Ukulele · Chapter 4 of 24

Tuning G C E A

Nylon strings drift out of tune, especially when they’re new. Tune every time you pick up the ukulele; it takes a minute.

A ukulele in tune sounds sweet even with simple chords; one out of tune sounds wrong however well you play. Tuning is the first thing to do, every time.

With the tuner

The quickest way is our tuner: choose the ukulele, press the button to let it listen through your microphone (nothing is recorded or sent anywhere), and pluck one string at a time. The needle shows whether the note is flat (too low) or sharp (too high). Turn that string’s peg a little, pluck again, and stop when it says “in tune.” A clip-on tuner works the same way.

Which way to turn? Tightening a string raises its note; loosening lowers it. If you’re not sure which way a peg tightens, turn it slowly while the string sounds and listen. Tune up to a note: if you’re sharp, go a little below and then come back up, so the string settles and stays in tune.

By ear

Press a string below to hear its note, then match your string to it. Listen for the “wobble” when two notes are close but not the same; as they come together, it slows down and disappears.

String to string

If one string is in tune (or you just want the ukulele in tune with itself), you can tune the others from it. Start with the C string, string 3:

PressIt soundsMatch this open string to it
string 3 (C), 4th fretEstring 2 (E)
string 2 (E), 5th fretAstring 1 (A)
string 3 (C), 7th fretGstring 4 (G)

Press the fretted note and then the open string next to it: the pairs should sound exactly alike. The last pair is the same note because of the high G: string 4 is tuned to the G above the C, not below it.

Try it. Tune your ukulele with the tuner, then check it string to string with the three pairs above. Strum all four open strings: in tune, they make a gentle, open chord (C6).

Remember

  • Tune every time you play: G C E A.
  • Flat = too low (tighten); sharp = too high (loosen, then tune up).
  • String to string: C string at frets 4 and 7, E string at fret 5.
@teddyrookbook GitHub