Ukulele Tuner — Standard C, Low G and Baritone

Standard ukulele tuning is GCEA: the 4th string is tuned to G4, the 3rd to C4, the 2nd to E4 and the 1st to A4, with A4 = 440 Hz as the reference. The 4th string sits above the C string in pitch rather than below it, which is what players call the re-entrant high G.

How to use it

1. Start the tuner. Press Start Tuner (Microphone) and allow microphone access. The audio is analysed in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
2. Choose the right preset. The selector above carries the three ukulele tunings: Standard C (high G), Low G and Baritone. Pick the one that matches the instrument in your hands before you play a note.
3. Mute the other three strings. Rest the side of your plucking hand across them. A ukulele is a quiet instrument with strings that ring sympathetically, so a neighbour ringing under the note you played is a common cause of a jumping reading.
4. Pluck one string over the 12th fret. Use the side of your thumb or a soft finger pad. A nail adds a click the detector has to reject, and the ukulele’s light strings do not need a hard attack.
5. Turn the peg toward the note. A needle left of centre means the string is flat: tighten. A needle right of centre means it is sharp: loosen slightly past the note and come back up to it.
6. Follow the card order, not a pitch order. The cards run 4th, 3rd, 2nd, 1st — the physical order of the strings. On a standard C ukulele the first card is the high G, not the lowest note, so read each card’s note name rather than assuming the top card is the deepest string.
7. Use the hear-tone buttons to train your ear. Each string card can play its own reference pitch, so you can check a string by listening as well as by reading the needle.

Relative tuning without the microphone

If you have no microphone or the room is too noisy, the ukulele can be set from one in-tune reference string using the fret method:

Reference	Fret	Matches
4th string (G4)	2nd fret	Open 1st string (A4)
3rd string (C4)	4th fret	Open 2nd string (E4)
2nd string (E4)	5th fret	Open 1st string (A4)

Tuning by frets is only as accurate as your starting reference, so confirm one string with the tuner first whenever you can. On a standard C ukulele there is no low string to anchor the set, which is why the 1st string is usually the reference.

Standard C string frequencies

The cards follow the physical string order: the 4th string is listed first even though it is not the lowest note.

String	Note	Frequency (A4 = 440 Hz)
4th (high G)	G4	392.00 Hz
3rd	C4	261.63 Hz
2nd	E4	329.63 Hz
1st	A4	440.00 Hz

To map and memorise every note along the neck in both standard GCEA and baritone setups, see our complete ukulele fretboard notes guide. To audition chord shapes, test fingerings, and play on a responsive browser fretboard, open our Virtual Ukulele.

The re-entrant high G

The re-entrant G is the single most confusing thing about the ukulele, and it is worth understanding before you tune:

• The strings do not run low to high. On a guitar, violin or bass, the strings ascend in pitch and the last string is the highest. A standard ukulele breaks that rule: the 4th string is G4 and the 3rd is C4, so moving from the 4th to the 3rd string drops in pitch instead of rising.
• “Re-entrant” describes the pitch direction. The tuning re-enters the range of the other strings. The four notes C4, E4, G4 and A4 sit within about a sixth of each other, so the strings overlap rather than spreading out across a wide register.
• That overlap is the sound. Because the notes are packed close together, chords are voiced in a narrow, bright range and the strings share overtones. This close voicing, not the body size alone, is a large part of what makes a ukulele sound like a ukulele.
• The 4th string is the second-highest note, not the lowest. The pitch order is C4, E4, G4, A4, while the string order is G4, C4, E4, A4. The A4 on the 1st string is the highest note on the instrument.
• The string cards show the physical order. The G4 card appears above the C4 card because it is the 4th string. If a reading looks like the wrong octave, check which card is highlighted rather than assuming the display is wrong.

