Seeking fingering advice for lefty playing right-handed ukulele

[casualmusic]

Cradle the neck of your uke in your right hand and just let your fingers dangle above the string.

See how your index finger is nearest to you and your pinky furthest? That’s how you finger:

1. Index finger uppermost and nearest
2. Pinky furthest and lowermost
3, Unless you have a really good reason to do otherwise, use the pinky last.

Print off a few pages of blank chord diagrams and fill in the blanks as you learn chords. Eventually it will be automatic. The “official” fingerings are suggestions, albeit pretty good ones for conventional players. Ring finger for C looks odd until you wrangle the C-F-G change a few hundred times. But at the end of the day you’re the one who has to finger it, so make whatever modifications work best for your fingers.

Yup. Good technique.

Lay the fret hand on the fretboard. The general idea is to use the fingers closest to the top and bottom of the chord chart layout.

Explained well in the video attached by Amie.

Cheers.

 

[casualmusic]

Right.

In fact, I have been learning to play piano, too, so I totally get it about having to be ambidextrous.

And you identified what I was hoping to get help with on this forum: "you do need to learn using the correct fingering".

I'm starting to get the impression that I represent such a tiny percentage of uke players that a tutorial doesn't exist.

I’m a lefty at sports, and play ukulele and guitar righty. Especially since right handed instruments are plentiful in music stores, and easy to borrow at parties. Am in my fifth year so discoveries and difficulties are fresh in my memory.

I understand your reasons for wanting to play reversed and upside down. Today I tried it (felt clumsy as expected) and have a few observations that may be useful to you before you decide to restring your ukulele. (I’ve included context ideas that are useful regardless)

A. Chord charts and fretboard layouts:

• These are easier and more intuitive to use if aligned to the lefty point of view. Redraw them or find pre-printed versions
• The nut should at the top of chord diagrams.
• In fretboard layouts, the nut should at the right. The strings closest to your knee (bass side) should be at the top of the layout. The strings closest to your chin (skinny treble side) should be on the bottom of the layout.
• Copy over the chord shapes using circles instead of dots. In B below we will decide fingers to use and then write reminders in the circles. (The chord layouts won’t change because we aren’t restringing)
• Draw the fretboard layout with the nut on the right. Copy over the note names so you won’t need to read them upside down

B. Fingers and thumb of the fret hand:

• This felt easy. In some cases fretting the chords felt better because the natural slope of the hand was a good match to the chord shape
• Follow the general ideas in Alex’s video
• In relaxed position assign one finger per fret. The index finger will be furthest from the sound hole and the pinky finger closest to the sound hole
• Maintain this general position as the fret hand shifts back and forth between positions nearer the nut and positions up towards the sound hole
  - (The concept of shifting is not relevant to beginners but is useful for intermediate skills. And reduces anxiety memorizing which finger where)
• For chords the general idea is to use the index and middle fingers for chords dots nearer the nut and the ring and pinky fingers on dots nearer the sound hole.
• Make exceptions as needed to be comfortable and to pre-position fingers for easier chord changes. For some chords it’s useful to know two versions
• Extend the fret arm out a generous distance and then more, so that it’s easy to wrap the hand way around and press vertically with fingers.
• If the hand is not far around the fingers will be flat instead of vertical using fingertips. This bad habit will tend to muffle adjacent strings and make poor sound. I liken this to artificially shortening the fingers.
• The thumb should float around the back of the neck diagonally opposite from active fingers for decent leverage
• Don’t support the neck in the crotch of the fret hand because it immobilizes the hand and impairs fretting fluidity. Use a neck strap so the hand and thumb can move easily as needed.
• When I started, callouses in the first months indicated fretting at the spot between the finger pads and fingertips. With practice and attention the callouses shifted to fingertips where they belong.
• Learn barred chords early and don’t leave them as lingering items to be tackled later
• Use the bony edge of the index finger for the barre part of barred chords.
• It’s good practice to pre-position the fingers for common chord changes.
• Example: to easily shift between C and C7 chords put the index finger at fret 1 and the ring finger at fret 3. You will hear C with the ring finger down at fret 3, and will hear C7 with the ring finger lifted to expose the index finger at fret 1.
• There are other combinations that work by shifting one finger, or by shifting the pattern side to side or up and down. Pattern recognition is your friend.
• My recommendation is to learn chords when you need they for a song and not all at once.
• And memorize chord families I, IV, V) for the most commonly used keys C, A, G, D as you encounter them in songs.
• It’s a good idea to learn a bunch of songs the same key to get familiar with that chord family before moving on to learn songs in the next keys.
• Knowing the chords and chord patterns in a key will let you look forwards instead at scrambling to catch up. Similar to driving a car by looking ahead at the target instead of looking down at the hood, steering wheel and pedals.
• key of C: C, d-minor, e-minor, F, G, a-minor
• key of D: D, e-minor, f#-minor, G, A, b-minor
• key of G: G, a-minor, b-minor, C, D, e-minor
• key of A: A, b-minor, c#-minor7, D, E, f#-minor

