A while ago I promised a post about my guitalele.  I am finally getting around to it.  Mine is finished in “persimmon.”

You can also get them in natural and black. They are $99 almost anywhere. I think that Yamaha invented this thing, but there are now models made by Gretsch, Cordoba, and other manufacturers. It is essentially a six string baritone ukelele or 1/4 sized classical guitar, tuned in A instead of E.  All the guitar chords you know will work, but a fourth higher.

I put Savarez low tension classical strings on it (white card).  I ended up cutting off about 1/3 of each string.  This is the string that Yamaha recommends, but next time I might try D’Addario.

I bought this as a hiking, biking instrument.  I have had a Martin backpacker for years, one of the early ones with the small headstock, but I was tired of the sound and the somewhat tough action on it.  This is easy to pack and easy to play.  I have had hikers come by and say that it sounds beautiful.   It has a somewhat chirpy, penetrating sound, somewhat like a uke, but single notes tend to project more.  It is very cool.  I have a little trouble with the small fretboard, but it is lots of fun.

Here is a quick demo with the guitalele on lead and the Cordoba C5 as backing: