Ukulele: How to Get the Best Sound

Ukuleles can either sound good or they can sound pretty twangy. When I first started to play ukulele, I couldn't make the right sound. I knew that something must've been wrong but I wasn't sure what. I thought it might have been the pitch so I tried to tune it but after tuning it, it still didn't sound right. 

Barrett Tagliarino helped me realize that my hand placement was all wrong. He says that the strings should be strummed in the area where the neck meets the body (Tagliarino 4). I had been strumming with my hand over the sound hole when I should've done what Tagliarino stated in the book. Just by changing the position of my strum made the sound 10 times clearer and way more precise. 

Here is the first recording I made with my ukulele when my hand was in the wrong strumming position.

Here is the newest recording I have made with my ukulele on the same song with my hand in the right strumming position.

There is one exception for playing over the sound hole while strumming. According to Barrett Tagliarino, "Don't strum over the sound hole, unless your left hand is playing high up on the neck" (Tagliarino 4). When you play further from the sound hole with your left hand, the strings of the ukulele have less tension so it's easier to play and gives a better tone.

I have been practicing playing with the sound of the ukulele and exploring the ways I can use the sound hole and the placement of my strumming to better my skills in playing. 

Question to Think about: Do you agree with Tagliarino that strumming where the neck meets the body creates a clearer and stronger sound? Let me know in the comments below!

Tagliarino, Barrett. Play Ukulele Today! A Complete Guide to the Basics. Hal Leonard, 2006.