C. Strumming and picking hand:

• Contrary to playing righty, I found it more intuitive to use the bass guitarist technique of plucking with upstrokes using fingertips instead of playing down strokes using the thumb
• Pluck strings using the curled finger gesture used to beckon someone
• (While playing righty I’ll sometimes up pick entire songs just for fun and variety. Especially playing with a flat pick and chicken picking with the ring finger)
• Upstroke is especially comfortable for plucking bass lines.
• I would start by doubling up side by side the pink and ring fingers or the ring finger and middle finger. Doubling feels secure and builds confidence
• Later after I got some experience I would experiment with using single fingers and which finger when.
• I found it comfortable to play chords by up plucking the bass notes and down stroking (flicking) the trebles with the back of finger nails. Easiest was flicking multiple nails in parallel instead of single nails.
• Later when playing finger picking patterns I’d expect to up pluck the bass line. For the treble parts of the pattern it looks like I’d use fingers to up pluck and down flick notes
• The left hand thumb was awkward to use. I’m guessing it might sometimes be used to anchor the hand to the soundboard similar to the pinky when playing righty.
• I learned to play the C scale early. This helped a lot with finger flexibility and fluidity. (I need to learn other common scales)

D. Timing and rhythm:

• The foundation of coordinated music is rhythm.
• It’s a best practice to work on timing and rhythm soon after you grasp the basics.
• It’s frustrating and humiliating to retrofit your emerging skills to fit into a consistent rhythm.
• Timing needs to be as constant and reliable and background as windshield wipers
• My preference was to learn rhythm by playing along in weekly sessions led by steady experienced song leaders. Got good enough after a few months.
• Second choice was to practice with the drum function on my portable amplifier. This is nice because most patterns include one or two hard beats per bar so I don’t get lost. There is a choice of speeds and genres.
• I’m ashamed to say that I did not learn to use a metronome and I easily get lost. Learning to use a metronome is on my to do list.
• A good method is to sing the chord names instead of lyrics to stay in context but avoid getting distracted by words

E. Coordinating playing and singing:

• My method YMMV
• Choir masters taught me to start by listening to the song a few times to get a solid feel for the ebb and flow
• I try out the song rhythms, the playing and the singing to get an approx fit
• Then practice starting with chorus followed by verses
• I practise by just playing a simplified version (without fancy colour chords, passing chords, and riffs). I hum or sing the chord names to solidify the pattern without getting distracted by lyrics
• Then add the lyrics line by line. It’s important to fit the words into the rhythm pattern. And respect the long notes, short notes, and rests.
• Practice to get the basic framework solid and tight in the fingers and back brain.
• Lastly, I add back a few fancy chords, fills, trills, riffs, and variations (often improv on the fly) if it suits the arrangement and can be remembered.

F. Building skills and adjusting techniques:

• There will, of course, be a series of learning curves and plateaus
• Beginners are expected and entitled to start out feeling clumsy and making horrible sounds. Don’t obsess about imperfections.
• Concentrate on learning and practicing good technique.
• Muscle memory will slowly build finger skills. Your ears will coach you in which micro adjustments result in good sounds.
• I learned faster by struggling to keep up at weekly song sessions with good players, and working out troublesome details at home
• Coaching sessions with savvy players and teachers can identify items and techniques for improvement

G. Learner ukulele:

• My opinion (y’all don’t hate me) is that it’s easiest to learn basic fretting with a tenor size (or perhaps a concert) which has enough space to wiggle the fretting fingers about without scrunching fingertips.
• Some folks find it more comfortable to point the head of longer necks towards the fret side knee instead of to the side.
• Don’t be tempted to start with a snuggly soprano to cover up imprecise fretting arm, hand, finger placement
• Later, after becoming comfortable with fretting chords, would be the time to decide on your long term preferred size.
• Inspection and adjustment for comfortable string height (not too high or too low) at the 1st fret and 12th fret facilitates learning.

