In defense of the little soprano uke
I recently saw a thread in a ukulele facebook group that disappointed me a little bit. A lot of people were talking shit about the soprano uke. Calling it a toy, calling it unplayable, and so on. This confirmed to me that a lot of people really don't appreciate the soprano uke for its merits and talk more shit about it than it deserves.
Lots of people don't like certain sizes of ukes, but you don't hear people insult the concert, tenor, or even baritone (you'll hear people say "it's a guitar," but that's still kinder than "it's a toy") the same way they insult the soprano.
I like all ukes of all sizes, and I've been into different ones more at different times. At one point, I was exclusively playing baritones and sopranos. These days, I feel more of an affinity for tenors and for the very small niche of smaller concerts that are not much bigger than sopranos. I very much suspect that that will change again. The point is, I respect all ukes. And, as a uke respecter, I'd like to correct some of the disrespect that people seem to have toward sopranos.
1) Lots of toys are made to mimic sopranos, but that doesn't make soprano ukes toys. The toy ukes that you find in gift shops are soprano-sized. That doesn't make them soprano ukes, that makes them toy replicas of soprano ukes. Next time you look at a real soprano uke and think "it looks like a toy," remember that!
2) Soprano ukes are the most inherently "ukey" of ukes. I played baritones, concerts and tenors for years. I avoided sopranos. One day I came across a Martin soprano and started playing it. In a way that I can't totally put my finger on (no pun intended) I felt like I understood ukes more than I ever had before. Sopranos have a certain "x-factor" about them. There was something about the contrast between the little body and the big sound. And while the small fret spacing was intimidating at first, I realized that that same small fret spacing also makes moving your left/fingering hand from low frets to high frets a lot easier than it is even on concert ukes.
My best guess as to what that "x-factor" actually is is this: soprano ukes were the original uke, which means that a lot of classic uke songs, and classic uke playing styles, originated on it, hence something feels more "right" or "pure" about playing it.
3) Sopranos are generally the cheapest ukes, which means that the best sopranos are also the cheapest good ukes.
4) There are more affordable vintage high-quality sopranos out there than any other size. I think it is mainly because, for most of ukulele history, sopranos were the main uke that was manufactured. For many decades of the 20th century, the baseline quality for ukuleles was very good. The worst and cheapest off-brand ukes were often still pretty good.
Anyway, during this era in which the quality was generally higher, there were a ton of sopranos. For a long time, this has been very noticable when you shop online or in-person. To see this illustrated, try searching Reverb.com for "kamaka soprano," and then "kamaka concert." You'll find a lot of old and good Kamaka sopranos. Some will be under $500. You'll find fewer concerts, and the ones that you do find are often over $1000. You'll find a similar thing with Martins as well: lots of sopranos, in a wide price range, and then way fewer concerts, and they are all much more expensive. At the end of the day, there are more good sopranos out there and good sopranos are cheaper than good ukes of other sizes.
5) It is mostly an illusion that bigger ukes are easier to play and more forgiving than sopranos. Bigger ukes are slightly more forgiving to players who are beginners, because they require slightly less precision on the fretboard. It is easier to get your fingers into place for that very first chord on a bigger uke. But for a player who can play more than a few chords, a soprano is not going to be that much more difficult to play. When I was expanding my uke playing past the basic three and four-chord songs, I made a startling discovery: playing the uke beyond a few chords is hard no matter what size the uke is.
Here's a recommendation: for your first uke, get a cheap one that feels as unchallenging to play as possible. Play it for a while, and when you feel compelled to upgrade to a better uke, definitely consider a soprano.
Lots of people don't like certain sizes of ukes, but you don't hear people insult the concert, tenor, or even baritone (you'll hear people say "it's a guitar," but that's still kinder than "it's a toy") the same way they insult the soprano.
I like all ukes of all sizes, and I've been into different ones more at different times. At one point, I was exclusively playing baritones and sopranos. These days, I feel more of an affinity for tenors and for the very small niche of smaller concerts that are not much bigger than sopranos. I very much suspect that that will change again. The point is, I respect all ukes. And, as a uke respecter, I'd like to correct some of the disrespect that people seem to have toward sopranos.
1) Lots of toys are made to mimic sopranos, but that doesn't make soprano ukes toys. The toy ukes that you find in gift shops are soprano-sized. That doesn't make them soprano ukes, that makes them toy replicas of soprano ukes. Next time you look at a real soprano uke and think "it looks like a toy," remember that!
2) Soprano ukes are the most inherently "ukey" of ukes. I played baritones, concerts and tenors for years. I avoided sopranos. One day I came across a Martin soprano and started playing it. In a way that I can't totally put my finger on (no pun intended) I felt like I understood ukes more than I ever had before. Sopranos have a certain "x-factor" about them. There was something about the contrast between the little body and the big sound. And while the small fret spacing was intimidating at first, I realized that that same small fret spacing also makes moving your left/fingering hand from low frets to high frets a lot easier than it is even on concert ukes.
My best guess as to what that "x-factor" actually is is this: soprano ukes were the original uke, which means that a lot of classic uke songs, and classic uke playing styles, originated on it, hence something feels more "right" or "pure" about playing it.
3) Sopranos are generally the cheapest ukes, which means that the best sopranos are also the cheapest good ukes.
4) There are more affordable vintage high-quality sopranos out there than any other size. I think it is mainly because, for most of ukulele history, sopranos were the main uke that was manufactured. For many decades of the 20th century, the baseline quality for ukuleles was very good. The worst and cheapest off-brand ukes were often still pretty good.
Anyway, during this era in which the quality was generally higher, there were a ton of sopranos. For a long time, this has been very noticable when you shop online or in-person. To see this illustrated, try searching Reverb.com for "kamaka soprano," and then "kamaka concert." You'll find a lot of old and good Kamaka sopranos. Some will be under $500. You'll find fewer concerts, and the ones that you do find are often over $1000. You'll find a similar thing with Martins as well: lots of sopranos, in a wide price range, and then way fewer concerts, and they are all much more expensive. At the end of the day, there are more good sopranos out there and good sopranos are cheaper than good ukes of other sizes.
5) It is mostly an illusion that bigger ukes are easier to play and more forgiving than sopranos. Bigger ukes are slightly more forgiving to players who are beginners, because they require slightly less precision on the fretboard. It is easier to get your fingers into place for that very first chord on a bigger uke. But for a player who can play more than a few chords, a soprano is not going to be that much more difficult to play. When I was expanding my uke playing past the basic three and four-chord songs, I made a startling discovery: playing the uke beyond a few chords is hard no matter what size the uke is.
Here's a recommendation: for your first uke, get a cheap one that feels as unchallenging to play as possible. Play it for a while, and when you feel compelled to upgrade to a better uke, definitely consider a soprano.
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