vihuela  

[VIHUELA] Re: 4c guitar and uke

Waling . Tiersma
Fri, 02 May 2008 01:05:56 -0700

Before I started building my 4 course guitar I adapted the small guitar of
my children (string-length 48 cm). (The instrument sounded quite well as a
modern guitar when tuned in A.) 2 strings less and evenly spaced in nut
and bridge. I tuned it to (low-)G C E a with nylon strings to start
practicing before the real instrument was finished.
I tried for instance a pavan by Mudarra and some easy pieces from Le Roy.

The sound and feel were totally different from the real instrument. (Like
a capo on a modern guitar en playing on the upper 4 strings). I didn't
know that at that time however, so I enjoyed it nonetheless.
So in my opiniion an adapted uke - or small guitar - is quite a pour
replacement of the real thing. The time and energy that I invested in
building the 4-course guitar was fare more effective....

Waling

P.S.
A bit off-topic, but some time ago I stumbled over this clip:
  http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=829401773913198414
While definitely not 'early music' in our interpretations it sure is old
music for many...


Op Do, mei 1, 2008 22:51 schreef Rob MacKillop:
> OK...I can't believe I'm asking this - it's for someone else, believe
> me...
>
> Does anyone play the 4-course guitar repertoire on a ukelele? If so, what
>  tuning, and what octave for the fourth course? Are double-course ukes
> available? Gut strings?
>
>




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