Best regards.

 

[Elderly_Beginner]

I can't believe that there is nothing out there to help you. That seems exceedingly unlikely. The fact that it's hard to find, though, doesn't necessarily surprise me. Hmm. I also can't believe that there's no one here on UU who's at least tried what you're speaking of.

Here are some experiences from the forum that I found via google:

Leftie Child: Teach Right-Handed or Flip the Uke & Play Upside Down?

I'm left-handed but learned to play guitar and violin at 10 years old right-handed and always felt it was an advantage since I had my most dexterous hand on the fingerboard. And fingerboard technique is by far the most demanding in terms of technique. I found the strumming and picking hand...

forum.ukuleleunderground.com

Leftie Child: Teach Right-Handed or Flip the Uke & Play Upside Down?

I'm left-handed but learned to play guitar and violin at 10 years old right-handed and always felt it was an advantage since I had my most dexterous hand on the fingerboard. And fingerboard technique is by far the most demanding in terms of technique. I found the strumming and picking hand...

forum.ukuleleunderground.com

Leftie Child: Teach Right-Handed or Flip the Uke & Play Upside Down?

So, a young boy I'm teaching is a leftie with a rightie uke. The boy's brother is right-handed & I'm teaching them both at the same time. I'm putting stickers on their ukes to help them find the "starter chords" like C, F, G7 and G. (Obviously, we start with one chord & build from there.)...

forum.ukuleleunderground.com

Regarding fingering - my music teacher actually is pretty flexible about what fingering you make for chord shapes, to a point, depending on where you're coming from and what you need next. I think there's nothing wrong at all with figuring out fingering that works for you and that allows you smooth, musical transitions. How did people learn to play an instrument before the internet if they had no one to show them? They figured it out. I don't think that's a bad approach. The important things about fretting is don't hold it in a death grip, try to get close to the fret so it's less chance of buzzy, and be relaxed. Check out these finger independence exercises, they'd apply just fine to you, too:



And Alex from the Southern Ukulele Store that people mentioned, I think this is his site: https://www.alexbeds.co.uk/ukulele

ploverwing, thanks for the reply!

I'll check out all of the links that you recommend.

I suspect you are right, that the info I need is out there somewhere, but challenging to find. I have tried various search terms but keep ending up with subtopics for other aspects of upsidedown playing.

Thanks for the advice about finding my own way. Probably, I just need to be patient and figure it out for myself.

And, thanks for the grip advice. I appreciate it!

 

[Elderly_Beginner]

I’m a lefty at sports, and play ukulele and guitar righty. Especially since right handed instruments are plentiful and easy to borrow at parties. Am in my fifth year so discoveries and difficulties are fresh in my memory.

I understand your reasons for wanting to play reversed and upside down. Today I tried it (felt clumsy as expected) and have a few observations that may be useful to you before you decide to restring your ukulele. (I’ve included context ideas that are useful regardless)

A. Chord charts and fretboard layouts:

• These are easier and more intuitive to use if aligned to the lefty point of view. Redraw them or find pre-printed versions
• The nut should at the top of chord diagrams.
• In fretboard layouts, the nut should at the right. The strings closest to your knee (bass side) should be at the top of the layout. The strings closest to your chin (skinny treble side) should be on the bottom of the layout.
• Copy over the chord shapes using circles instead of dots. In B below we will decide fingers to use and then write reminders in the circles. (The chord layouts won’t change because we aren’t restringing)
• Draw the fretboard layout with the nut on the right. Copy over the note names so you won’t need to read them upside down

