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Absolute
Lokahi
275 Posts |
 Posted - 04/20/2007 : 6:33:00 PM
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After you trim your fingernails, your ukulele won't be as loud (presuming that you don't use a pick). Now nothing is touching the strings but the flesh at the end of my fingers when I strum.
I smile when I envision someone with a great ukulele selling it at a garage sale the day after they trim their nails because it's "lost its volume"....
Just as with a change of strings, changing anything else that affects the acoustic properties of the instrument can not be ignored with regard to performance. What a silly little fact. Hope it helps some other beginner like myself.
(My ukuleles are now much quieter, and will be for a few weeks, I suppose. Time to get that pick out of my wallet... Maybe that's a good habit - to bring a felt pick - anytime you plan to try out a new ukulele to insure consistency.)
Once again, just a silly little fact...
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Absolute
Lokahi
275 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2007 : 6:58:33 PM
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P.S. Playing a ukulele by strumming it with your forefinger may be the traditional approach, but I think that much is lost in the process. I experimented with my felt pick tonight on both my "birdhouse" and Baja concert ukuleles, all with Aquila Nylgut strings. THE INCREASE IN VOLUME is TREMENDOUS when you use a felt pick. The strings also begin to chime more, and that sound of fingernails scratching against a washboard is dimmed in comparison. The felt picks cost around a dollar at music stores here, but I think they're worth trying. Particularly if you're thinking of buying a new ukulele merely because of volume. I'd suggest you consider three things if you don't like your present ukulele due to its size/volume:
1. Try a felt pick.
2. Try a set of good quality strings,like Aquilas.
3. To somewhat increase your ease when fretting, try a "classical guitarist strap". They tend to cost around $10.00, are removable, and don't require any changes to your ukulele.
Hope these ideas, totalling around $19.00 if you can avoid shipping charges, save someone some money on a new ukulele - they're transferable to the new one if you do decide to buy it (so long as you don't cut the new strings too short or go to a bigger 'uku requiring longer strings!) |
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