Oct 26 2006
A Ukulele Guitar
Jenny picked up a $50 (Canadian) ukulele guitar at O’Brien’s a couple weeks ago. She’s learning how to play guitar on it.
It has steel strings and sounds like a ukulele, but, depending on how it’s played, it can also sound like a banjo and a mandolin (to my untrained ear, that is). It’s a versatile instrument.
Last night I discovered how good 7th chords sound on it. Here’s a short sample of what it was like. It’s fun to just bang away at it and explore different strumming patterns.
I know what I want for Xmas now: a 6-string banjo.
That sounds pretty good, Phillip!
If you’re really interested in banjo, forget the 6-string banjo and get a 5-string open-back. That high string makes all the difference in the world. You’ll be playing real banjo tunes in a few weeks. I guarantee that you won’t regret it.
Don’t tempt me, John. There was a used 5-string banjo for sale at O’Brien’s in our price range…
(Elipsis = me seriously thinking about this.)
And thanks. I screwed up that recording. The equalizer settings on my cheap mixer were all turned down; most of the high twangy notes (i.e., the GOOD notes) got bled out. The full recording is 6 minutes long; I went nuts with it. The rhythm that comes out of those instruments — I love it.