B. Fingers of the fret hand:

• This felt easy. In some cases fretting the chords felt better because the natural slope of the hand was a good match to the chord shape
• Follow the general ideas in Alex’s video
• In relaxed position assign one finger per fret. The index finger will be furthest from the sound hole and the pinky finger closest to the sound hole
• Maintain this general position as the fret hand shifts back and forth between positions nearer the nut and positions up towards the sound hole
  - (The concept of shifting is not relevant to beginners but is useful for intermediate skills. And reduces anxiety memorizing which finger where)
• For chords the general idea is to use the index and middle fingers for chords dots nearer the nut and the ring and pinky fingers on dots nearer the sound hole.
• Make exceptions as needed to be comfortable and to pre-position fingers for easier chord changes. For some chords it’s useful to know two versions
• Learn barred chords early and don’t leave them as lingering items to be tackled later
• Use the bony edge of the index finger for the barre part of barred chords.
• It’s good practice to pre-position the fingers for common chord changes.
• Example: to easily shift between C and C7 chords put the index finger at fret 1 and the ring finger at fret 3. You will hear C with the ring finger down, and will hear C7 with the ring finger lifted to expose the index finger at fret 1.
• There are other combinations that work by shifting one finger, or by shifting the pattern side to side or up and down. Pattern recognition is your friend.
• My recommendation is to learn chords when you need they for a song and not all at once.
• And memorize chord families I, IV, V) for the most commonly used keys C, A, G, D as you encounter them in songs.

C. Strumming and picking hand:

• Contrary to playing righty, I found it more intuitive to use the bass guitarist technique of plucking with upstrokes using fingertips instead of playing down strokes using the thumb
• Pluck strings using the curled finger gesture used to beckon someone
• (While playing righty I’ll sometimes up pick entire songs just for fun and variety. Especially playing with a flat pick and chicken picking with the ring finger)
• Upstroke is especially comfortable for plucking bass lines.
• I would start by doubling up side by side the pink and ring fingers or the ring finger and middle finger. Doubling feels secure and builds confidence
• Later after I got some experience I would experiment with using single fingers and which finger when.
• I found it comfortable to play chords by up plucking the bass notes and down stroking (flicking) the trebles with the back of finger nails. Easiest was using multiple nails instead of single nails.
• Later when playing finger picking patterns I’d expect to up pluck the bass line. For the treble parts of the pattern it looks like I’d use fingers to up pluck and down flick notes
• The left hand thumb was awkward to use. I’m guessing it might sometimes be used to anchor the hand to the soundboard similar to the pinky when playing righty.
• I learned to play the C scale early. This helped a lot with finger flexibility and fluidity. (I need to learn other common scales)

D. Timing and rhythm:

• The foundation of coordinated music is rhythm.
• It’s a best practice to work on timing and rhythm soon after you grasp the basics.
• It’s frustrating and humiliating to retrofit emerging skills to fit into steady clockwork.
• My preference was to learn rhythm by playing along in sessions led by steady experienced song leaders. Got good enough after a few months.
• Second choice was to practice with the drum function on my portable amplifier. This is nice because most patterns include one or two hard beats per bar so I don’t get lost. There is a choice of speeds and genres.
• I’m ashamed to say that I did not learn to use a metronome and I easily get lost. Learning to use a metronome is on my to do list.
• A good method is to sing the chord names instead of lyrics to stay in context but avoid getting distracted by words

E. Coordinating playing and singing:

• My method YMMV
• Choir masters taught me to start by listening to the song a few times to get a solid feel for the ebb and flow
• I try out the song rhythms, the playing and the singing to get an approx fit
• Then practice starting with chorus followed by verses
• I practise by just playing a simplified version (without fancy colour chords, passing chords, and riffs). I hum or sing the chord names to solidify the pattern without getting distracted by lyrics
• Then add the lyrics line by line. It’s important to fit the words into the rhythm pattern. And respect the long notes, short notes, and rests.
• Practice to get the basic framework solid and tight in the fingers and back brain.
• Lastly, I add back a few fancy chords, fills, trills, riffs, and variations (often improv on the fly) if it suits the arrangement and can be remembered.

F. Building skills and adjusting techniques:

• There will, of course, be a series of learning curves and plateaus
• Beginners are expected and entitled to start out feeling clumsy and making horrible sounds. Don’t obsess about imperfections.
• Concentrate on learning and practicing good technique.
• Muscle memory will slowly build finger skills. Your ears will coach you in which micro adjustments result in good sounds.
• I learned faster by struggling to keep up at weekly song sessions with good players, and working out troublesome details at home
• Coaching sessions with savvy players and teachers can identify items and techniques for improvement

Best regards.

