Here’s a real clean example by Pomaika‘i Keawe rocking the six-string with an ace backup band. It’s a bold sounding tenor uke that’s great for rhythm playing and is well known for its use accompanying hula ʻauana. in 1959 to commemorate the Statehood of Hawaiʻi and our last Queen, Liliʻuokalani. The 6-string ukulele – also known as the “liliʻu” – was pioneered by Sam Kamaka Jr. The tight string spacing makes it very hard to pick them separately. So if you’re excited about a 5-string ukulele because it will let you play solo fingerpicking arrangements with the low-G and also campanella style with a high-g, you’ll be disappointed. If you are supposed to pluck the C-string, you pick both the C-strings in the doubled course. Since courses are considered the same string, they aren’t meant to be played separately. But since the A-string is tuned in a course, I have to actually press down both the bottom strings that make up the double course. All that’s different from a four string uke is that there are two strings you need to hold down instead of one.įor instance, if I want to play a C chord on an 8-string ukulele, I still need to press down the 3rd fret of the A-string. This gives more fullness to the sound and an excellent right hand strumming smoothness. The hardest thing to comprehend about courses is how they are played. This six string tenor ukulele is played just like the four but with an octave doubled higher on the C string and the lower octave for the A string. A course is tuned either to the same pitch or an octave apart. A “course” is when two strings share a tight spacing and are played together as one.

Something all three of these ukulele tunings have in common are strings paired together. This guide on tuning Liliʻu (6-strings), 8-string, and 5-string ukuleles will help you make sure you’ve got it right. More strings take more time to tune and, for a beginner, even knowing WHAT note to tune each string to is a real challenge. have been on your uke for more than six months and youre having tuning issues. They can achieve a more full, jangle-y sound than a standard uke because of their additional strings.īut for all the benefits, one of the biggest drawbacks of these instruments is the challenge of tuning. Tune the uke up to pitch Stretch the first string by grabbing it in the.

Five, six, and eight-string ukuleles have a beautiful chime-y sound.

Six string uke tuner