How to tune a ukulele
Learn how to tune your ukulele in this tutorial. There are several ways to do it. Tuning may look complicated, but it’s not. You can tune your ukulele with a chromatic tuner, online or with the free mobile app. Finally, tune your ukulele so you can play.
There are several ways to tune a ukulele. Left-handed players will want to be careful, as they must restring their ukulele so that it can be played with their left hand. All sizes of ukulele can be tuned with a chromatic tuner, a mobile app or online. However, these are not very good methods. It is best to use a cascading chromatic tuner.
Tuning individual ukulele strings
The top string is tuned to G, the third string to C, the second to E and the first to A. An often mentioned aid for tuning the ukulele is the chant – my dog has fleas. As a beginner, you can’t tune to this aid. Manufacturers sometimes recommend tuning A, D, F sharp (F#), H. It’s a step up from the previous tuning. What you choose is up to you.
Usual tuning according to the type of ukulele
- Soprano ukulele: G4, C4, E4, A4 less common A, D, F# (Fis), H
- Concert ukulele: G4, C4, E4, A4
- Tenor ukulele: G4, C4, E4, A4 also G3, C4, E4, A4
- Baritone ukulele: D3, G3, B3 (H3), E4
How to tune for left-handed?
When you buy a new ukulele, it will definitely come tuned for right-handed players. In that case, you’ll have to restring it. It’s not a big deal. Don’t forget to mark them! So you know how to put them back on. Then restring them so that when the neck faces the right side, the strings are tuned as shown above. That means: when you strum the strings with your right hand as a left-handed player, the strings must be in this order from top to bottom, G, C, E, A. That’s the magic of tuning a left-handed ukulele.
Ukulele tuner
The absolute easiest and probably best way to tune a ukulele is to use a ukulele tuner, which you clip to the headstock of the ukulele and simply strum the strings and turn the pegs until the tuner indicates that the tone is correct. That is, in tune.
Ukulele tuner
A clip-on chromatic tuner is one thing you probably can’t do without. Sure, you can tune the instrument via the app on your phone, but it’s not the same. The clip-on tuner catches at the tuning mechanics and then you just strum the string. You can see on the colour display how far you are from the right tone. With a tuner like this, even a music illiterate can tune the instrument.
I use a guitar tuner that also tunes my ukulele. The important thing is that it’s chromatic. This means that it is not specifically for guitar, but can show the played tone on any stringed instrument and possibly advise whether to tighten or loosen the string. Tuners in Music-city.
The best tuners according to users
How to tune a ukulele with a tuner
Tuning a ukulele with a tuner is easy. You attach the tuning peg to the head of the instrument and tune. You can usually tune with it in noise or in the dark. The principle of tuning is simple. You strum the string and the tuner tells you whether to tighten or loosen the string.
If you’re into style, you can buy a tuning fork in the shape of an owl, cat, alien or reindeer.
How to tune a ukulele online
You can also tune your ukulele online. Tuning a ukulele like this is not a good way to tune a ukulele because it is an inaccurate method. Just like tuning with a mobile app. What kind of emergency tuning is it usable. Just type the phrase Ukulele turner into a search engine and see how many ukulele tuners there are in the world.
You can tune your ukulele with your smartphone
If you have an Android phone (I don’t know about iPhones or Windowsphones) you can tune your ukulele using the simple Tuner app – gStrings (link to the app in the Google store). You just strum the string and the app will show you what tone you have tuned and you can tell if you should loosen or tighten the string by the scale. It’s free in the basic version.
Try tuning your ukulele by ear
You can also tune by ear. It’s called standard tuning. You can’t do that as a beginner anyway, so there’s no need to worry about it, because you can only do something like that after a lot of practice playing or if you’re an absolute earworm.