The Guitarlele Explained!

The Guitarlele is a unique instrument in the ukulele world. Neither fully ukulele nor guitar this instrument sits somewhere in between. It’s smaller size is reminiscent of a standard tenor ukulele, but the wide fret board and 6 strings make it feel like a small guitar. When it comes down to it, the way you perceive this instrument will most likely depend on the instrument you’re coming from. In this article we’ll go over some useful features of this unique acoustic instrument. 

The Guitarlele is often tuned ADGCEA. If you’re a ukulele player then this tuning may look familiar. The GCEA part is just like a standard tuned ukulele! You can play traditional ukulele chord voicings on these four strings to add a unique range to your ukulele playing. 

However, if you’re a guitar player then you are in luck! This tuning is the same as guitar with a capo on the 5th fret. That means your regular chord voicings will all apply to this instrument. You will just need to remember that all your chords are transposed up by two and a half steps.

Some Guitarleles even come with standard guitar tuning (EADGBE). This tuning offers an extremely low learning curve for guitar players. However, ukulele players will need to learn guitar chord shapes if they want to master this instrument. The familiar size and tone of the Guitarlele does help these uke players flatten the learning curve some. It’s also a good way to learn two instruments at once. The Guitarlele makes for a good gateway into guitar playing. 

Guitarleles come in a fun portable size like a ukulele and offer that similar sweet tone that’s been growing in popularity for years. It also expands on the tonal range of a traditional ukulele allowing for richer chord voicings and melodies. If you’ve never played a Guitarlele then you should absolutely give one a try! They sound great and are tons of fun!