Tuning an ‘Ukulele

How to tune your ‘ukulele is one of the first things you need to learn before you can play. Playing in tune is important because if you are not in tune, the music you try to play will just be noise – or at least noise when you try and play with other people!

The ‘ukulele is usually tuned GCEA (see below for more tunings). The interval distances are: a perfect 4th (G to C), a major 3rd (C to E), and a perfect 4th (E to A).

The first method for ‘ukulele tuning is tuning relative, which means tuning the strings to each other. Tuning relative is fine if you are playing by yourself, but if you try to jam with your friend, the odds are that your “my dog has fleas” will be higher (sharp) or lower (flat) than his “my dog has fleas”. If you do know that one of the strings on your ‘ukulele is tuned correctly, tune all of the other strings to that one.

1. Start by holding the 4th fret of the 3rd (C) string. This is an E note. Play this note and the open 2nd (E) string. Use the machine heads that are on the headstock of your ‘ukulele to adjust the pitch of the E string so that it matches the pitch of the fretted E note on the C string.
2. Hold the 5th fret of the 2nd (E) string. This is an A note. Play this note and the open 1st (A) string. Use the machine heads to adjust the pitch of the A string so that it matches the pitch of the fretted A note on the E string.
3. Now hold the 3rd fret of the 2nd (E) string. This is an G note. Play this note and the open 4th (G) string. Use the machine heads to adjust the pitch of the G string so that it matches the pitch of the fretted G note on the E string.

If you tune your ‘ukulele with a low G string add this step in before the first:

• Hold the 5th fret of the 4th (G) string. This is an C note. Play this note and the open 3rd (C) string. Use the machine heads to adjust the pitch of the C string so that it matches the pitch of the fretted C note on the G string.

For the visual people out there, here is a tuning chart (dot on string shows what fret to hold, arrow shows what string to adjust to match the pitches):

Tuning Chart

The second method is for tuning your ‘ukulele is to use an electronic tuner. This is the easiest way that I can think of to tune your ‘ukulele other than having somebody tune it for you. Note that you will want to use a chromatic tuner (or setting), a guitar specific tuner will only let you tune to the guitar’s tuning. Another thing to note is that the standard tuning reference is an A note at 440hz (the A above middle C). On many tuners you can change this number up or down, but don’t. If your tuner is set to A=430hz, then you will be out of tune when you play with someone who tunes A=440hz.

Turn the tuner on, then depending on the type, clip the tuner to your ‘ukulele’s headstock, set it within “listening” range, or plug your ‘ukulele into it with a 1/4 in. jack if you have a pickup. Play an open string. The tuner displays the pitch of the note you are sounding. If the indicator is to the left of center, the pitch of the string needs to come up (higher), if it is to the right of center, the pitch needs to come down (lower). When the indicator is centered, the string is in tune.

Here are some examples of different electronic tuners:

If you have a piano or pitch pipe, you can tune to that. Match the notes on the piano or pitch pipe with the notes of the ‘ukulele. Online Pitch Pipe

Low G strings are becoming popular and offer a different sound. Tune one to the G below middle C. Tuning your ‘ukulele with a low G string.

If you start turning the tuning pegs and nothing seems to happen or the strings loosen when they should get tighter, you probably have the strings threaded on wrong. If you just got your ‘ukulele from the factory and haven’t had time to change strings this is not your fault – the stock strings on low budget ‘ukuleles are almost always put on wrong. To stop the slipping you should get some new strings and read “changing ‘ukulele strings“.

‘Ukulele Tunings:

Compared to a guitar the ‘ukulele has very few tuning options. The common ones are discussed here.

• The generally accepted standard tuning for the ‘ukulele is G,C,E,A.

Most ‘ukuleles are tuned with a high-G string (re-entrant), but tuning with a low-G string (linear) is a fast growing alternative. An ‘ukulele tuned with the low-G string has a nice, even sound when strummed. It also offers five bass notes that you can’t reach using a high-G string. Low-G string users and abusers: Herb Ohta Jr., Brittni Paiva, and James Hill. Learn about low G strings.

• Slack key: low-G,C,E,G (think Ledward Kaapana)
• Baritone: low-D,G,B,E
• English tuning: A,D,F#,B or low-A,D,F#,B (same concept as a low-G string).

You might hear some confusing names for tunings in your music travels. The “Alto” or “C6″ tuning is standard GCEA. “Soprano” or “D6″ is the English tuning. A “G6″ tuning is baritone. And the most confusing of them all: “Tenor” or “Bb6″ tuning (FBbDG – a whole step down from standard). I have never met anyone who plays a tenor tuning, but the name and the size seems to confuse people. Soprano, Concert, and Tenor sizes are all tuned the same: GCEA. Baritone is the only one that is different most of the time (DGBE), but I have met several people who tune their baritone up to standard pitch. I don’t know what size strings they were using, so be extremely cautious and do your homework before trying it out.

‘Ukulele tunings with more than 4 strings. All are tuned with all or some of the strings doubled, except the Koaloha D-VI.

• 5 string (doubled 4th): G, low-G, C, E, A
• 5 string (doubled 3rd): G, high C, C, E, A
• 5 string: (doubled 1st): G, C, E, low A, A
• 6 string: G, high C, C, E, low-A, A
• Koaloha D-VI (like guitar w/capo on the 5th fret): low-A, low-D, low-G, C, E, A
• 8 string: G, low-G, high C, C, E, E (same note), A, A (same note)