Hi David,

Can the IFR method be applied to the ukulele? How can I visualize the map of notes on the fretboard, given that the strings are tuned out of order?

Thanks in advance,
Brian

David's response:

Hi Brian,

Absolutely! We actually have lots of ukulele students. The IFR method can be practiced on any instrument that produces musical notes. For each instrument you just need to understand how the notes of our musical system are laid out on your instrument, and from that point forward you'll be on the same playing field as everyone else.

So we just need to clarify how the notes of our musical system are laid out on the ukelele. On the guitar, we learn to visualize this through the Cloud exercise. We can do the exact same thing on the ukelele but the shape of the Cloud will be different. I'll assume that you are using the traditional tuning of the ukulele:

1st string = A
2nd string = E
3rd string = C
4th string = G (tuned up one octave)

This tuning is irregular but it contains a very nice coincidence. The intervals between the three highest strings are exactly the same as the intervals between the three highest strings on the guitar. Because of this, you can just use Exercise 1 for guitar (both Cloud and Mobility) to practice moving around these three strings on your ukulele exactly the same way we would on the guitar.

Now consider the fourth string (G) which is tuned out of order. Notice that this string actually doesn't give you any new notes. That is to say, any note that you can reach on this string is already present on one of the three other strings. For this reason, the most natural way to approach soloing on the ukulele is to simply disregard the fourth string when you are improvising melodic lines. Since it doesn't offer you any additional notes, you can actually save yourself the trouble of dealing with the fact that the fourth string is tuned out of order.

You can however use this string in the construction of your chords. With the IFR method you will learn to build your own chords, selecting notes by their position in the tonality. In the same way that we do this on the guitar, you can also do this on the ukulele using all four strings.

This is the way that most ukulele players apply the IFR method to their instrument. We simply disregard the fourth string for improvising solos since it doesn't offer us any additional notes, but we do use the fourth string in the construction of chords since it gives us an additional voice in each chord.

I hope this explanation is clear. If you're not sure, or if you have any other questions, please write again and we can talk about it further.

All the best,
David