Ukulele for older person
 

I am almost 80 and my left hand, all around the base of my thumb stays sore. It is impossible at the present time to play any bar chord and I now have difficulty reaching over to the 6th string. I have considered accupunture but I also read somewhere where playing ukulele is not as demanding on ones thumb. I would be interested in maybe a tenor or baritone. Most likely baritone since I would not have to relearn so many chords and I like the sound. I would appreciate all the help I can get.

I received a MaKala Baritone...From Amazon for $85, I'm pretty happy with it..
Because you only have four strings..You use part of a chord form on some notes...
Like a G is played on the top three string by holding down on 3 fret G and the other strings open..

Em same way...2nd fret hold down the bottom F# string

Some notes are bit?h because it's played the same as a guitar but with a smaller area to do it..like "F" open chord.. I'm sure you could figure out alternative fingering to fit your needs...

I like it...and it's fun to do your songs with something other then a guitar.. sound...

I mean Secret Agent Man(Johnny Rivers) sounds great...with the Ukulele or House of the Rising Sun...

Once I get the strumming down and chord changes...I'll probably move up to a better Ukulele, but to "See" This one fits the bill

And it didn't need to be set up...perfect from the box..

another idea besides the uke could be to go with a lap style/dobro that uses open tuning and that metal slide thing to fret the strings.

i believe some guitars can be converted to lapstyle by replacing the nut with a taller one.

good luck!

I have picked up a tenor ukulele and strung it with a low G and I almost play it more than my guitars now. It's easy to transition from guitar to tenor, just think of having a capo on the fifth fret and only the four high strings. It requires very little playing effort, and I can actually play many songs that I used to avoid on guitar because they have awkward chords which now are manageable. There's not much point to go for an bottom quality/entry level uke as you will want to go for higher quality soon; so try to get a good brand name with all solid woods to start with, they can be had for just over $200.

I'd give the baritone uke a try. Easy to play and no relearning fingering.

I remember when I was a young boy, my father had a guitar and on the nut by the tuning keys he placed a metal u-shaped piece over the nut and he played what he called Hawaiian Guitar. He use a metal slide bar to slide over the strings and finger picks on right hand fingers. Is that the same thing or just sort of like it?

I am not that familiar with a dobro. Can one play melodies as one does when finger picking or is the dobro more of an instrument to accompany a lead player?

At present time I am trying to learn DADGAD which helps with the sore thumb some. I recently tuned my classical guitar into "Drop 3" Guitar Tuning. Sometimes I place a capo on the 3rd fret so as to be back in standard tuning but either with or without the capo this tuning is sort of sore thumb friendly.

Is it possible to use a 12 string as a lap/dobro? I recently got one and have tried it only once. I could not use my thumb for two weeks after. OUCH. However, I did get it for free from a friend so I cannot complain.

I am still going in circles and looking for magic answers, LOL. All comments and help are welcome and I certainly appreciate those who have answered so far.

By the way - you do not need to learn any new chord forms for any uke - they are strung the same as the top 4 strings of a guitar - but tuned higher, as if you were playing with a capo on 5. Except for a baritone uke, which is tuned the same as a guitar.

Well kinda true, there some different chord forms mostly part of chords because of the top two strings are missing which really makes it easier and fun

I just spent most of the last eight hours searching u-tube and google for and about dobros and lap-style dobros. Love the sound they put out. Ask wife if she liked the sound. "Not so much". That does not sound good. Dobros and lap-dobros sure look easy on the fingers. I do like Uke's because I will not have to reach so far. When I reach for the 6th string on guitar my thumb wants to point up to the turnkeys. It is almost impossible to turn my forearm and thumb back so as to put my thumb into the middle of the back of the guitar and finger anything on the 6th string.

Ukulele might be tough, the F is tough because the small space, lap steel would probably work better, but go try a Baritone Ukulele it's the biggest of the ukes

Since I see the top two strings are missing so now I assume when playing the ukulele that I will no longer play an alternating bass as I now do in standard tuning and DADGAD using strings 5 and 6. So when finger picking on a ukulele, what do I play beside the single note melody line? Maybe just try to fill in some of the chord? What? Strum?

JS - I have the same pain at the base of my left (fretting) hand. Per my own self-diagnosis, it's "basil joint arthritis" - not that having a name helps any.

I agree with the suggestions for a baritone uke. It's larger (easier to hold), and according to a luthier buddy, the top is braced more like a classical guitar than a smaller uke, making the tone (to my ear) more pleasant. It is easy to play as the chord shapes are the same as standard guitar.

I bought a used Pono from an AGF member and have been enjoying it ever since (2 years now).

Best,

Phil

As a person with arthritis problems in my left hand I think about options a lot too.

Uke is one.

Slide guitar (any guitar can be played with a slide, not just a Dobro). But even playing on the lap does not mean you can't fret as well. In your YouTube searching try Kelly Joe Phelps as a search. Lots of melody playing in his style and you can fret notes as well as use the slide. Exclusively slide players will use a super high action, but hybrid players who use a light touch can do this with a guitar with more or less conventional action.

You can also just fret with fingers with a guitar on your lap. He was an electric player, but the phenomenal Jeff Healey is one modern example.

Open tunings (either with lap-style or conventional guitar orientation) can reduce string tension and need for barres.

Someone may say "if it hurts, you're doing it wrong" in this thread at some point too. I tend to over-grip myself, and I'm not doing my hand any favors with that hard to break habit--but I can't see through the Internet to tell if that may an issue in your case, so I won't presume.

It's a great idea. When my late little brother was bedridden for a year prior to his death he took up the uke (he'd been a woodwind player, but lung cancer - he was not a smoker - robbed him of that capability). It provided a lot of enjoyment for him and the opportunity to him and me to play and have a lot more musical moments together. It requires very little handstrength to play a uke, and I would highly recommend it.

I second the move to playing lap steel.
I have played 6 string Spanish style guitar for over 40 years.
Tried electric and some bottleneck (resonator) starting about 15 years ago.
About 5-6 years ago I caught wind of weissenborn style guitars (acoustic lap steels) played open tuned with a steel bar. Bam. That was it. I play these exclusively and am having a blast. They are my "I'm going to get arthritis pretty soon, and these will be easy to play as that happens" guitars. I also have a uke, but it gets no love since I started playing weissenborn. They sound beautiful or nasty bluesy or folksy or afro-bluesy...if you like, and take to sound hole pickups well.

Killing the Blues Weissenborn

You can find import weissenborns that are reasonable
I just scored a mid 20's (1920s) Knutsen that is dreamy...