A Beginner's Ukulele Resource Kit

Handy links to learning the ukulele online.

  • 16th
  • August
  • 2012
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.

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.

Tagged: low G reentrant tuning uke ukulele re-entrant theory

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