What Tuning?
ANY tuning is possible on a ukulele as long as the ukulele's construction supports the required string tension and a string is available . The manufacture or the builder of the ukulele would or should have this string tension information. The string manufacture typically has the tension information for their strings on their respective web sites.
There are three common tunings in popular use today, C, D and G tuning — with C tuning being the most popular.
Re-entrant Ukulele Tuning?
If coming from the guitar world where the strings, tuned low to high, is often called a linear tuning. An instrument like the ukulele with a higher pitched string four is called a re-entrant tuning where the lowest note of the instrument might not be the lowest string. This can seem a little strange at first. The re-entrant tuning, places all the notes of a chord within one octave, is part of the unique ukulele sound. This tuning is especially common for the smaller soprano and concert ukuleles.
Tuning is one of the aspects of the ukulele that gives it its charm. Or, it's a plot by builders and manufacture to have you buy more ukuleles.
For C Tuning ( g C E A ) the above fretted notes are ALL the exact same pitch (A 440 Hz, the A above middle C, ) when using the re-entrant, "high G" tuning. And when using a low G string, the A (220 Hz) on the string four is one octave lower than the others.
To tune the ukulele relative to itself, compare the fretted notes on string four ( closest to your nose ) fret(2), string three (fret 9), and string two (fret 5) to the open string one. Tune up or down to the match this open string one's note. I listen for the notes to sound as one note.
Way before there where electronic tuners and you had to tune by ear, I always struggle getting my guitar in tune until a family friend showed me this cool trick to help you get in tune, Virginia Schawacker , a folk guitarist, showed me when I was around 11 or 12 was to play the A on string two at fret (5), and if string one is in tune, which should be the same A as well, it will vibrate.
Virginia Schawacker
Virginia Schawacker founded Shaw Strings in 1989 and provides you with a string quartet, trio, duo, solo harp, violin or flute, double quartet, or any combination of these players for your wedding, cocktail hour, or special event.
No Excuse For Being Out of Tune
In this electronic age where you can ask, "Who doesn't make a clip on tuner?". Simply get an electronic tuner or download an app to your smart phone and get in tune.
Web Sites for Tuning Up
Software and iPhone/iPad apps
Here are a few of the software tuners I've used. - The Peterson iStroboSoft is the software tuner I currently use on mu iPhone.
- iStroboSoft - by Peterson Tuners - ( Ed. The most accurate tuners on the market. I use Peterson tuners for all my repair work and live. )
- Cleartune - Chromatic Tuner
- GuitarToolkit - Agile Partners
- PolyTune - TC Electronic
- or - just buy an electronic tuner and get in-tune quickly and accurate.
It is a also good to actually learn to tune by ear. If your ever stranded on a desert island and are without your tuner or have it with you and the battery dies. You need to learn how to tune the ukulele to itself!!!
Recommended Tuners
The Peterson StrobeClip HD, D'Adarrio NS Micro Headstock Tuner are my favorite tuners. I the D'Adarrio NS Micro Headstock Tuner on all my performance ukuleles. The new Peterson StroboClip HD is for all other ukes and if I really what super precision when tuning. I really have grown to like strobe tuners.
At our family music store, Funky Frets we carry a the of D'Adarrio Eclipse and Snark clip-on tuners. I clip either the Peterson StrobeCLip HD or one of the D'Adarrio Eclipse tuners on in the morning at home as part of my `Ukulele uniform for the day. The repair and setup bench always has a Peterson StrobePLUS HDC Handheld Tuner / Metronome / Timer fired up.
The Micro Headstock Tuners are the go to tuner that I use on ALL my ukuleles for a quick tuning check. — Curt
For more detailed and percise tuning I use the Peterson Strobe Tuners. — Curt
(from Peterson Tuners) If you are new to strobe tuners, you will notice that they are much more sensitive and accurate than your previous tuner. It's OK if the strobe image doesn't completely stop. It may shift slightly due to the 'real-time' speed of a strobe tuner. If you play a stringed instrument, it helps to use your finger or thumb to gently pluck the string instead of a plectrum.
Peterson Electro-Musical Products, Inc.
In 1948, 10 years after the invention of the strobe tuner, Chicago-based Peterson Electro-Musical Products began building instrument tuners under the direction of Dick Peterson, a pioneer of solid state electronics. The first Peterson tuner was the Model 150 in 1952. This was updated to become the Model 200 in 1959 and the design was advanced to solid state with the Model 300 in 1966.
Planet Waves
In 1994, Howard and Robert Silagy started a small guitar strap company in Hicksville, N.Y. Their approach to business was simple: make attractive, durable straps using high-quality materials and people will buy them. Over the next four years, the company grew, with sales skyrocketing because of the growing popularity of Planet Waves colorful, attractive designs and the line's thick, heavy-duty leather tabs.
Peterson Electro-Musical Products, Inc.
Peterson Electro-Musical Products, Inc. is a music-electronics company founded by Richard H. Peterson in 1948. The Peterson company introduced the first commercial hand held electronic tuner for musicians, the Model 70, in 1964, and later its models of strobe tuners became popular among touring and studio musicians such as the Grateful Dead, The Who, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, Jimi Hendrix, and Neil Young. Since its inception the company has also contributed notable inventions and innovations to the electronic organ, and its products are in use in many thousands of pipe organs, and hundreds of thousands of electronic organs, worldwide.
Peterson StroboClip HD Clip-On Tuner
Clip-on tuner for guitar, bass, ukulele, banjo, mandolin, dobro, brass and woodwind instruments, violin, steel guitar, bagpipes, and more.
The StroboClip HD (SC-HD) features a high-definition, real-time tuning display that delivers 1/10th cent (1/1000th of a semitone or fret) tuning accuracy. It comes complete with alternate temperaments for a vast array of string, brass, and wind instruments. Over 50 exclusive, preset Sweetened Tunings are onboard to help correct inherent tuning issues exhibited by many instruments. Designed and engineered by Peterson Strobe Tuners - pioneers in the field of tuning and metronome equipment.
Peterson StroboPlus HD Desktop Strobe Tuner
Desktop strobe tuner for guitar, bass, ukulele, banjo, mandolin, dobro, Buzz Feiten, brass and woodwind instruments, violin, steel guitar, pedal steel, bagpipes, and more.
Charge up this large-screen chromatic StroboPlus HD tuner (with over 90 Sweetened tunings) and use the built-in microphone or ¼” input to plug in and tune it’s that simple! Edit with software to customize this tuner to be precisely what you want it to be!
Peterson StroboStomp HD
Pedal strobe tuner with true-bypass operation and buffered output tuning modes for guitar, bass, Buzz Feiten, steel guitar, pedal steel, and more.
The StroboStomp HD boasts a high-definition, LCD screen that incorporates a variable color LED backlight. The user-selectable colors can be used to personalize the tuner or to increase display viewing quality in different levels of ambient lighting depending on the usage environment. The vibrant screen colors can also be assigned to stock or user presets to significantly reduce menu navigation time and increase on-stage tuning confidence at the gig.