Sheet music is available here for over 175 slack key songs and over 40 songs for ukulele and all playing levels. An example of one of these diagrams is shown at the left. Taro patch, wahine f, wahine g major 7th, and wahine d major 7th. This means it can reach notes as high as a concert. The most common slackkey tuning, called taro patch, makes a g major chord. Want to see and hear he braguinha aka machete in action. Strumming all the open strings with this tuning gives you a c major chord instead of the normal c6 of. Open g taro patch tuning hawaiian guitar and ukulele teacher hi, its harry koizumi again, here is a performance of kaula ili. Performance kaula ili open g or taro patch tuning ki. For many standard tuning players, this piece and its open g sound was their introduction to slack key. Not an open tuning, it requires a modified standard tuning c chord shape to play the c major chord. Also, it is a term occasionally used for when the g major taro patch tuning is tuned up to the key of a, which is accomplished by tuning.
This is the ukulele version of the taro patch tuning, the most popular of the many open tunings used by slackkey guitarists. The tuning described for the 19th century machete is dgbd. Renewed interest began with the hawaiian renaissance of the 1970s, but progress was slow until the 1990s, when a statewide network dedicated to taro patch restoration was created. It adds some lower notes to the range of a concert ukulele, with a range of g 3 d 6 e 6. Cultivation of taro, the staple crop from which poi is made, declined precipitously in hawaii over the last century.
Starting from the standard eadgbe, the high and low e strings are lowered or slacked to d and the fifth string from a down to g, so the notes. Sometimes called spanish tuning in mainland america. Be able to play this melody first, without any bass notes. They normally use the same tuning as a standard ukulele. My noodling based on the workshop soon turned into a simple song that is still part of my play rotation. The ukulele guitar is smaller than the taropatch guitar and has but four strings, the tuning of which is the same as the taropatch deprived of the fifth string fig. Go on down a rocky road, take a left at the stream yeah, three houses down under old mango trees theres a little old shack made of metal and wood and way, way back if you look real good youll see a little old man in the morning mist and hes doing the taro patch twist he. Ukulele instruction manuals from former times were headed down memory lane at this point. A history, left me with the impression that the taro patch fiddle was far more popular in hawaii than the actual ukulele, which seems to have only really started to boom after it hit the mainland.
The more you play diddley tunes or any music for that matter on instruments that are physically different not just strings tuned in different intervals but strings to wind etc. May 17, 2016 the first string a goes down a major second the equivalent of two frets to g, giving you an open c chord. If you are just beginning with us and coming from another guitar style, you might want to begin by. Ukulele chord chart baritone slack key dgbd 459k pdf mini slack key ukulele chord charts 1. This is the ukulele version of the taro patch tuning, the most popular of the. Can be used by both beginners and experts to achieve professional results. Youll find ukulele and guitar color photos of the instruments we make.
Ukulele, guitar, viola and violin ukulele underground forums. Extend the range of your uke and find new inspirations with. The third has both sets of chords, each tuning on half of a single lettersized page, designed to be folded or cut in half. The baritone resembling a smaller tenor guitar was created in the 1940s, and the contrabass and bass are recent innovations 2010 and 2014, respectively. On a guitar, the first string is the highest pitch and each string is successively lower, with the sixth string being the lowest. Most familiar string instruments, including piano, are strung with the pitches in order of pitchhighest to lowest. It does not matter if your standard tuning is gcea for soprano, concert, or tenor or dgbe for baritone. Tune the sixth string one octave below the sound of your fourth string open. Ukulele instruction book self instruction for the ukulele. This clever variant goes halfway around the scale with a change to one string, dropping the low d down to an even lower c. The idea is based off the reentrant ctuning, with the high a being tuned down to match your high g. No touching or adjusting is needed, just open the tuner and start tuning.
Chords for three old time hawaiian slack key guitar tricks. The first string a goes down a major second the equivalent of two frets to g, giving you an open c chord. This ukulele tuner will analyze the sound of your ukulele using the. Opihi moemoe became famous as a guitar piece when chet akins recorded it back in the day. The most common tuning for a ukulele is gcea,when each string is played starting at the g it gives us the famous my dog has fleas. Until recently leonards c, the drop c variation of taropatch g tuning was my main tool for going beyond g.