Low G, baritone and the other sizes

Low G

A low-G set replaces the high G4 string with a G one octave lower, G3 = 196.00 Hz. The result is a linear tuning — the strings now run G3, C4, E4, A4 from lowest to highest, like a small guitar. The 4th string becomes the bass note of the chords you play, so the instrument gains a fuller low end and a wider range, at the cost of the traditional re-entrant shimmer. Low-G strings are often wound rather than plain, and a wound string is thicker, so check that it sits freely in the nut slot before you bring it up to pitch.

String	Note	Frequency (A4 = 440 Hz)
4th (low G)	G3	196.00 Hz
3rd	C4	261.63 Hz
2nd	E4	329.63 Hz
1st	A4	440.00 Hz

Baritone

The baritone ukulele is tuned DGBE: D3, G3, B3 and E4. Those are the same notes as the top four strings of a guitar, and a baritone sounds a fourth below a standard ukulele played with the same chord shapes. Treat it as its own instrument rather than a bigger soprano: the body is larger, the scale is longer, the strings are heavier, and much of its chord vocabulary comes from the guitar.

String	Note	Frequency (A4 = 440 Hz)
4th	D3	146.83 Hz
3rd	G3	196.00 Hz
2nd	B3	246.94 Hz
1st	E4	329.63 Hz

Soprano, concert and tenor

The three standard C sizes differ in scale length, not in tuning. Roughly: soprano around 13 in (33 cm), concert around 15 in (38 cm) and tenor around 17 in (43 cm). A longer scale gives the strings more tension at the same pitch, which usually means more volume and a fuller tone, and it gives a low-G string more room to speak cleanly — which is why low G is more common on concert and tenor instruments than on a soprano.

Accuracy and limits

• The ukulele is quiet, so distance hurts more than it does on a guitar. Hold the instrument close to the microphone and tune in a quiet room. The strings themselves are comfortably inside a small microphone’s range; it is the small body’s output that makes the reading fragile.
• A ringing neighbour is the most common bad reading. Rest your hand across the other three strings while you pluck one. Because the strings overlap in pitch so much, a sympathetic ring can easily take over the display.
• Pressing too hard bends the note sharp. Ukulele strings are light and the action is low, so a heavy fretting hand pulls the pitch up. Fret lightly when you are checking a note against the display.
• A hard pluck makes the thin A string spike. The 1st string is the thinnest in the set. Pluck it gently and let it settle for a moment before judging the reading.
• New nylon strings stretch quickly at first. Expect to retune several times during the first hours of playing, and again after the instrument has been in a different room for a while.
• Tune the right octave. The 1st string target is A4 = 440.00 Hz, not A5. On a soprano the whole set sits in a narrow range, so an octave error on any string is easy to make and hard to hear — read the card.

Safety

• Tune up to pitch in small increments. Ukulele strings are thin and can snap, and the 1st string is the most fragile. If a string is sharp, lower it below the target and come back up.
• Never tune an octave too high. The targets are G4, C4, E4 and A4. An A5 on the 1st string is roughly double the tension the instrument is built for.
• Do not force a stiff or slipping peg. Many ukuleles use friction pegs, which need a light inward pressure while turning. If a peg slips, check its screw or fit rather than tightening it hard; forcing a peg can crack the headstock.
• Check a wound low-G string in the nut. If it binds in the slot, ease it free rather than pulling it through; a string that cannot slide will go sharp as you tune and slip flat as you play.
• Give new strings time. Fresh nylon strings settle for a while. Tune, play briefly, then re-check before you judge the instrument.
• Support the neck while you tune. A ukulele neck is light, and pulling hard on a peg while the body is unsupported puts strain on the joint.

Clip-on tuner or microphone?

A clip-on tuner senses vibration through the headstock, so it ignores room noise and works on a noisy stage. A microphone tuner hears the sound the instrument actually produces in the air, which is what this page does; on a phone the built-in microphone is the only input available. Because a ukulele is quiet, the microphone path needs a quieter room than a guitar does, and a clip-on is the easier tool at a session where other instruments are playing.