Why Is A Ukulele Tuned The Way It Is?
So, I wanted to get into some of the nuts and bolts of actually playing the ukulele, but before we go there, I thought I'd find some information to share about why the ukulele is tuned the way it is.
I've been a string player since I was about seven years old, and all the string instruments I've ever played have their strings arranged starting with the lowest string on top (to the left of the instrument when you stand or sit behind it, or closest to your face when you hold it in front of you like a guitar) to the highest (on the left if you're standing behind it or closest to the floor when you hold it in front of you like a guitar.)
But, no, not the ukulele. Actually, there are quite a few other stringed instruments out there that are tuned the way the ukulele is, but none of them are really as mainstream as the uke. (Unless you count the sitar, the tonkori, or the charango as mainstream.)
ANYWAY...the way a re-entrant ukulele is tuned is with a high g as the fourth string, and then a lower C, E, and A as the remaining three strings in that order (working down to the string closest to the floor). This re-entrant tuning is from the original Portuguese machete that the design for the ukulele was based on.
So when you're playing the ukulele, if you put your finger down on the second fret of that fourth string and pluck that and the open first string at the same time, you're playing the same note - A.
Now, just to make things interesting, we also have ukuleles that are strung with a low G as that fourth string. If you have a uke with a low G, you can put your finger down on the second fret of that fourth string and pluck that and the open first string at the same time, and you have the same note - A, just an octave apart. You can still play pretty much anything the same with a low G, but remember that some arrangements - especially scales, some fingerpicking arrangements, and a lot of classical transcriptions - are all written for high g.
For folks who prefer the low G, there are a whole bunch of places online where you can find great arrangements for low G. A few of my favorite places to download free sheet music for low G:
And just for fun, there are also ukuleles that have five strings and have both the low G and high g. I'll write more about those multi-string configurations in another blog.
Just like with a lot of other things with the ukulele, there's no "right" or "wrong" way to configure the strings on your uke. If you love the bright sound of the high g, stick with it! If you prefer the robust vibrations of the low G, use it! Playing uke is all about what feels good to you.
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