Ukulele tuning

G4 · C4 · E4 · A4

A soprano, concert or tenor ukulele is tuned G C E A, and the surprise for anyone coming from guitar is that the G is the highest-sounding string of the four, not the lowest — it sits above the C, the E and nearly level with the A. That is re-entrant tuning, and it is what gives the ukulele its bright, jangly sound rather than the descending sweep a guitar makes when you strum downward.

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Strings

  • 4G4
  • 3C4
  • 2E4
  • 1A4

Last few seconds

Harmonics

How far each overtone sits above its ideal position. A stiff, wound string rises to the right.

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What to aim at

Matches what it hears to the nearest string of the tuning.

The strings

From the string nearest your face to the one nearest the floor: G4, C4, E4, A4. The C is the lowest note on the instrument, which is why a ukulele has no real bass register and why chords voiced on it sound so compact — everything lives inside a single octave. Nylon strings also settle much more slowly than steel, so a new set will drift flat for days and needs retuning several times a session before it holds.

Other tunings for it

Low G swaps the fourth string for a wound one an octave down, giving G3 C4 E4 A4 and a genuine low end — the choice for solo playing where you want a bass note under the melody. Baritone ukuleles are tuned D3 G3 B3 E4, which is the top four strings of a guitar, so a guitarist can play one immediately. Slack key (G C E G) and D tuning (A D F♯ B) turn up in Hawaiian playing. All of them are in the selector.

Other tunings

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