Ukulele For Dummies (69 page)

An increasing number of iPhone apps are also available, which are useful for playing when you're out and about. UkeChords is the best one I've tried.

Producing chord sheets

If you want to make your own chord chart for a song, using GoChords (
http://gochords.com
) is the easiest method. You simply type in the words and chords and the software produces the chord chart for you. Alternatively, you can download and install Chordette (
http://www.ukefarm.com/chordette/
), which is a font with chord diagrams instead of letters. So you can add chord diagrams to a standard text file.

Making tabs

PowerTab (
http://www.power-tab.net/
) is the best free software for making your own tabs. However, I use Guitar Pro (
http://www.guitar-pro.com/
) for my day-to-day tab making: it's not free, but it's so much better than PowerTab that the cost is worthwhile.

Training by ear

The ability to work out how to play songs by ear is a very useful skill. You no longer have to go hunting for tabs or chords that may or may not exist. Mostly, this skill is a matter of practice, but programs can help you. I use EarMaster (
http://www.earmaster.com/
), which is quite expensive, but you can get a free trial. Much cheaper, but less extensive, is the iPhone app RelativePitch.

If you're really serious about mastering ear training, Berklee College of Music runs a 12-week online ear-training course but it'll set you back over US$1,000.

Chapter 19

Restringing, Maintaining and Adjusting Your Uke

In This Chapter

Knowing when and how to restring

Keeping your ukulele in tiptop condition

Identifying and fixing problems

N
ot many things get better with age. I can think only of three: wine, ukuleles and gentlemen (and I know a few people who'd argue that last point). As time passes, all three become more interesting, more complex and (in the case of gentlemen only if they're lucky) richer.

A good quality, well-maintained ukulele sounds better the more you play it (a process known as
opening up
). This chapter takes you through all the issues you need to be aware of to keep your ukulele in good nick and sounding great: changing the strings, basic maintenance, storage, and locating and dealing with minor problems.

While using this chapter keep Chapter 1 handy as well because it describes and locates all the various parts of a uke.

Restringing Your Ukulele

Restringing your uke can seem like one of those jobs to put off as long as possible, like homework, exercising or visiting the dentist. But changing the strings isn't as bad a job as it seems and you'll feel better afterwards (and unlike those other jobs, it adds to, rather than takes away from, valuable ‘ukuleling' time).

You need to restring your uke periodically for the following reasons:

Old strings sound dull – and so will your playing.

Old strings can become uneven, which means they can start to sound out of tune when you play them at certain frets.

Over time, strings can wear away at the frets, bridge and nut. Leave them long enough and you risk breaking them.

Deciding when to restring

I can't give you a set amount of time between string changes. It depends on how often they're played, what kind of strings they are and even the chemical composition of your sweat. Some musicians prefer the sound of old strings (and so delay changing them) and some prefer newer strings.

Replacing your strings when they start sounding dull to you is probably the best thing to do.

A good indication that your strings need replacing is finding notches in your strings where the frets touch them. By this stage they'll have passed sounding their best and you'll start to develop tuning problems.

The other time to replace strings is when you buy a new uke only to discover that it has a useless set of strings on it (something I've experienced several times). Putting on a high-quality set of strings (such as Aquila or Worth) is the quickest and cheapest way to improve the sound of any ukulele.

Never put steel strings on a uke; it isn't built to take them.

Removing the strings

Before putting on your pristine set of new strings, you have to remove the old ones! If you're in a massive hurry to change strings – such as finding that they're damaged or sound awful just before a performance – you can just cut them without too much risk. But far better is to unspool the tuning pegs until you have enough slack to pull the strings off.

I prefer to change strings one at a time (because the other strings give you something to tune to) but by all means take them all off together. And raise a quizzical eyebrow to anyone who tells you that removing them all at once causes problems with tension.

If you've removed all the strings, take the opportunity to clean the hard-to-reach areas underneath them.

Tying the strings at the bridge

A bridge holds the strings in place. Ukuleles have two main types of bridge:

Soprano ukuleles tend to have a slotted bridge with a slit for each string.

Larger ukes tend to have a tie-on bridge with a little tunnel for each string to go through.