ARPEGGIOS AND DEA SYSTEM OF 4-STRING INSTRUMENTS (SEE POST 67)
For the 4-string (double or simple strings) instruments of post 67, that are most of the ethnic music instruments , the chord shapes theory simplifies to the DEA instead of the CAGE of the 6-string guitar. Similarly the arpeggios of the chords, although are not identical with the shapes of the chords in a 6-string guitar, for the above 4-string instruments , they are identical with the chord shape! Thus knowing the chords means knowing their arpeggios of them too, which gives immediately a way of easy improvisation along a chord progression!
For the 4-string (double or simple strings) instruments of post 67, that are most of the ethnic music instruments , the chord shapes theory simplifies to the DEA instead of the CAGE of the 6-string guitar. Similarly the arpeggios of the chords, although are not identical with the shapes of the chords in a 6-string guitar, for the above 4-string instruments , they are identical with the chord shape! Thus knowing the chords means knowing their arpeggios of them too, which gives immediately a way of easy improvisation along a chord progression!
In this post we shall show also how to convert some of the above instruments to an harmonic Tetrachord of various sizes.
1) I have a 4-double plastic string tenor ukulele, for small sizes (43 cm scale length) tuning (G4:G3, C5:C4 , E4:E4, A4:A4) .
The 43 cm for the E4 string of a standard guitar is about the note B4.
It has the advantage of finding each note one wants when improvising easier. And practically as it has only 4-pairs of strings (as all other Harmonic tetrachords of course) it is almost impossible to make a mistake , when playing as almost all 4-notes can be a type of not very unusual extended chord! We must let the fingers dance in the improvisation, which is advised to utilize all 4-pairs of strings, in a harping (finger picking) , strumming or soloing. And even a if an undesirable dissonance appears, it is softened by the octave distance of the strings in the pairs. (see e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6sM9zWc9Tg)
The 43 cm for the E4 string of a standard guitar is about the note B4.
It has the advantage of finding each note one wants when improvising easier. And practically as it has only 4-pairs of strings (as all other Harmonic tetrachords of course) it is almost impossible to make a mistake , when playing as almost all 4-notes can be a type of not very unusual extended chord! We must let the fingers dance in the improvisation, which is advised to utilize all 4-pairs of strings, in a harping (finger picking) , strumming or soloing. And even a if an undesirable dissonance appears, it is softened by the octave distance of the strings in the pairs. (see e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6sM9zWc9Tg)
The next tuning makes the tenor 8-string ukulele to sound more bass and sweet:
(G4:G2, C5:C3, E3:E4, A3:A4)! Notice that we do not alter the high pitch strings in each pair but we alter the second string to be one octave lower! For the high pitch strings we use the usual strings of the ukulele. For the lower pitch strings we use nylon strings of the guitar. For the A3 of the A3:A4 pair a D3 or G3 guitar string. For the E3 of the pair E3:E4, a A2 guitar string or D3 . For the C3 of the pair C5:C3, we use a E2 or A2 string of the guitar. And for the G2 string of the pair G4:G2, again a E2 string of the guitar.
There is also the Bb major or G minor tuning as follows
(F2:F4 Bb2:Bb4, D3:D4, G3:G4)
or
(F3:F4 Bb3:Bb4, D3:D4, G3:G4)
Finally other optimal ways of tuning are the harmonic tuning that is alternating intervals of major and minor thirds, that make a 3-notes chord (see also Harmonic tuning of the guitar in post 90 ) Here it would be
A3A4-C3C4-E4E4-G4G4
Such tuning (see also post 90 about the harmonic tuning of the guitar ) has the next advantages:
1) the highest density per a number of frets of major or minor triad chords in normal position .
2) They are easier for chords in normal position rather than for inversions(Compared to the standard tuning o 4-double strings ukulele which is easier for chords in inversions rather than in normal position).
3) The solos are in closer frets to the fingers and we do not need to shift the hand a lot to find the appropriate note.
