When looking for some lyrics I'm not sure of, I often run upon sites that have chord names or tabs with the lyrics. All too often these chords are very wrong. It's nice when people try to help by posting these, but wrong chords are not very helpful. A site that has many songs with excellent chord choices is Dr. Uke's (Dr. Jim Rosokoff) at http://www.doctoruke.com/index.html. The songs are in pdf format and are easy to print.
How does one decide if a chord is the correct one? Trust your ears. If the chord sounds wrong, it probably is. Often, a chord's notes will include the note the melody is on for at least part of the chord's duration.
Information about the Dixie Banjolele of the 1940's/50's.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Some Strings That Work Well
Just to be clear, I'm suggesting these strings for the Dixie Banjolele. They may work well on any ukulele that has a string buzz problem, but I haven't tried them on a different instrument.
LaBella Black Nylon Model No. 15.
These strings are thicker gauge so they don't buzz in the slots at the nut. The nut is the string separator at the tuning end of the neck. The Dixie has some pretty big slots for the strings and smaller gauge strings can buzz.
The package doesn't have the string sizes, but the LaBella site does:
LaBella Black Nylon Model No. 15.
These strings are thicker gauge so they don't buzz in the slots at the nut. The nut is the string separator at the tuning end of the neck. The Dixie has some pretty big slots for the strings and smaller gauge strings can buzz.
The package doesn't have the string sizes, but the LaBella site does:
A - .028
E - .032
C - .040
G - .028
Maybe the black nylon has something to do with the thicker gauge. Whatever, they don't require a rubber band or other method of keeping the strings from buzzing.
These strings are less expensive than many other ukulele strings, too.
My wife has played the same set of these 5-6 days a week, several hours a day for the past three months and they are still sounding good.
Let me know if you find some other strings that work well for a Dixie. I'll do the same.
We've tried a LOT of different sets of strings, and none of them work as well as these.
Edit: 08/22/2014: As a testament to these strings, my wife has now used the same set for over a year, with no broken strings and no apparent degradation in sound. Except for the "Hillbilly Amplifier" I added (a cake pan resonator explained in an earlier post), her Dixie is not amplified, but her voice is. So, she plays the strings HARD. But note that she keeps the strings and the instrument clean of dirt and oils.
Edit: 08/22/2014: As a testament to these strings, my wife has now used the same set for over a year, with no broken strings and no apparent degradation in sound. Except for the "Hillbilly Amplifier" I added (a cake pan resonator explained in an earlier post), her Dixie is not amplified, but her voice is. So, she plays the strings HARD. But note that she keeps the strings and the instrument clean of dirt and oils.
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