The importance of dynamics

A couple of days ago I posted my first two videos on an Ohana TKG 70 guitalele. The first is Aguado's study in Am which is fairly simple and I played it slowly but I played it as it is written. Then, in take two, with a shift in accent, I recorded it with an emphasis on the melody. It became a different tune which just goes to show the importance of dynamics.

A few weeks ago I won the guitalele from Omega Music. Yes, won. How lucky is that, so thanks to Omega Music I now have a welcome addition to my ukuleles. This one plays like a guitar at the fifth fret and is the size of a tenor ukulele. Four of the six strings are exactly like a tenor (G,C,E and A) with an additional fifth and sixth strings (A and D) which makes it relative tuning exactly like a guitar - hence the name.

I now need to learn a whole new set of chord names. However it is easy to play classical pieces on the guitalele as long as you don't want them to be in their original key. This isn't a problem because most classical music is for solo guitar. Those extra two strings make me think I am playing guitar but all the notes have changed. I can play all my classical guitar music but the sound that is produced is five semitones higher.

I like ukuleles, in fact I prefer them to the classical guitar because they are easy to carry, easier to play, much cheaper than guitars, and mostly I prefer ukuleles because they are a social instrument. There are groups of like-minded ukulele players everywhere. In fact I am off later today to play in Sainsbury's in Lancaster. I don't think you'll find many guitar groups playing for charity this Christmas in your local supermarket.

Aloha