Range of notes of standard ukulele types:
Note that range varies with the tuning and size of the instruments. The examples shown in the chart reflect the range of each instrument from the lowest standard tuning, to the highest fret in the highest standard tuning.
Tuning
Ukulele C[SUP]6[/SUP] tuning
Play (
help·
info).
"My dog has fleas" tuning.
Play (
help·
info)
The (currently) most popular tuning for the standard or soprano ukulele is C[SUP]6[/SUP] tuning: G[SUB]4[/SUB]–C[SUB]4[/SUB]–E[SUB]4[/SUB]–A[SUB]4[/SUB].[SUP]
[48][/SUP] The G string is tuned an octave higher than might be expected. This is known as a "
reentrant tuning"; it enables uniquely close-harmony chording. A few players prefer "low G" tuning, with the G in sequence an octave lower: G[SUB]3[/SUB]–C[SUB]4[/SUB]–E[SUB]4[/SUB]–A[SUB]4[/SUB], the same relationship as the top 4 strings (DGBE) of a guitar in standard tuning.
Another common tuning for the soprano ukulele is the higher string-tension D[SUP]6[/SUP] tuning (or simply D tuning), A[SUB]4[/SUB]–D[SUB]4[/SUB]–F
♯[SUB]4[/SUB]–B[SUB]4[/SUB], one step higher than the G[SUB]4[/SUB]–C[SUB]4[/SUB]–E[SUB]4[/SUB]–A[SUB]4[/SUB] tuning. Once considered standard, this tuning was commonly used during the Hawaiian music boom of the early 20th century, and is often seen in sheet music from this period, as well as in many method books through the 1980s. D[SUP]6[/SUP] tuning is said by some to bring out a sweeter tone in some ukuleles, generally smaller ones. D[SUP]6[/SUP] tuning with a low fourth string, A[SUB]3[/SUB]–D[SUB]4[/SUB]–F
♯[SUB]4[/SUB]–B[SUB]4[/SUB], is sometimes called "Canadian tuning" after its use in the Canadian school system, mostly on concert or tenor ukuleles, and extensive use by
James Hill and
J. Chalmers Doane.[SUP]
[49][/SUP]
Whether C[SUP]6[/SUP] or D[SUP]6[/SUP] tuning should be the "standard" tuning is a matter of long and ongoing debate. There are historic and popular ukulele methods that have used each.[SUP]
[50][/SUP]
The "higher pitched" instruments (sopranino, soprano, concert) most often employ reentrant tuning, while the "lower pitched" instruments (baritone, bass, and often tenor) usually employ
linear tuning, where the strings are tuned from low to high pitch across the instrument. For example, baritone is usually tuned to D[SUB]3[/SUB]–G[SUB]3[/SUB]–B[SUB]3[/SUB]–E[SUB]4[/SUB], (like the highest four strings of a standard 6-string guitar.) There are, however, exceptions, with some players preferring to place the tenor (and even, rarely, the baritone) into re-entrant tuning as well.
Hawaiian ukuleles may also be tuned to
open tunings, similar to the Hawaiian
slack key style.[SUP]
[51][/SUP]
Ukulele can be tuned like
Dotara as well (a four string instrument played by the folk singers in
India and
Bangladesh) Ukulele can be tuned like Dotara in many patterns, but E-B-E-A is the easiest way to tune it as there is only two strings need to be tuned.[SUP]
[52][/SUP]