Ukulele vs Guitar
Between Ukulele and Guitar, the most prominent difference is their size. Anyone, who is a stranger to stringed musical instruments, may get deceived with a toy guitar for a ukulele. Such is their similarities in appearance, except for the size. It is a fact that a vast majority of human beings are lovers of music of one or the other kind. There are scores of musical instruments that have the potential to rock individuals to sheer ecstasy whenever there is a skillful player giving a performance. Out of these instruments, which are mostly percussion and string based, guitar has a place of its own being a vital cog in all bands and music concerts. Most of us are not only aware of the guitar, but also love the music it produces. However, not many know about the ukulele, a distant cousin of the guitar that is famous in Hawaii and was brought there by migrating Portuguese. Let us try to differentiate between these two stringed instruments.
What is a Guitar?
A guitar is a string instrument that produces a beautiful music when you run your fingers on the strings. In fact, it is a very popular musical instrument and thus telling that its sound is overexposed is not wrong. An acoustic or classical guitar is made of wood. When you run the finger through the strings the sound produced gets amplified by the body of the guitar. To be exact about the number of strings, a guitar has six strings and you play a guitar using a pick. This large number of strings makes a guitar produce a wide range of sounds. A guitarist finds it easy to go almost 2 octaves down to the level reached by a ukulele player. There are different types of guitars such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, and electric guitars. Guitar strings are nowadays made from steel. However, classical guitar strings are made from nylon strings.
What is a Ukulele?
A ukulele is also a string instrument that produces a higher sound than the guitar. Ukulele looks like a child’s guitar when you first see it. In fact, compared to a guitar, it is so small that it is possible to enter a party concealing a ukulele inside your jacket. A ukulele resembles a guitar more than it resembles any other musical instrument. That is why many people who do not know that ukulele is a different instrument tend to believe that a Ukulele is just a small guitar. If you are not a guitarist or a seasoned musician, you would be hard-pressed to tell the difference when you are shown a Ukulele. However, you will see that there are perceptible differences in size, strings, and the sound that emanates from these musical instruments.
To be exact, ukulele has just four strings, which are usually nylon strings that require less strength in the fingers of the player than a guitar. As there is a lesser number of strings, there are obviously lesser number of notes to remember making it easier to learn a ukulele than a guitar. Also, though ukulele is like a guitar, you cannot use a pick to play it. Further, there are many differences between the sounds produced by a ukulele and a guitar. Perhaps, the biggest difference comes from the preconceived images that one has about a guitar while ukulele comes across as a totally unknown entity. Therefore, there is a bit of freshness in ukulele than the sounds produced by a guitar that we have grown used to, listening to it since childhood. It is a fact that the guitar has been overexposed while ukulele has a freshness and cuteness not expected in guitar.
What is the difference between Ukulele and Guitar?
Guitar is a world famous musical instrument. Ukulele is a musical instrument having Portuguese origins, but more famous in Hawaii Islands.
• Place of Origin:
• Guitar is believed to have originated in Spain.
• Ukulele is believed to have originated in Hawaii.
• Type of Instrument:
• Guitar is a string instrument.
• Ukulele is also a string instrument.
• Number of Strings:
• Guitar has six strings
• Ukulele has four strings.
• String material:
• Classical guitars have nylon strings while acoustic and electric guitars have steel strings.
• Ukulele comes with nylon strings.
• Tuning on a Standard Ukulele and Guitar:
• Guitar’s standard tuning is EBGDAE.
• Ukulele’s standard tuning is GCEA.
• Sound:
• Guitar produces more bass sound of the two.
• Ukulele produces a higher sound than a guitar.
• Portability:
• Being smaller in size, ukulele is more portable than guitars.
• Price:
• Ukuleles are much cheaper than guitars.
Lesser strings mean lesser notes to remember making it easier to play ukulele than a guitar.
Images Courtesy:
- “Di Giorgio classic guitar”, model “Amazonia”, made in Brazil by (CC BY-SA 3.0)
- Martin Ukulele 1930 – Style 3K by Wemba (CC BY-SA 3.0)
