A tuned ukulele matters more than anything else: even the nicest chord sounds off when the strings are out of tune. Luckily, tuning is quick once you know how. Standard tuning is G C E A with a high G.
Using a tuner
- Open the tuner and allow the microphone. The sound is only analysed on your device.
- Pluck an open string, for example the G string, and let it ring.
- If the needle points left, the string is too low: turn the peg so the string gets tighter.
- If it points right, the string is too high: turn the other way until the needle sits in the middle.
- Repeat for C, E and A – then check all four strings once more.
Which peg belongs to which string?
The most common stumbling block: turning the peg of a different string and wondering why nothing changes. So trace the string with your finger all the way to the headstock. Turn slowly, in small steps, and keep plucking while you turn. It helps to tune up to the note: if the string is too high, go a bit below first and then come back up. The tuning holds better that way.
Without a tuner: tuning the strings to each other
Once one string is in tune – say the A string, matched to a reference note – you can tune the others to it:
- E string held at the 5th fret = sounds like the open A string.
- C string at the 4th fret = sounds like the open E string.
- C string at the 7th fret = sounds like the open G string (the high G).
New strings stretch a lot during the first few days and keep going out of tune. That is normal and soon stops. Find out more in changing strings and care. The string names are explained in ukulele string names.