Ask me which weird musical instrument you should learn this summer

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Ask me which weird musical instrument you should learn this summer

onecooldana: Jan 29, 2006; BLAH BLAH BLAH
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Hey friends, I'm interested in learning a simpler instrument after failing miserably at guitar. Two instruments intrigue me greatly, namely the Ukelele and the Ocarina. My biggest issue with guitar was my left-handedness, as strumming to any sort of near-rhythm was painful and difficult to coordinate, but making chords was a simple affair. Would you recommend either a Ukelele or an Ocarina to a heavy lefty or should I stick with guitar and push through the awkwardness?

^^^ I don't play left guitar because I don't have one. If I wanted to pursue Guitar then that would be a strong possibility. Ukelele or Ocarina are cheap enough to take the risk.

onecooldana fucked around with this message at 03:29 on Jun 30, 2011

# ¿ Jun 30, 2011 03:21

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# ¿ May 1, 2024 06:23

onecooldana: Jan 29, 2006; BLAH BLAH BLAH
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Xiahou Dun posted:

This might be from my instrument, and guitars are different, but you know you can switch the strings, right?

You just have to make sure you don't gently caress up the bridge or the nut.

I know about that, but not how to do it. That's beside the point though, as I don't own a guitar, I just use the ones my roommate lets me use. I can't modify hers without making her upset, so that's not an option. My interests in Ukelele and Ocarina overshadow Guitar at this point thanks to this thread.

# ¿ Jun 30, 2011 03:57

onecooldana: Jan 29, 2006; BLAH BLAH BLAH
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Xiahou Dun posted:

Oooo... Okay, now I got you.

Changing the strings is comically easy. You just unwind them until they come off, and then put them in mirror order. But yeah, if you're bumming a guitar then it's up to your room-mate whether she'll let you do some minor work on her guitar. (Which she might for a six-pack if she has a couple ; it's not like you'd be damaging it, just making it weird for her to play for a bit.)

But yeah, uke is probably pretty good if you liked guitar. And you can do the same deal and swap the strings to make it lefty. You only really need to worry about stuff with a cut-away or something weird, like an F-style mandolin.

They make really nice build-your-own-uke-kits that're pretty cheap ; I was just looking at some the other day and they sounded good.

Build my own? I like that idea a fair amount. I'm also into picking up a beginners uke, but I didn't see anything about them in the thread (am I blind?).

# ¿ Jun 30, 2011 04:09

onecooldana: Jan 29, 2006; BLAH BLAH BLAH
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Thanks friends. I will read and research and hopefully end up with some nice skills under my belt.

# ¿ Jun 30, 2011 04:22

onecooldana: Jan 29, 2006; BLAH BLAH BLAH
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TapTheForwardAssist posted:

Uke is a separate thread: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2690439

Uke is covered so comprehensively there, so we stuck more in this thread to odder stuff. Uke actually has a fair amount of mainstream popularity these days. Honestly, I think that a huge portion of people who "want to learn guitar" would actually be happier with uke. For just strumming out some basic chords and singing along, uke is easier to play, mellower-sounding, and more convenient than guitar. Once you get to higher skill levels, uke and guitar diverge a lot more, but at the "three-chord chump" stage they're pretty interchangeable, and uke is easier/smaller/affordable.

Double thanks, friends!

# ¿ Jun 30, 2011 06:53

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Ask me which weird musical instrument you should learn this summer