What kind ukulele to buy

If you want an affordable instrument that is made from solid woods the Carvalho range from Portugal use solid Acacia a relation of Koa , and brands such as Uluru exclusively use solid woods.

They are all tuned to the same 4 notes, G, C, E and A, and they play at the same pitch, however the difference is in the body size and scale length. Soprano is the smallest, giving a crisp, percussive tone — ideal for rhythmic playing and a sweet tone when played gently. They are also great for small hands and many youngsters find them a useful entry point before learning guitar.

The downside is that some adult players find the small scale length restrictive — it can be difficult for larger fingers to make chord shapes in such a small space at first. Concert sits in the middle, offering a slightly longer scale length often much easier for big hands! Tenor has a larger body size and again, a longer scale length. We are often asked about Ukulele Banjos. What are they? How are they tuned?

Are they more like a banjo or a ukulele? However, the body of the instrument is a smaller version of the body of a banjo — giving the instrument a unique banjo-like sound. If you've seen footage of George Fornby and his ukulele, that's a banjo uke!

Some banjoleles are simple affairs constructed a bit like a tambourine and others are more like miniature banjos with a resonator, which is essentially a dish attached to the back of the drum head to redirect sound in a forward direction.

These tend to be louder and more strident than the open back version. Towards the higher end of the market, Martin produces beautiful solid wood Ukuleles. We're also very fond of the Uluru band as mentioned earlier. If you want to use your ukulele in public, you might wish to consider whether you need it to have a pickup to allow it to be amplified.

Many ukuleles are also available as semi-acoustic models, making it easy to take your playing out and about. For players looking to amplify a high end or handmade uke, we stock a number of options including the LR Baggs Five O and Shadow Pro-Age pick ups, which can be fitted to any ukulele in our workshop. Many professional players choose tenor ukuleles because of its resonance, projection, and the longer fretboard which is essential for a wider range of notes.

Tenor ukuleles are good for fingerstyle solos and instrumentals. Baritone ukuleles being larger, sound more like a guitar. They are tuned like the first four strings of a guitar DGBE. This makes the transition easier for a guitarist in terms of both the size and the tuning. However, as it is not a common size, most song arrangements and tabs are written for the standard C-tuning and D-tuning.

So it is advisable for beginners to get a fairly decent quality ukulele that they can progress with. A reputable brand ukulele with all-solid premium wood like Hawaiian koa can cost up to thousands. Different woods on the ukulele produce a different sound. Mahogany-top ukuleles tend to sound more mellow and warm while spruce and cedar top ukuleles sound bright and loud. A common guitar and ukulele wood combination is to use Spruce for the top soundboard and Mahogany for the back and sides to give it more low-end bass.

Rosewood was commonly used for the back and sides as well as for the fingerboard but due to recent amendments to the CITES regulations, more manufacturers are switching to more sustainable wood sources. The action of the strings plays a big part in the playability of the ukulele. The action refers to the height between the top of the fret wire and the strings. The lower the action, the easier it is to play as not much pressure is required to press the strings. Fortunately, any intonation flaws I found were trivial.

I asked the testers to judge each uke based on the criteria that we consider most important for a beginning player:. After the testing was complete, I revealed the prices, which in some cases inspired the panelists to elevate a good, affordable uke over a slightly better but much costlier model.

Choosing a musical instrument is a matter of taste, and the tastes of our testers may not agree with yours. If you do, buy it and let us know about it in the comments section below.

Everyone said it offered a clear, full sound and had a fingerboard width that made it easy to play. Plus, it has the look and feel of a high-quality instrument. Although the panelists liked pretty much everything about the RU22C, they picked it mostly for its sound.

Despite its bigger-than-expected sound, the RU22C retains the clear, singing high-pitched tone for which the uke is loved. The RU22C sounds like a more costly instrument, and it feels like one, too. Its top, back, and sides are all made from solid mahogany. It has fully enclosed tuners that feel smoother and more precise than the open-geared tuners found on most affordable ukes.

