How often do you find yourself tuning your uke?

The Pinneapple Pirate

The Pinneapple Pirate

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I've noticed mine's been going out of tune and needing tuning usually every other day. Not a huge hassle since it doesn't take long, but I've been wondering if it's normal or if it's a problem with the strings or something?
 
The Pinneapple Pirate said:
I've noticed mine's been going out of tune and needing tuning usually every other day. Not a huge hassle since it doesn't take long, but I've been wondering if it's normal or if it's a problem with the strings or something?
Click to expand...

I tune them every time I play them. They both hold tuning pretty well (after a long settling period), but they still need a little adjusting every time.
 
How old are your strings? My koalohas and my mele seldom need tuning. I still check almost everytime I play then but usually they only need minor adjusting.
 
When I am just dinking around I tune them every few hours depending on the area I am playing. (Cold weather = more tuning)

If I am performing it is usually after every song.
 
I check tuning just before playing every day. I usually have to adjust it a little, but often, especially on the Kalas, they are still in tune. I adjust tuning during playing, if it starts to sound a little "off". I think weather is a factor, as well as playing style.
–Lori
 
It depends on where we are. Heat/humidity changes can make a big difference in how well an instrument stays in tune.

When we are home, which is a sailboat in the Caribbean, the climate is so stable that we only have to tune every couple of days.

However, when we are staying in the mountains of New Mexico, where humidity is low and temperature changes can be dramatic, we often have to tune between songs.

Our ukuleles apparently prefer the tropical climate, not unlike myself. :D
 
SailQwest said:
It depends on where we are. Heat/humidity changes can make a big difference in how well an instrument stays in tune.

When we are home, which is a sailboat in the Caribbean, the climate is so stable that we only have to tune every couple of days.

However, when we are staying in the mountains of New Mexico, where humidity is low and temperature changes can be dramatic, we often have to tune between songs.

Our ukuleles apparently prefer the tropical climate, not unlike myself. :D
Click to expand...

yeah i didn't really think about that
i live in a desert so there's very low humidity, and the temperature likes to change from hot to cold quite a bit now that it's getting into winter time
 
I tune mine every time I play it. Just to be safe. Not even play it actually, sometimes I'll just take it out of the case and tune it. Haha.
 
Every time I play is the short answer. The long answer is, if you stretch your strings well, there should only be minor adjustments to get the uke in tune with itself. If you're playing with other tuned instruments, there's nothing like a digital tuner to get everyone on the same pitch. If you bend notes a lot, you will need periodic tuning to stay spot-on. At gigs, I'll check my tuning between every song, especially in the first set. New strings take a while to break in. I usually put a string on, tune it well sharp, then stretch the bejesus out of it, tune it sharp again, stretch it flat again, and repeat that until the mega stretching causes no significant drop in pitch. Nylon strings will continue to stretch over time, so I don't put too many winds on the peg when I string up. If you are using friction pegs, make sure the tension screw is tight (but not over-tight).
 
If the strings are super new, then once ever 30 min. If the strings are a few days to a week old then maybe once a day. Otherwsie, once a week or less, whenever it sounds a little off. I'm lazy. :D
 
Check your tuning often throughout your playing session. When it is out of tune, tune it. ??
 
......after songs with hard strumming, so not very often......
 
I tune my uke all the time, but I haven't found myself yet. Guess it's a zen thing.
 
I tune every time I play, and then, multiple times. That is not uncommon for me with any instrument, except the bow psaltery. They don't need frequent tuning being strung with piano-wire.

Ukuleles, especially solid wood ukes, need frequent tuning when changes occur in atmospheric conditions, the heat goes on and off a lot, like here in the Midwest in winter. An out-of-tune instrument drives me nuts.
 
im lazy so i tune every couple of days, no biggy my ears begining to become a bit better in the sence that i can hear when shes a bit out of tune and can tune it up without needing a tuner, and im usually pretty close
 
It seems that all my ukes other than my flea the strings have settled in so I rarely have to fiddle with tuning...

My Flea on the other hand lives in my backpack which goes with me everywhere the other morning it was 27deg out and 72deg where I work so it is always going out of tune.

I did have to do some tuning to the Uke I was playing on turkey day I took it from the basement out to the sunshine and after a few min. it went quite sharp#.
 
thejumpingflea said:
When I am just dinking around I tune them every few hours depending on the area I am playing. (Cold weather = more tuning)

If I am performing it is usually after every song.
Click to expand...

Same as that.
 
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