How to Tune Your Ukulele, Decoded

Knowing how to tune your ukulele is an essential step to playing beautifully! That’s probably not a surprise, but what might be a surprise is how much versatility you have when you tune up. There are in fact many ways you can tune your ukulele that can give you new creative possibilities.

In this blog, we’ll take you through the basics of how to tune your ukulele, and show you 10 distinct ukulele tuning modes to add to your repertoire, including specialty instruments like the guitarlele and more!

The Basics

The first thing to know is that ukulele tuning works a little differently than most instruments. This is because the ukulele often uses Re-entrant Tuning. Re-entrant tuning means that the strings aren’t in pitch order. The fourth, or G string, on the ukulele (the one at the top when you hold your uke in playing position) is tuned to a high G.

It is possible to replace your high G string with a Low G, however, which can give a more traditional “full sound” to your ukulele. We’ll cover this more in-depth later!

Tuning your uke is done by turning the keys or pegs at the headstock of your instrument. Turning either way will loosen or tighten your strings. The tighter the string, the higher the pitch. The looser the string, the lower the pitch. As you turn the tuning pegs, be sure to move slowly! Not only will this help you make finer adjustments for a perfect tune, but it will help your strings stay evenly stretched (aka not broken, a player's worst nightmare!) Take a look at this video with Ukulenny for a thorough look at tuning each string:



Need more help with tuning? Check out Kala’s Tuning Resources page!

Another key piece to the tuning puzzle is a tuner. Kala offers easy-to-use clip-on  Chromatic Tuners, which means whatever note you need to tune to is easy to see and adjust on the fly. You can also download the official Kala app, which includes a built-in tuner, right on your phone!

One last piece of equipment that can make your tuning process more convenient if you’re putting on new strings is a string winder. A string winder like the Music Nomad Grip One is made for quick unwinding of old strings, easy removal of excess string length, and even has a tool for removing bridge pins. 

Common Tunings

A player's bread and butter, these tuning modes will get you wherever you need to go!

Standard Tuning

The standard tuning for Soprano, Concert, and Tenor ukuleles is gCEA, where the G string, as mentioned previously, is a higher pitch (which is why it can be helpful to note this tuning with a lowercase g). This tuning is the starting place for almost any song one might want to play, and it's very important if you’re a new player just starting your journey!

Low G Tuning

Low G Tuning follows the same guidelines as Standard tuning, the only difference is the G string is tuned one octave lower, which means your strings will be in pitch order as you strum. To tune GCEA (note the capital G denoting lower pitch), a specific metal wound Low G string is needed. Trying to tune a nylon high G string down an octave will result in having an especially droopy string!

Baritone Tuning

If you are a guitar player, Baritone Ukulele tuning will sound familiar to you! The baritone is tuned to DGBE, just like the four highest strings on the guitar. Your baritone uke should have a lower tuning than other ukulele sizes because the scale length (distance from nut to saddle) is longer, and would lead to high tension. In comparison to standard GCEA ukulele tuning, the baritone tuning is two and a half steps lower.

Special Tunings

These tunings require no special strings, just a different approach! If you try these tunings out, be sure to stretch your strings and adjust slowly, and you'll be exploring new sounds worry-free.

Hawaiian Tuning

An appropriate first foray into special tunings is the Hawaiian (or traditional) tuning. Hawaiian Tuning is tuned to ADF#B. The F# may look strange, but this simply means "F-sharp." This tuning is how early soprano ukuleles were tuned, and can give you a feel closer to the textbook Hawaiian sound. Works best on soprano ukuleles, but is also very possible on concert-sized ukuleles (we tested it!).

Open C Tuning

Open Tunings are a fascinating way to open up new sonic possibilities on your instrument. Open C tuning, for example, is GCEG. By only tuning the A string down a step to G, you end up with a C chord when you strum. Place a finger across all the frets and slide to play different chords, or fingerpick for new sounds!

Decoding the Guitarlele and Beyond

There are a few specialty instruments in the Kala catalog that come with their own tuning conventions. Below is a brief collection of some of these instruments!

Guitarlele

A great blend of the guitar and the ukulele, the guitarlele has six strings tuned to A-D-G-C-E-A, like a guitar in standard tuning, with a capo on the fifth fret.

5-,6-, and 8-String

Similar to standard GCEA tuning with doubled strings! Each of these use Octave tuning, which means in a pair of G strings, for example, one is tuned to a High G and one is tuned to a Low G, with an octave between them. If you use a Chromatic tuner, or switch your Kala App tuner to "Chromatic" mode, you can see this relationship noted as G4 and G3 (lower numbers = lower octave).

5-String

The most straightforward of this group of ukes is the 5-string, which includes a pair of G strings tuned to Octave. As a rule of thumb, thicker strings (or wound metal strings) will be tuned lower.

6-String

Your 6-string ukulele is arranged g-c-C-E-a-A. There are two pairs of strings: one pair of C strings, tuned Octave, one high C and one low C. The other is a pair of A strings, also tuned Octave, one high A and one low A.

8-String

The 8-string ukulele has 4 pairs of strings, arranged g-G-c-C-E-E-A-A. The pairs of G and C strings are tuned Octave to each other, while the pairs of E and A strings are tuned in Unison, which means to the same note and octave.

Tenor Guitar

A uniquely bright folk instrument closer to the size of a full guitar, but with a shorter scale. The four strings of the Tenor Guitar are tuned to CGDA. This tuning mode is done in fifths, and has the same tuning as a violin or mandolin, with a capo on the fifth fret.

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Tuning your ukulele can be a little daunting especially if you're a new player. Hopefully this guide has not only given you the confidence you need to get your uke sounding perfect, but also some new ideas for ways to expand how you play. Thanks for "tuning" in! (Are you impressed by how long we resisted making a tuning pun?)