Tap a string to hear its note, then match it by ear. Or let the tuner listen through your microphone.
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The sound from your microphone is analysed on your own device and never leaves it.
Standard ukulele tuning
Soprano, concert and tenor ukuleles share one tuning: G C E A, read from the string nearest your chin to the one nearest the floor. The G sits higher in pitch than its neighbor, which means the open strings climb, drop back, then climb again, unlike a guitar's. That re-entrant G is what gives the ukulele its bright, close-voiced strum.
Some players fit a thicker low G string, an octave down, for a fuller bass line. Tune it to G the same way: the tuner names the nearest note whatever the octave, so a low G reads as G3 instead of G4.
A baritone ukulele is tuned D G B E, the same notes as a guitar's four highest strings. Choose it from the menu above.
How to tune a ukulele
- Hold the ukulele as you would to play it and pluck one string at a time with the pad of your thumb.
- Watch the note and the needle: left of center is flat, right of center is sharp.
- Turn the peg in small steps. If you overshoot, go below the note and come back up to it.
- Tune all four strings, then go round once more; the first pass always nudges the others a little.
Tuning by ear, string against string
Once the C string is right, the others can be tuned from it:
- C string, fourth fret: the E of the next string.
- E string, fifth fret: the A of the string after it.
- C string, seventh fret: the high G.
Why a new ukulele will not stay in tune
Nylon and fluorocarbon strings stretch far more than steel. New strings go flat every few minutes at first and can take a week or two of playing to settle. Tune each time you pick the instrument up; stretching each string gently along its length, then retuning, speeds this up.
If a settled ukulele drifts sharp on the higher frets, the fault is intonation or a high nut, not tuning; the guitar setup guide explains both, and the same checks apply.
The ukulele chord chart has the first chords to learn once the strings are in tune. B# Music teaches ukulele to children and adults at the studio in Charlottesville.
Questions
Which string is G on a ukulele?
The string closest to your face when you hold the ukulele to play. Standard tuning pitches it above the C string, not below.
Are soprano, concert and tenor ukuleles tuned differently?
No. All three use G C E A. They differ in body size and scale length, which changes the tone and the spacing of the frets, not the notes.
What does "my dog has fleas" mean?
It is an old mnemonic for the four open strings: sing it and each syllable lands on G, C, E and A in order.