Mar 25, 2020 the most commonly used slackkey guitar tuning is open g taro patch. Ukulele instruction book self instruction for the ukulele and taropatch fiddle. There are, of course, many different possible ways to tune it, too. In the earliest published tuning for the ukulele, edward holsteins chords of the taro patch guitar 1894, the standard mydoghasfleas gcea tuning is used as holstein makes clear, the tuning of which is the same as the taro patch rajao deprived of its fifth string. This is a wonderful taropatch solo written by the legendary slack key guitarist, leonard kwan. Slack keys popularity spread during the hawaiian cultural. You could try open c tuning and tune your top a down to a g. Three old time hawaiian slack key guitar tricks open g or. Hawaiian slack key guitarist jeff peterson has spent over a decade transcrbing music in standard notation and tablature for slack key guitar and ukulele. The ukuleles by kawika website is a place for anyone who loves the ukulele. Before you go too far down the road wanting a concert scale taropatch have a quick look for strings. Tn1g detect the pitch of notes that picked up by a microphone, and it displays the difference from the fine pitch.
Then also tune the cstring down a halfstep to a b note. As far as tuning is concerned, that same vendor has a page about 4string tuning with cool info about tuning in general. Slack key tuning mostly used in slack key playing, but can be very useful in a lot situations. Self instructor for the ukulele and taro patch fiddle. To create this open c tuning, you tune the astring down one whole step to g. The ukulele guitar is smaller than the taro patch guitar and has but four strings, the tuning of which is the same as the taro patch deprived of the fifth string fig. The reason blues guitarists liked open g is for the same reasons they liked open d, the ability to lay a slide across all the strings and sound a major chord. The taro patch fiddle is not a common sight in todays market, but it is a valuable member of the ukulele family, offering more than the simple comfort and volume benefits associated with the upgrade from soprano to concert. Introduction to the open g tuning fingerstyle guitar. There are so many different types of tunings that you can try. The hawaiian slack key players had there own name for this tuning. Online ukulele tuner slack key ukulele tuning g c e g youtube. The style draws its name from the technique of tuning down, or slacking some of the guitar strings to achieve the unique tunings which characterize the style. Having made a brief introduction, heres a free 12page course on the taro patch open g tuning by kona bob on the big island helping others learn acoustic and dobro style hawaiian guitar although you can use them for electric as well.
Can someone help educate me about this taro patch instrument. It has become a library of turnarounds and chord shapes in taro patch. This ukulele tuner was built by musicians for other musicians to tune their ukulele fast, accurate and with no extra effort. For each tuning in the manual, a set of 28 chord diagrams is included, ranging from the common major and seventh chords used in most hawaiian songs, to more complex chords often found in jazz arrangements and standards. Apr 23, 2020 the ukulele is unique in many ways, but perhaps the most notable is its tuning. Tenor scale 8 string sets are readily available for tenors, theres even some baritone 8 string sets. This guide will teach you how to tune a ukulele to standard tuning, as well as how to tune various types of ukuleles including tenor, soprano, and bass ukuleles. This tuning is also known as open g, since the open strings are tuned to the notes of a g major chord g, b, and d. To create this open c tuning, you tune the astring down.
The first string a goes down a major second the equivalent of two frets to g, giving. Click on the tab to download the pdf, and watch the reference video to learn to play this piece. There is way more to the ukulele than down up iss incessant strumming syndrome attributed to jim deville. Aug 16, 2012 beginner slackkey guitar lesson going over tuning, alternating bass, and diatonic positions up and down the neck. Im using open g tuning or also known as taro patch tuning. Whatever key you are tuned to, simply tune down the 1st string. This one is for c major chords in the taro patch open g tuning. And since i didnt care so much for capoing up, i thought id go the other way inspired by listening to some tibetan changing and singing bowls, i set my tuner to a432 and detuned. Critics of the highg tuning state that the body of the tenor is not suited to producing the high reentrant ukulele sound, although highg tuning is very popular and many newly manufactured tenor ukuleles are strung with allnylon strings to accommodate highg tuning. Its easy to use, but highprecision highperformance, and supports alternative tuning for more than 50. This will give your ear and fingers a taste of where youre going.
When i lived in arlington, va and was an associate program director for marine chemistry at the national science foundation 19891991 i had time and access to the library of congress. A ringing, resonant 8string taro patch, also available as a conventional 4string concert ukulele. A short video on what is and what isnt a taropatch ukulele. Its tuned down lower to dgbe, which is equivalent to the tuning of the bottom four strings on a guitar.
