one looks gorgeous… not like some ukuleles that are impossible to get in tune… oh, I have two, and one is really beautiful, the other is one of the electric kind… played with them together for 2 days… sometimes they look at me very guilty from a dark corner of the room…
I wish you many hours, days, months, and years together
