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Old 08-17-2015, 02:43 PM
merlin666 merlin666 is offline
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Default best way to hold an ukulele

I have been enjoying playing tenor uke for about a year now, and I hold it as I would a guitar when seated: depending on mood on my left or right leg with my right strumming/picking arm resting on the body to give it some stability. When I stand I tend to tuck it in a bit with my right arm as I don't use a strap. So where's the problem: when I hold it away from my body and I don't touch it with my right arm and I strum it there is a substantial improvement and sound and volume! I.e. my right arm really substantially dampens the output. I think some guitar players are concerned about this and use armrests, though with the guitar it never really bothered me. But with the ukulele it makes such a big difference. Now I am wondering if it's just me and I have some bad habits that can be fixed. So if there is some way to hold the ukulele stable and not lose 45% of its sound please let me know.
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Old 08-17-2015, 06:50 PM
syrynx syrynx is offline
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It's not just you; the vibration damping is a real phenomenon, and there's no single way of coping with it. I reckon each of us just has to solve the problem in whatever way works best for us. In many instances, that seems to mean tolerating the damping. Some examples:

Taimane Gardner, standing, with a strap...



Jake Shimabukuro, both seated and standing, no strap; note that when seated, he tilts the ukulele body like some acoustic archtop guitarists do, to reduce damping the instrument's body with his...



Ledward Kaapana, standing, with strap...



The late John King, seated, no strap, and James Hill, seated, with strap; again, note the tilt of Hill's instrument...



Ohta-San & Herb Ohta, Jr., both seated, neither with straps...

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Pictures of musical instruments are like sculptures of food.
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Old 08-19-2015, 09:49 AM
merlin666 merlin666 is offline
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Thanks, nice vids. I tried the more upright position resting it on the leg and it may reduce dampening, though it's not comfortable for the left particularly for bar chords. I guess I will have to experiment and get a compromise between sound and comfort.
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