Cliff Edwards ukulele tuning - the definitive answer!

[Jan Haasler]

Wonderful hint you brought up here.
I did not know that Cliff Edwards used that tuning/stringing bit now it seems clear when listening to some of his recordings.
I use that tuning as well for some tunes/songs. I was inspired by Daniel Ward when he demonstrated a g-c-e-low a tuning to mix it with low g.

I use a Brüko (longneck) soprano for that tuning and try to feature it for a song in my live Sets.





Here it is the second Song using that tuning live for a german (rearranged Version) of "Home"...


I like how you get the Illusion of a low tuned ukulele without being lower than low g strung.
And also campanella approaches work quite nicely.

 

[Ondrej]

Wonderful hint you brought up here.

I did not know that Cliff Edwards used that tuning/stringing bit now it seems clear when listening to some of his recordings.
I use that tuning as well for some tunes/songs. I was inspired by Daniel Ward when he demonstrated a g-c-e-low a tuning to mix it with low g.

I use a Brüko (longneck) soprano for that tuning and try to feature it for a song in my live Sets.





Here it is the second Song using that tuning live for a german (rearranged Version) of "Home"...


I like how you get the Illusion of a low tuned ukulele without being lower than low g strung.
And also campanella approaches work quite nicely.

Nice. What strings did you use? From what company?

 

[Jan Haasler]

Hello th

Wonderful hint you brought up here.


Nice. What strings did you use? From what company?

Hello there,

I use a low g string for the low a as well.
Mostly Aquila low g (wound) Tenor strings or D'addario D string (classical guitar) or similar.
I prefer wound strings for lower string pitches.

Best regards
Jan

 

[Ondrej]

Hello th
Hello there,

I use a low g string for the low a as well.
Mostly Aquila low g (wound) Tenor strings or D'addario D string (classical guitar) or similar.
I prefer wound strings for lower string pitches.

Best regards
Jan

Thank you for answer. I haven't tried the wound strings yet. So far I've only tried the no-wound strings ones, but I've been satisfied. (See my videos in this thread.)​

Ondrej​

 

[roastbeast]

Hello th
Hello there,

I use a low g string for the low a as well.
Mostly Aquila low g (wound) Tenor strings or D'addario D string (classical guitar) or similar.
I prefer wound strings for lower string pitches.

Best regards
Jan

How does the low A tuning affect playing songs you would normally play on linear low G given that A is used for melody?

 

[Jan Haasler]

How does the low A tuning affect playing songs you would normally play on linear low G given that A is used for melody?

Hello and thank you for reaching out. It is an interesting issue I think.
While both, a and g are one octave lower I also can play campanella style and the meoldy(ies) sound just "lower". On the other hand when focussing playing melodies on a and e string there is always an octave jump when playing "normally" but that is okay I think.
Here is a clip to get an impression:


(riffing some of my original ukulele tunes here to demo the low g low a tuning)

Comparison for the 1st piece "Fiddle Uke tune":


An other demo of the low g low a tuning in a swing jam:


I hope that helps a bit. In the end I encourage yout o experiment on your own. Who knows what you find out and what you come up with then.
Have fun
Jan

 

[roastbeast]

Hello and thank you for reaching out. It is an interesting issue I think.
While both, a and g are one octave lower I also can play campanella style and the meoldy(ies) sound just "lower". On the other hand when focussing playing melodies on a and e string there is always an octave jump when playing "normally" but that is okay I think.
Here is a clip to get an impression:


(riffing some of my original ukulele tunes here to demo the low g low a tuning)

Comparison for the 1st piece "Fiddle Uke tune":


An other demo of the low g low a tuning in a swing jam:


I hope that helps a bit. In the end I encourage yout o experiment on your own. Who knows what you find out and what you come up with then.
Have fun
Jan

Thanks for sharing Jan. Certainly mellows out the tune. I can see how low G low A returns a low G uke closer to re-entrant in the way that G and A are closer in pitch again for campenella.

 

[Ondrej]

How does the low A tuning affect playing songs you would normally play on linear low G given that A is used for melody?

And there is also the possibility that you play the melody on the E string. And you play the accompaniment on the A string (and the other strings).



And the campanella style is good too. It can shift to low strings.

 

[roastbeast]

Nice!