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I got a ukulele for Christmas. It's the first instrument I've ever owned,
though I took piano and french horn when I was 9 or 10. I can already play 5
or 6 songs and I am having a blast in my ignorant bliss. :)

Anyway, I was looking around the internet for ukulele songs and I came across
this link farm about ballads. I thought some of you (Sandra) might be
interested. It seems quite extensive.

<A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/george_seto.geo/lyric.htm">http://www.geocities.com/george_seto.geo/lyric.htm</A>

I found a lot of sites about ukulele, but a lot of the songs have too many
chords for me right now (and I don't know the tunes). I also found a site
with freeware that will write any song for uke and print the chord charts
with the lyrics. Now I just need to learn a little about transposing so I
can feed in some of the Camp Fire songs I want to play. I haven't googled
transposing, but I will.

How do you determine which key is best for your own voice? My ukulele can be
tuned in G or C. Some of the songs get too high for me in C. Is it okay to
lower my voice an octave so I can sing in my range?

I don't want to sound like an idiot. I'm basically an ignoramus when it
comes to music, but I'm learning!!

Tuck


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In a message dated 12/28/02 3:44:19 PM, Tuckervill@... writes:

<< How do you determine which key is best for your own voice? My ukulele can
be
tuned in G or C. Some of the songs get too high for me in C. Is it okay to
lower my voice an octave so I can sing in my range? >>

Sure it's okay to sing an octave up or down. But by "tuned in G or C," if
you mean different notes on different strings (and thereby different
fingerings, like the difference between standard guitar tuning and "open
tuning") that won't change the vocal range.

Ukeleles are already so small and thumpy I don't guess a capo would make it
sound much thumpier. But maybe it's not cool to use a capo on a ukelele.
But if there is any such thing as using a capo, what that does is raise the
range of the ukelele up a step or two. (Probably it's not done.)

If by "tuned in G or C" you really meant you can play songs in the key of G
or the key of C (not having anything to do with what notes the strings are
tuned to) GOOD! Depending on the range of each song (which you don't have to
understand, just goof around with), you can use one key or the other.

I'll look at that site after a while.

Sandra

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In a message dated 12/28/2002 6:55:13 PM Central Standard Time,
SandraDodd@... writes:

> If by "tuned in G or C" you really meant you can play songs in the key of G
> or the key of C (not having anything to do with what notes the strings are
> tuned to) GOOD! Depending on the range of each song (which you don't have
> to
> understand, just goof around with), you can use one key or the other.
>

Mine is a soprano, the most popular kind. Tuned in the key of G the notes of
the strings are GCEA. Tuned in C they are ADF#B. (Other kinds of ukes are
tuned in different keys.) The fingering doesn't change with the key. But I
would have to be damn good to play a G-tuned uke in the key of C. (I think!)


So the software I have that will take in a guitar song (for instance) and
spit out a uke song allows for transposing. It does it by entering a value
of -4 to 4. From what little I know about music, that probably means that +1
means one key up?

I do know if I don't do it right, it comes out with a lot of flats and minors
and diminished notes that take all 4 fingers in odd positions to play! Does
anyone know if there's a general guideline or rule of thumb about
transposing?

Charles is sitting over there learning Oh Susanna on harmonica, so I guess
we'll have a duet pretty soon!

Thanks,
Tuck


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