What goes good with ukulele? Almost everything really, but in this Ukulele Sidekicks series I’ll be exploring some logical ukulele companions that you can get going on easily if you have multi-instrumentalist aspirations and want to bring a different sound to your ukulele group, whether it be an informal jam session, a regularly rehearsing ukulele orchestra or just a small duo.

My experience with ocarinas.

I was first exposed to the ocarina as a child. My oldest brother was a missionary in Chile for two years and brought home two beautiful clay ocarinas in different sizes. I thought it was sooooo cool and really wanted to learn how to play it. Unfortunately, no one in my family knew the fingering system and the internet was still a long ways away from providing easy reference for info on almost any subject.

Fast forward forty years. I decided it was time to fulfill my childhood longing and I bought a Focalink Osawa Soprano C Ocarina. It is an awesome instrument and was under 20 bucks. Having played other wind instruments since I was a youth (my father was a band director), it didn’t take me long to pick up the basics with a fingering chart in hand. I featured this instrument in my cover of The Lion Sleeps Tonight, as a replacement for the background operatic soprano in the original recording. I think it worked nicely there. I also purchased a soprano G and an alto C, but haven’t made as much use of those, mostly because I love the bright and cheery range of the soprano in C.

Stepping Up to Purple Clay

I’m planning a performance at the Renaissance Faire next Summer and am planning to include the ocarina in my instrument line-up (as vessel-flutes have been around since ancient times, even though the modern ocarina is only a couple hundred years old). The bright plastic yellow of my first soprano ocarina feels like it would be a little out of place among all the leather and homespun cloth. So …

After doing some research, I ordered a new purple clay soprano ocarina in C marketed as one of the pro-level instruments by STL Ocarinas. It happened to be on sale for eighty dollars (you gotta love that a pro-level ocarina costs about the same as a beginner-level ukulele). It finally came after some shipping delays (darn pandemic) and …

I am in LOVE with this thing (recording coming soon!). It offers a pure, piercing sound that is going to carry well in an outdoor setting. It also is easier to play and stay in tune with itself (though my yellow ocarina was no slouch).

Ocarina Acquisition Syndrome?

Like ukuleles, ocarinas are relatively inexpensive instruments, and it is easy to start collecting. There is also a practical reason to own several ocarinas, as they come in a variety of keys and ranges.

What key should I get?

Common keys for the ocarina are C, G & F. While 12 hole ocarinas are chromatic, meaning they can play in any key, they are easiest to play in their ‘home’ key as well as a key one fifth up and another one fifth down (the closest keys on the circle of fifths). Therefore, an ocarina in the key of C will most easily cover the keys of C, F and G, while the G ocarina models are most practical in G, D & C. Finally, the F ocarina models are easiest in F, C & Bb. So if you have 3 ocarinas in C, G & F then you can easily cover songs in Bb, F, C, G & D. With a little practice you can add Eb & A to that lineup of keys. Other keyed instruments may be available if you search around, but these cover the most common ukulele keys anyway.

What range should I get?

Ocarinas come in Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass ranges. While a lot depends on the model, ocarinas are generally louder in the soprano models and very quiet in the bass models (the higher the louder, the lower the softer). Caveat: the material the ocarina is made out of and the quality of construction also effect volume (read reviews before buying). For live performance, without amplification, soprano and alto models are probably the best. If you’re willing to mic or are planning to record in a studio, any model can be made to work as long as it is a quality instrument.

How do I play the ocarina?

I like method books, so I purchased the Hal Leonard Ocarina Method which is just under fifteen dollars. It really is an excellent book and I plan to record some of the melodies it covers in the future.

Getting started though is as easy as referring to an ocarina fingering chart and blowing (less air for lower notes, more air for higher ones). One of the cool things about ocarinas is that they are a transposing instrument, so you only need to learn one set of fingerings to play any 12-hole instrument, and you will read music in C. However, this can be a problem when playing with others if you don’t know how to transpose music. Because of this I would definitely suggest getting a C instrument if you’re not familiar with a lot of theory and transposing seems daunting. Later on you can branch out when you feel comfortable with the concept that a G instrument will play a G when you finger a C, and an F instrument will play an F when you finger a C. On a C instrument, a C is a C is a C, of course.

What should I play on ocarina with ukulele?

Here are some ideas for incorporating your new ocarina skills in your ukulele group:

• Instrumental riffs integral to a song can be covered on ocarina. Imagine the opening guitar riff on Layla, or the flute part on Down Under … these would be awesome on ocarina.
• Just play the melody for a verse.
• If you have arranging or improv skills, play a new countermelody of your own.
• Many older songs like Blue Skies, or Over the Rainbow follow an AABA song form. This makes for very short songs by today’s standards. Often times in the original recordings of these songs they would extend the song by doing a second instrumental B-section and then doing one last chorus of the A-section, making the song AABABA in form. This second B-section is an ideal place to cover the melody, simply or jazzed up, on ocarina.

Of course any of these ideas and more will work if your a multi-tracker in your own studio as well.

Post filed under All UkulelePlay! Blog Posts.