Wow, that's a super helpful write-up! Thank you so much, casualmusic!!

I will file your notes and refer to them over time as I pursue this journey.

While I had tried with my initial post to avoid getting into extraneous background information that might waste y'all's time, after this many posts on this thread I feel that I owe it to you all to explain my overall approach a bit more.

I started out with the goal of learning to play righty, for reasons that are perfectly obvious to all of you.

As of now, I have a completely open mind with respect to playing upsidedown vs restrung, but I actually don't own a uke yet. I have been using a loaner from a friend, a righty instrument, of course.

I don't feel that I have experimented enough yet to choose between upsidedown vs restringing. Playing upside down seems like a reasonable '2nd configuration' to try before attempting restringing or acquiring a lefty instrument. I've been influenced a bit by a former housemate who was a very good upsidedown guitar player and happy with the upsidedown approach.

If I end up choosing to buy a lefty instrument, I don't mind the idea of the relearning involved. After all, there isn't much learning to relearn so far, ha, ha.

Thanks again to all of you for your kind help and encouragement!

Kind Regards,
Ralph

 

[casualmusic]

Wow, that's a super helpful write-up! Thank you so much, casualmusic!!

I will file your notes and refer to them over time as I pursue this journey.

Hi Ralph

It was fun to try the upside down idea.

And it was interesting to make a target list of what I learned as a novice.

PS: added a few items about fret hand position.

 

[Elderly_Beginner]

Hi Ralph

It was fun to try the upside down idea.

And it was interesting to make a target list of what I learned as a novice.

PS: added a few items about fret hand position.

It's great to hear that I haven't been too much of a burden, asking my question(s).

Thanks for the update! I have updated my 'Casualmusic Uke Technique' file.

 

[Aspencreek]

Hey Elderly, I also was somewhat forced to play lefty due to hand issues. Started playing right-handed for a few months but pain in my left hand when fretting was too much so I switched to lefty. That solved the pain issue but I did have to consider whether to just turn the uke upside and/or restring it. Almost immediately decided to restring it as learning an instrument is difficult enough without the added complexity of upside-down chords/shapes and having to work out how exactly to fret them all. It's bad enough mirrored, too much for my brain to try upside down too.

The other issue is the strumming - with the uke upside down are you going to strum reversed also? Meaning up for down strums and vice versa? It may be a small thing and not always discernable, but sometimes it will be an issue and to get a song to sound right or match up with an instructor, etc. When I thought about adding that in to the mix also that sealed it for me to just restring. The restring itself takes only 10 or 20 minutes (quicker the more you do it) so unless there is a truly compelling reason to not do it (like owning a Uke store and needing to be able to demo/play righty ukes lefty without restringing them all), I'd bite the bullet and reverse the strings.

 

[Elderly_Beginner]

Hey Elderly, I also was somewhat forced to play lefty due to hand issues. Started playing right-handed for a few months but pain in my left hand when fretting was too much so I switched to lefty. That solved the pain issue but I did have to consider whether to just turn the uke upside and/or restring it. Almost immediately decided to restring it as learning an instrument is difficult enough without the added complexity of upside-down chords/shapes and having to work out how exactly to fret them all. It's bad enough mirrored, too much for my brain to try upside down too.

The other issue is the strumming - with the uke upside down are you going to strum reversed also? Meaning up for down strums and vice versa? It may be a small thing and not always discernable, but sometimes it will be an issue and to get a song to sound right or match up with an instructor, etc. When I thought about adding that in to the mix also that sealed it for me to just restring. The restring itself takes only 10 or 20 minutes (quicker the more you do it) so unless there is a truly compelling reason to not do it (like owning a Uke store and needing to be able to demo/play righty ukes lefty without restringing them all), I'd bite the bullet and reverse the strings.

Hi Aspencreek -

Thanks for the reply!

Somehow, I don't find it confusing to read a normal (righty) tab chart. I adapted to that within 5-10 minutes. I don't pretend to be musically talented (I'm not), but that particular task (reversing the tabs mentally) comes easy for me.

