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Frequently Asked Questions Kawika tries to help with the most commonly requested ukulele information |
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Frequently Asked Questions Kawika tries to help with the most commonly requested ukulele information |
Probably the simplest way to find your way around the website is to go to the Sitemap. The Sitemap is a table of contents with links to the rest of the pages in the website.
Probably the easiest way to do this is to use the Search Page. In the Search Page you can enter one or more keywords and a list of pages having those words in it will appear for the user to choose from.
There are several possibilities. First of all, there are two types of tuning pegs (the little knobs on the headstock that tighten or loosen the strings): friction and geared. In general geared tuners are much less susceptable to slippage than friction tuners. Friction tuners stay in place because of little fibre washers which make it more easy or difficult to turn the peg depending on how tightly the adjustment screw has been turned. With time, the washers become smooth and no longer hold so tightly. Changing the washers will usually solve this problem.
A second possibility is that the strings are stretching. If you've just put the strings on, it takes a few days for them to settle in and not stretch. Of course changes in temperature and humidity will cause the strings to tighten or loosen and the ukulele always needs to be tuned before playing. For more information about tightening the strings, see the page on Tying Strings to the ukulele pegs and bridge.
When tuning the strings should always be tightened to attain the right note. If you go past the correct note, loosen the strings and try to get the right note by tightening the strings once more.
Kawika means David in Hawaiian. When I (David C. Hurd) started the business many years ago, it seemed that a business name that sounded a little more Hawaiian would be appropriate for making ukuleles. So instead of "Dave's Ukes", I chose "Ukuleles by Kawika". My Hawaiian wife Helen approved and that made it official. For more of my life and times, you may wish to peruse a brief Biography .
If you've never played any instrument before, I would recommend one of the two smaller sizes, either a soprano (also called standard) or concert size ukulele. If you are a sometime guitar player, then the larger tenor or baritone sizes might be more appropriate for you. A little more information on sizes and tuning can be found on the webpage Strings .
Most really inexpensive ukuleles are horrible because they're made in toy factories and are never really meant to play correctly. No chord position ever produces the correct notes and the strings are so high above the fretboard that they're painful to play.
At this point, the only entry level instruments that I would recommend are the Kamaka soprano or concert and the Fluke, a concert sized, plastic backed instrument with a surprisingly good tone.
I don't evaluate ukuleles, but there are many folks who do that for a living. A partial listing of these folks on the internet can be found on my webpage dealing with Used Ukulele Dealers .
I believe that Elderly Instruments in Lansing,Michigan sells plans for soprano ukuleles. International Luthier's supply in Tulsa, Oklahoma also sells plans and their mailing address is on the page dealing with Instrument Building Suppliers .
Well, yes but two things may happen as a result. First, the body of the baritone is larger and more well suited to the lower tuning. It sounds rich and full when tuned to DGBE. Second, if you take the existing baritone strings and tune them up to GCEA then you will have increased the string tension by a significant amount. It may be enough to both bow the neck and break the bridge off the top of the instrument!
A useful thing to remember is that the soprano, concert and tenor are tuned five semitones higher than the baritone, but the relative tuning of the strings remains the same. That is, if you put a clamp on the fifth fret of the baritone, the tuning would be GCEA. Here's a table to help you remember how to change chord positions:
| Soprano | A | A# | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# |
| Baritone | E | F | F# | G | G# | A | A# | B | C | C# | D | D# |
So if you fingered what would be a soprano F chord on a baritone, it would in fact be a C chord.
This is actually much easier than it seems. I've tried to make a simple set of instructions in the webpage dealing with tying the strings to the tuning pegs and bridge.
There are several sources of information about old ukuleles. On this website, there's a page dealing with identifying older Hawaiian instruments using physical measurements. Another amusing source of information is Chuck's Uke Yak (Chuck Fayne is a well known authority on identifying older ukuleles) on Jim Beloff's website. Then there's the Ukulele Hall of Fame Museum, Cranston, Rhode Island non-profit is dedicated to preserving the history of this unique musical instrument.
Looking for old ukulele song books and instruction manuals is a fun hobby. I have compiled a fairly complete listing on my Ukulele Manuals webpage. Nearly all of the ones that I have came from second-hand book stores in their Music and Hawaiiana sections. For newer books and videos on learning to play the ukulele, I recommend both Auntie Maria's Hawaii Music Island website and that of Jim Beloff's Flea Market Music website. Other possible sources might be vintage ukulele dealers as listed in my Used Ukulele Dealers webpage.