Soprano Ukulele

If you are looking for the very best soprano ukulele, the absolute top, it would have to be the Martin 5K (generally regarded as the Rolls Royce of ukuleles). Unfortunately, the best 5Ks (the vintage models) can fetch over $10,000 and even the new ones retail for over $5,000. Here are a few ukuleles that might be more in the price range of the average ukulele buyer.

Best Soprano Under $50

The best of the cheap soprano ukuleles is the Makala. As with any cheap ukulele you buy, try to find a seller who is willing to include set up and some good strings within the price of the ukulele (musicguymic on eBay offers this service on all his instruments). On eBay:

Kala MK-SD/LBBURST Makala Dolphin Bridge Soprano Ukulele Bundle    US $45.00

Makala MK-S Soprano Uke Ukulele Ukelele Agathis Wood Body Rosewood Fingerboard    US $55.21

Makala MK-S Soprano Uke Ukulele Ukelele Agathis Wood Body Rosewood Fingerboard    US $55.21

Best Soprano under $200

Most ukuleles you'll find for under $200 are laminated (i.e. there is a thin layer of expensive wood on the top and cheaper wood underneath) which affects the tone of the ukulele. The Ohana soprano ukuleles are solid wood which makes them good value for money. My personal favorite ukulele at the moment is my Ohana (although it's a tenor) so I can highly recommend them. On eBay:

Ohana SK-20S Soprano Solid Mahogany Top Ukulele Top & Back Body Bindings Aquila    US $119.00

OHANA SKB-35 Soprano Bell Shaped Solid Mahogany Ukulele    US $169.00

OHANA Soprano Sized Padded Heavy Nylon Ukulele Gig Bag    US $23.95

Best Electric Soprano

The most popular electric soprano ukulele around is the Applause by Ovation. I don't know anyone who has one who doesn't rave about it. On eBay:

Applause UA10-4 Deluxe Soprano Ukulele with Solid Spruce Top    US $129.00

Ovation Applause UAE 20 4 String Electric Soprano Ukulele Fix or Parts 8201    US $44.99

Applause UAE20 Acoustic-Electric Deluxe Soprano Ukulele Black Stain    US $159.99

I recently bought a Kala Lacewood soprano (which goes by the rather complex name of Kala KA-ASLAS-SP) and I love it. Kala ukuleles have been growing considerably in popularity recently and it's not hard to see why. They have a good coverage of low and mid price ukuleles and they are all well put together and good value. So picking one of them up for myself was a bit of a no-brainer.

Construction

It's not obvious from the name, but the top of the ukulele (the most important part for the tone) is made of solid spruce. Spruce isn't a material traditionally used for ukuleles - it is more common on mandolins - but it gives the ukulele a very punchy tone.

Most of the rest of the ukulele (back, sides and neck) is made of solid lacewood. The big appeal of lacewood is its spotty grain. Which gives this ukulele a great look.

The ukulele is well put together. The finishing is very good (although the glueing between neck and bridge is a little messy.

Sound

The Kala soprano has a great tone to it. It is loud and very forceful. It's sounds great when you're strumming it. I love the sound of it strummed at speed. Here's a clip of me doing just that.

Picking the ukulele doesn't give you quite the same force. It's not terrible, but I find it hard to give it enough force to get a satisfying tone and volume. Here's me doing some picking on the ukulele.

Playability

Again there's a divide between strumming and picking. Strumming feels great. In fact, it's already my favourite strummer.

Picking, however, I find to be more tricky. As with all sopranos, I find my fingers tripping over themselves when I try to fingerpick a soprano. It's definitely possible (as you can see in the video below) but this uke wouldn't be my first choice for someone wanting to concentrate on fingerpicking.

Overall

I'd highly recommend this ukulele - particularly for those of you who want plenty of bite and volume in your strumming.

Other Kala Soprano Ukuleles

Kala do an excellent range of soprano ukuleles. The lacewood model is more in the mid-range of prices. If you're looking for something on a budget, the Kala Makala soprano ukulele is probably one of the best entry level ukuleles around - you can find a selection of these currently for sale in the sidebar.

On Video

Here's an excellent performance of Andante by David Beckingham on his Kala KA-ASLAS-SP lacewood spruce soprano. He gets a nice, sweet tone out of it. Although the sound isn't anywhere near as punchy and forceful as that you get when strumming.

The soprano ukulele is the smallest and most common size of ukulele. It is the ukulele that almost everyone starts on. Why is it so popular? And is it the right ukulele for you? Here are some of the advantages of soprano ukuleles.

The Soprano Sound

I think the biggest appeal of the soprano is the sound it makes. It has the traditional ukulele sound. It can also be played in a very forceful and punchy way. The larger the size of ukulele, the more you lose this and the sound becomes more guitar-like.

Strumming

The soprano ukulele is the world's most natural instrument to strum. It feels exactly right.

Price and Availability

Most of the least expensive ukuleles for sale are sopranos (although there are certainly many expensive sopranos around). If you are on a tight budget (or don't want to spend to much before you know if you're going to keep playing) then you'll have a much greater choice of soprano ukuleles than you will any other size.

Size

With it being the smallest uke, the soprano is a perfect instrument for kids and is very popular in schools. But the advantages stretch to full size people as well. It makes it relatively easy to stretch for notes and to form chords.

Downside

There is the other side of the coin as well. The soprano might be great for strumming, but it is not quite so suited to fingerpicking. I find my fingers have a tendency to trip over themselves fingerpicking on the soprano. And sopranos tend not to have the sustain of the larger ukes.

And many players find the soprano a little too small. They find it easier to play with more room on the fretboard. Although this doesn't seem to be related to hand size as you might expect.

Is It Right for You?

The soprano ukulele is the perfect ukulele for many people. If you are a beginner, I'd recommend you start with a soprao. It is easy and natural to play, sounds fantastic and it's cute!

Soprano, concert and tenor ukuleles are all usually tuned the same. So tabs and chords for any one will work for the soprano ukulele. The best places to find them are:

Ukulele Hunt (Tabs and Chords)
Dominator (Tabs)

I am completely biased on the first one though. It's my site.

But there are plenty of other sites around. You can find a comprehensive list of them here.

Like most ukes, the soprano ukulele is tuned to the notes gCEA (going from nearest your head to nearest the ground). The G note is higher than the C note (this is known as re-entrant tuning). There are a number of different ways you can go about making sure you soprano is in tune.

Using Your Computer

If you have a mic on your computer you can use a program called AP Tuner. It's free an will show you when your string is in tune (when it points to the zero and says the name of the note).

Using a Tuner

Of course, there are probably going to be many times when you want to tune your ukulele but your not at the computer. So it's very useful to have a portable ukulele tuner such as the Intelli Tuner. This has a display similar to the AP Tuner but works by clipping on to the headstock of your ukulele and detecting the vibrations as you play. That means you can tune even in noisy environments such as a uke group - a big advantage.

Using Your Ears

If you are confident of your ability to match pitches, you can tune a soprano ukulele to a piano, guitar or pitch pipes. Or tuning notes such as these:

Ukulele Tuning Notes in C (MP3)