Free slack key ukulele chord charts and diagrams gceg. Highg tuning is the same tuning as the concert and soprano g4c4e4a4. The taro patch tuning falls very well for all the chimes work. As far as exact pitches, maybe shoot for something like in this video. The first string is the highest, with the second and third strings successively lower, but the fourth string is high, and tonally reenters the scale between the pitches of the first and second string. Ukulele instruction book self instruction for the ukulele and taropatch fiddle on. This oldtime hawaiian song gives tribute to the hawaiian. Also can be played solo effectively in the keys of c and d. If you find an alternate tuning you like, let us know in the comments section. We have an official taro tab made by ug professional guitarists.
Just ignore the bass notes and play the stuff on the top four strings. Any steel string guitar that happened to be available was put into use, and. Slackkey guitar is a fingerstyle genre of guitar music that originated in hawaii after mexican. In this lesson we look at slack key taro patch tuning. This tuning is also known as open g, since the open strings are tuned to the notes of a. The taropatchs larger, deeper body helped launch the concert size ukulele. The baritone ukulele is the biggest of the ukuleles. Another common tuning for the soprano ukulele is the higher stringtension d 6 tuning or simply d tuning, a 4 d 4 f.
Dec 21, 2016 the rajao was also called taro patch fiddle after arriving in hawaii. Like open d, the open g tuning is a major chord tuning, but in the key of g. Loosening the keys an introduction to slackkeystyle ukulele. To tune your uke to c wahine, slack the a string down to g like you do for taropatch c. The taro patch tuning or g tuning is a favorite of many slack key artists as its timbre and flexibility are remarkable. Vintage ukulele instruction manuals ukuleles by kawika. I like my ukulele to sound like a ukulele, and that generally means i prefer high g.
In terms of the slack key tuning, i like how taro patch sounds so nice, but also shares the tuning of 3 strings next to each other d g b with standard tuning. The hawaiians, for whatever reason, did not embrace the tuning of the traditional spanish guitars they encountered. Hawaiian guitar and hawaiian ukulele teacher its time to jump into the taro patch. These instruments are made of the celebrated hawaiian wood, named koa, and are susceptible of a very high degree of polish. Sep 01, 2008 these instruments are made of the celebrated hawaiian wood, named koa, and are susceptible of a very high degree of polish. The 8string martin taropatch paved the way for larger ukes. Nov 28, 2015 a short video on what is and what isnt a taropatch ukulele. This tuning is the same as dropped d, but each string is lowered an additional whole step, or two semitones. Another way is to tune it to the d g b strings on a guitar then tune it to g, go down to the 5 th fret play the d string at this point on the 5 th fret and this will be g. Sheet music jeff peterson jeff peterson slack key guitar. Extend the range of your uke and find new inspirations. The taropatch, the name comes from taropatch fiddle and early hawaiian slightly derogatory name for all ukuleles as it was used by the landed anglo settlers to describe the instruments played by the portuguese indentured labour as they worked the taro fields, with its 8 strings in 4 courses, is a very traditional string configuration dating back to the birth of the ukulele itself. Free and guaranteed quality tablature with ukulele chord charts, transposer and auto scroller. There are also quite a few songs out there in taro patch tuning.
Apr 17, 2017 tuning can be difficult, but with this guide, youll become a master at tuning your ukulele before you know it. Slack the first string down so that it is the same pitch as the second string, third fret. Once considered standard, this tuning was commonly used during the hawaiian music boom of the early 20th century, and is often seen in sheet music. The ukulele is a beautiful piece that stands alone as a unique fretted stringed instrument. See, ive wanted to try my hand at slackkey ukulele for some time now.
Hey, its harry koizumi, hawaiian guitar and hawaiian ukulele teacher raymond kane told me about a few slack key guitar tricks. Starting from the standard eadgbe, the high and low e strings are lowered or slacked to d and the fifth string from a down to g, so the notes become dgdgbd. Self instructor for the ukulele and taro patch fiddle major kealakai on. But, not to put too fine a point on it, you can pretty much take any guitar tab written in either taropatch or drop c tuning and play it on the ukulele with the a string tuned down to g.