The slotted bridge makes changing the strings easy—just tie a knot at one end of the string and slide it into the slot. The position markers along the side of the fingerboard let you easily see where to place your fingers, and the neck joins the body at the 14th fret, so hitting the high notes is easy, too. All of our panelists said the RU22C played beautifully everywhere on the neck, and no one noted any string buzzing. If you prefer the Alvarez ukulele in a different size, the same overall design is available at similar prices in soprano , tenor , and baritone sizes.

Or, if you prefer an instrument with a less traditional appearance, you can also get the RU22C in your choice of five Grateful Dead—inspired graphics. I played several of these models in stores, and they all played as well and sounded about the same as the RU22C sample we got. In fact, playing one of the Grateful Dead ukes is what inspired me to request an RU22C sample for our tests.

The only real downside of the RU22C is that it includes no accessories. Also, the concert size may be a little large for some elementary schoolers to handle. They might be better off with the soprano size the RU22S or with our soprano uke recommendation, from Luna, below. The DUC-1 has a slightly wider-than-usual fingerboard, which makes it easier for those with larger hands to fit three or four fingers on the fretboard for complex chords—in contrast, though, this design may make the DUC-1 a little harder to play for those with small hands.

Like the Alvarez RU22C, this uke has fully enclosed tuners, position markers along the side of the fingerboard, and a slotted bridge that lets you easily change strings. The body joins the neck at the 14th fret, which makes fingering high notes easier. It includes strap buttons on the bottom and on the heel of the neck, a feature rarely found on a concert uke. The panelists really liked the sound, which struck a nice balance between fullness and clarity.

Donner also has soprano and tenor versions. We discuss the DUS-1 soprano model in the Competition section. The downside of the DUC-1 is that it looks a little cheap.

The Luna Vintage Spruce Soprano is smaller than our other picks, making it a great choice for kids or for adults who like soprano ukes for their lilting, high-pitched sound or their portability—although some adults may find it uncomfortably small. This wood choice gives the Vintage Spruce Soprano a less traditional look and is probably the reason it sounds louder and brighter than most soprano ukes.

The Vintage Spruce Soprano does have a few minor downsides. Its bridge requires that the strings be wrapped around themselves, in the manner of a classical guitar, which makes restringing a little more difficult than it is with our other picks, which have slotted bridges. Even with the first sample, none of our panelists considered the action uncomfortable. We also tried another version of this uke, the Luna Tribal Soprano , which has a mahogany top with a laser-engraved pattern inspired by totems of the Pacific Islands.

It costs more than the Vintage Spruce Soprano and has a mellower sound. Functionally, the two ukes are quite similar, but the Harper Concert Acacia looks a lot nicer. Its body is made from deeply figured, beautifully finished woodgrain, and the body and fingerboard feature ivory-colored binding. It looks much more expensive than it is, likely the result of more precise, careful workmanship, with smoothly finished frets and no obvious compromises for the sake of cost.

The excellent factory setup makes it easy to play for beginners and experts, and the concert size suits kids and adults alike. It also includes a decent soft case, an electronic tuner, and a strap. The sound of the Harper Concert Acacia may be better or worse than that of our top pick, depending on your priorities. It comes with two strap knobs installed especially convenient when the ukulele club runs out of chairs , and the neck joins the body at the 14th fret to make fingering high notes easier.

Another advantage of the Harper Concert Acacia is that it includes what we think are the two most important accessories: a decent gig bag and an electronic clip-on tuner, neither of which come with our top pick. It also includes a strap and a few plastic picks, though most uke players use felt picks or no picks at all. This title by Marty Gross offers an affordable, accessible way to start strumming immediately. Working with a good instructor is generally the best path to learning an instrument, but considering that just one lesson typically costs half the price of a decent starter uke, a good book can be a practical and affordable way to get started—and to find out if you or your child or parent is really interested in playing music.