Hi everyone! I am a banjo and mandolin player with a little guitar and baritone ukulele playing. As I am getting older and hands are stiffer, with some hand arthritis, thinking it might be a good time to explore nylon stringed ukes. I play a lot of melodic and fiddle tunes on banjo and mandolin. I am interested in stringing my soprano uke in fifths, GDAE, like my mandolin. I really enjoy the Banjo Hangout and Mandolin Cafe for learning new things and am hoping to have a similar experience here. Thank you for letting me join! Kimberly
Hello from Wisconsin
- Thread starter Pilot23
- Start date
I have just done a quick & dirty test drive of fifths tuning on my soprano and I love it! I basically tuned to mandola (CGDA) tuning just to try without new strings (my sopranos are tuned with low G to start with, so I basically kept the A the same, the E became D, the C became G, and the G became, well, not quite an octave below middle C... it was pretty flubby). I love playing it in fifths so much that I've ordered the Aquila fifths New Nylgut 30U for mandolin tuning, and I'm very tempted to order a 5 course instrument tuned CGDAE from Tukanu (David Hanson of Cripple Creek Mandolins / Hanson Ukuleles)! I will be picking up the Aquila fifths strings on Monday and restringing my Ohana with them. I'll let you know!
Jan D
Well-known member
Welcome to the UU Forum, Kimberly! You’ll find lots of friendly, helpful people here, along with heaps of useful information to assist you on your ukulele journey. The folks here love questions, so jump right in. 
Tin Ear
Well-known member
Hi Kimberly
I am in Wisconsin too.
I am in Wisconsin too.
stevejfc
Well-known member
Welcome Pilot23!
frets alot
Well-known member
Welcome Pilot23! I'm your neighbor to the east, Michigan.
So cool on the fifths. I put the 30U strings on my Kala soprano and was surprised how good it sounds in that tuning! Please share your experience with them and that 5 string instrument will be very interesting.
I will definitely share my thoughts on the 30Us when I get a chance to let them settle in etc. Once I've had a chance to play a bit more in this tuning, I'll see if it's something I want to invest in long term (I suspect so) and will definitely post if/when I order another instrument from David.
The one thing I will say about playing Irish fiddle tunes on an ukulele is that without a plectrum / pick it's definitely a different experience!! One of the reasons I don't play mandolin any longer is I just can't tolerate using a pick, it's too hard on an old tendon injury at the base of my right hand thumb. BUT I am looking forward to hauling out some of my classical violin music and seeing what I can do with it on the ukulele.
Hi Kimberly, welcome to the UU Forum from another Wisconsinite. Your explorations with alternate tunings are very cool. I hope you'll post some samples when you get things worked out.
Have fun!
Have fun!
Ms Bean
Well-known member
Welcome to UU, Kimberly!
I've noticed an increased interest in fifths tuning on the uke and I'll be doing my own experiment with CGDA tuning soon. I was thinking of a wound baritone string for the C, a low G string, normal E string tuned down a step and normal A string. I'm looking forward to hearing any sound samples or demonstrations from our UU members. I wish you lots of joy playing in fifths.
I've noticed an increased interest in fifths tuning on the uke and I'll be doing my own experiment with CGDA tuning soon. I was thinking of a wound baritone string for the C, a low G string, normal E string tuned down a step and normal A string. I'm looking forward to hearing any sound samples or demonstrations from our UU members. I wish you lots of joy playing in fifths.
I'm curious what the difference between a down-tuned E vs an up-tuned C would be like. I'm going to have to try both and see which I like better.