2) I have converted a TENOR 4-PAIRS OF STRINGS GUITAR AND THE GUITAR-LELE (58 cm scale length) to tenor 4-double string Harmonic Tetra-chord or contralto guitar (tuning (D4:D3, G4:G3, B3:B3, E4:E4) , which is my favorite size. Notice that it could be tuned also as (D3:D3, G3:G3, B3:B3, E4:E4). For the strings I used he standard strings of a 12-string guitar. But it is a bit moe hard to play, as it is of 58 cm only compared to the 66 cm of the classical guitar.so one could use slightly different strings. E.g. for the G3 of the G4:G3 pair instead of the standard 0.61mm string one could use a 0.56 mm string of the Bouzouki , which in the standard tuning of the 4-string bouzouki would be the F3 string. And for the D3, string of the pair D4:D3, instead of the standard 0.81mm D3-string of the guitar , it could be used the 0.61mm Guitar G3-string, or the 0.71mm Bouzouki C3-string, or the 0.76mm 12-string guitar metal covered E3-string which is put as high secondary to the 6th lowest E2-string.
This tuning of a tenor guitar, gives a sweet and high frequencies sound, as the lower two strings are "octaved" at an octave higher.It is suitable for small instrument bodies.
4-DOUBLE STRINGS GUITAR (GUITAR-LELE)
(The range is about the vocal range of a female contralto singer)
An alternative way to tune and play it, is by utilizing nylon strings and tune the 1st string as A. In more detail I use the tuning (G2:G4, C3:C4, E3:E4, A3:A4), which is appropriate with nylon strings for a tenor guitar which has scale length usually 58 cm.
So for the A4 of the 1st pair, I use an E4-guitar nylon string. For the A3 of the 1st string I use an nylon G3-string of the guitar. For the E4 of the 2nd pair, I use a nylon B3-string of the guitar. For the E3 of the 2nd pair, I use a nylon D3-string of the guitar. For the C4 of the 3rd pair, I use again a nylon G3-string of the guitar. For the C3 of the 3rd pair, I use a nylon A2 string of the guitar. For the G4 of the 4th pair, I use a nylon A4-string of the tenor ukulele . And for the G2 of the 4th pair I use a nylon E2-string of the guitar. If we want to have this tuning with metal strings (and scale length 58 cm) then one solution is to utilize Saz metal strings (For the instrument of saz see below)
With the same nylon strings the G minor or Bb major tuning is supported in other words
(F2:F4, Bb2:Bb3, D3:D4, G3:G4)
This tuning is supported also with usual guitar metal strings
So for the G4 of the 1st pair, I use an E4-guitar metal string. For the G3 of the 1st string I use a metal G3-string of the guitar. For the D4 of the 2nd pair, I use a B3-string of the guitar. For the D3 of the 2nd pair, I use a metal D3-string of the guitar. For the Bb3 of the 3rd pair, I use again a metal G3-string of the guitar. For the Bb2 of the 3rd pair, I use a A2 string of the guitar. For the F4 of the 4th pair, I use a E4-string of the guitar . And for the F2 of the 4th pair I use a E2-string of the guitar.
Of course we may as well have this Bb or G minor tuning with single strings
(F3, Bb3, D4, G4)
Such a Bb tuning can very well apply to the 2/3 children 6-string guitar of about 58 cm too, with the full 6-string version
(G2, C3, F3, Bb3, D4, G4)
The above tuning is best done on a baritone ukulele which usually has scale length of 48 cm, thus one can utilize directly guitar nylon strings , without stretching the strings at all above their usual tension.
If we want to tune the baritone ukulele in its normal tuning it is
(D4:D3, G4:G3, B3:B3, E4:E4). If we tune in the normal tuning to make it sound more vivid, with normal tension of strings of the guitar or tenor ukulele (the baritone ukulele has usually 2/3 of the normal tension only) we may use for the pair E4:E4, a pair of B3:B3 of the guitar (with the smaller size of the baritone ukulele sound exactly as E4E4), for the pair of B3:B3, we use a pair of G3:G3 of the guitar strings, for the G3 of the pair G4:G3, we use a normal G3 string of the baritone ukulele, for the G4, of the pair G4:G3, we use a A4 string of a tenor ukulele, which because of the difference of the sizes in the baritone it can be tuned easily to sound G4. For the D3 of the pair D4:D3, we use a normal D3 string of the baritone ukulele, for the D4, of the pair D4:D3, we use a E4 string of a tenor ukulele, which because of the difference of the sizes in the baritone it can be tuned easily to sound D4.
The same if it is used a 51cm -52 cm scale length Puerto-Rican Cuatro where only the higher 4 pairs of strings are used at all.
The next 3 pictures are from a baritone ukulele