At the moment, I am open-minded with respect to playing upsidedown vs restringing. There are tradeoffs, right? For the time being, I'm giving the upsidedown approach a try, although I am open to restringing later. In fact, I might try both upsidedown and restringing over the coming weeks.

One thing I am not sure of is whether the right-handed ukuleles are all restringable. I have read about problems with restringing guitars: asymmetrical saddles; nut is front to back; intonation affected; some guitars have assymetrical bracing to accommodate thicker, lower strings. What I do not know, because I am fairly ignorant, is whether such restrictions exist in the ukulele world or whether it is safe to assume that I could restring any uke. Because restringing seems to involve technical concerns that I'm ignorant of, I have opted for upsidedown as my #2 experiment (playing righty was #1). The reason 'restringability' is important, of course, is whether it limits my choices once I move beyond the Concert loaner that I am using and buy a uke.

Btw, I have not mentioned this before, but when I buy a uke it will probably be a Baritone. The selection of Baritones ukes is rather limited, as you know, and I would prefer not to limit it further due to lefty considerations such as trying to find a lefty Baritone. As I said, though, perhaps I could assume that any righty Baritone could be restrung.

Yes, I am planning to strum reversed.

Over the past day, I have managed to fumble through these chords upsidedown: C, A minor, F, G, and E7. G, which was giving me fits playing righty, seems noticeably easier upside down than right-handed, although E7 is harder upsidedown.

Thanks again for the advice. You have given me a lot to think about.

Ralph

 

[ploverwing]

This has been an excellent discussion about many considerations to account for when thinking about alternative approaches to the standard. Loving it!

 

[jimavery]

There are a few compromises worth mentioning about playing a right-handed uke upside down regardless of whether you restring it lefty too. Things that can end up not where you want them are...
Sound port
Preamp controls and electronic tuner
Cutout
1/4" instrument lead jack

So for the most part we left handers are restricted either to symmetrical instruments, or ones made to be left-handed. I generally play left-handed so any of my ukes I want to plug in, I have a passive pickup fitted, with the 1/4" lead socket-cum-strap-pin installed centrally, and use an external preamp and tuner pedal.

 

[Elderly_Beginner]

There are a few compromises worth mentioning about playing a right-handed uke upside down regardless of whether you restring it lefty too. Things that can end up not where you want them are...
Sound port
Preamp controls and electronic tuner
Cutout
1/4" instrument lead jack

So for the most part we left handers are restricted either to symmetrical instruments, or ones made to be left-handed. I generally play left-handed so any of my ukes I want to plug in, I have a passive pickup fitted, with the 1/4" lead socket-cum-strap-pin installed centrally, and use an external preamp and tuner pedal.

jimavery, you brought up some excellent considerations that I had not thought of. Thanks!

 

[Elderly_Beginner]

There are a few compromises worth mentioning about playing a right-handed uke upside down regardless of whether you restring it lefty too. Things that can end up not where you want them are...
Sound port
Preamp controls and electronic tuner
Cutout
1/4" instrument lead jack

So for the most part we left handers are restricted either to symmetrical instruments, or ones made to be left-handed. I generally play left-handed so any of my ukes I want to plug in, I have a passive pickup fitted, with the 1/4" lead socket-cum-strap-pin installed centrally, and use an external preamp and tuner pedal.

jimavery, you've convinced me to plan to buy a lefty uke.

 

[Elderly_Beginner]

For lefty Baritone ukes, here's what I have found that are under $200:

• Batking Blackwood Acoustic Electric
• Caramel CB500L Rosewood (I found a used price of $123. I'm having difficulty finding the CB500L for sale new or used.
• Oscar Schmidt OU52LH Mahogany

Do you know of any other inexpensive models that I missed?

The other lefty Baritones that I found are over $400.

Thanks!

 

[jimavery]

No, unfortunately Ortega who have (I reckon) the best selection of good value and well made left-handed models don't have a left-handed baritone. They do extend to the other end of the size spectrum with their keiki sopranino though. I hope they're reading this thread!

 

[casualmusic]

Hi Ralph

I’d ignore electronic pickups at this time because they are easy to install if you want one later. I’ve done it for ukulele buddies.

Ukuleles where the plastic bridge is square and not sloped to the side are simple to restring from righty to lefty, and then back when needed. This expands the sparse options available to lefty players. The narrowest string slots can be widened with a nail file or guitar tech slot file. Or ask the local store or online store to do it. (The bridge is where strings cross before tying to the saddle near the strumming hand).

Approx 90% of tone quality depends on the material and design of the top. My opinion is that solid spruce or cedar produce the nicest sound (sweet, full and loud notes) because these materials are lightweight and stiff. Ukulele maker design and assembly skill is, as expected, important.

Many used ukuleles can be restrung as lefty.

If you can move up to the $300 new range there is a good selection of intermediate grade ukuleles that will save you from wanting to upgrade soon. Expect a solid wood top, and laminated back and sides. The next plateau is the $500 range for sold wood top, back and sides.

I started with a very nice $300 Kala cedar top baritone that improved as it aged and still fulfils my needs five years later. There are other nice brands such as Ohana, Cordoba, etc.

It handy to browse the ukulele reviews at gotaukulele.com to get the gist of what is easily available.

Ask and forum members will add their favourites brands and vendors.

I got mine at a local music store after trying a variety of options. I’m definitely old school because we have good local selection, and it’s simple to get service and special orders.

Here is a sample. Mine is the predecessor to the KA-SCAC-B. It would be easy to restring to lefty.

Solid Top Ukulele – Kala Brand Music Co.™

The most crucial component to an instrument’s tone is the top of the instrument known as the soundboard. The top of the instrument vibrates along with the strings to create greater projection that also shapes the tone. At Kala, we have a robust selection of tonewood options that satisfy a huge...

kalabrand.com

Cheers.

 

[Elderly_Beginner]

Hi Ralph

I’d ignore electronic pickups at this time because they are easy to install if you want one later. I’ve done it for ukulele buddies.

Ukuleles where the plastic bridge is square and not sloped to the side are simple to restring from righty to lefty, and then back when needed. This expands the sparse options available to lefty players. The narrowest string slots can be widened with a nail file or guitar tech slot file. Or ask the local store or online store to do it. (The bridge is where strings cross before tying to the saddle near the strumming hand).

Approx 90% of tone quality depends on the material and design of the top. My opinion is that solid spruce or cedar produce the nicest sound (sweet, full and loud notes) because these materials are lightweight and stiff. Ukulele maker design and assembly skill is, as expected, important.

Many used ukuleles can be restrung as lefty.

If you can move up to the $300 new range there is a good selection of intermediate grade ukuleles that will save you from wanting to upgrade soon. Expect a solid wood top, and laminated back and sides. The next plateau is the $500 range for sold wood top, back and sides.

I started with a very nice $300 Kala cedar top baritone that improved as it aged and still fulfils my needs five years later. There are other nice brands such as Ohana, Cordoba, etc.

It handy to browse the ukulele reviews at gotaukulele.com to get the gist of what is easily available.

Ask and forum members will add their favourites brands and vendors.

I got mine at a local music store after trying a variety of options. I’m definitely old school because we have good local selection, and it’s simple to get service and special orders.

Here is a sample. Mine is the predecessor to the KA-SCAC-B. It would be easy to restring to lefty.

Solid Top Ukulele – Kala Brand Music Co.™

The most crucial component to an instrument’s tone is the top of the instrument known as the soundboard. The top of the instrument vibrates along with the strings to create greater projection that also shapes the tone. At Kala, we have a robust selection of tonewood options that satisfy a huge...

kalabrand.com

Cheers.

casualmusic, thanks (yet again!) for a very helpful reply, and especially the recommendation of the KA-SCAC-B.

It appears that there are 2-3 Kala dealers within a 20 minute drive, so I'll pay a visit.

 

[casualmusic]

Kala KA-ABP-CTG Baritone Ukulele - REVIEW

Got A Ukulele looks at a new baritone ukulele from Kala, the KA-ABP-CTG

www.gotaukulele.com

 

[Elderly_Beginner]

Kala KA-ABP-CTG Baritone Ukulele - REVIEW

Got A Ukulele looks at a new baritone ukulele from Kala, the KA-ABP-CTG

www.gotaukulele.com

Thanks, casualmusic, I'll read through that material.

 

[casualmusic]

Lefty player demo; upside down with up strums:

 

[Elderly_Beginner]

Lefty player demo; upside down with up strums:

Thanks, casualmusic!