Range of ukes?

sparkfur125

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Hi, I was wondering what the range of all the sizes of ukes are and how they compare to the guitar.

Thanks
 
The 4 most common sizes are:

Soprano - Scale length approx 13"
Concert - Scale length approx 15"
Tenor - Scale length approx 17"
Baritone - Scale length approx 19"-20"

Guitar scale lengths are usually around 24-3/4" - 25-1/2" for a full size guitar. 3/4 sized guitars usually have scale lengths of around 22" - 23"

There is also a smaller but less common ukulele size called a supronino. Their scale lengths are less than 13" but I don't know how much.
 
It's probably also worth pointing out that soprano, concert and tenor ukes are often tuned GCEA while the baritone is usually DGBE which is equivalent to the top/treble four strings on a guitar.
 
Sopraninos tend to have a scale length of 11.9" to 12.something. Smaller than 11.9 and people sometimes start to call them "pocket" ukes or "piccolos."

The smaller ukes start to be tuned in eclectic ways, since they sometimes are too loose when tuned to standard soprano gCEA. They usually get tuned higher but in the same relationship as gCEA, to tighten up the strings.
 
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Other than baritiones ukes generally are tuned as if a guitar had a capo at the fifth fret, GCEA.

So the "range" of my preferred "tenor low-g" compared to a guitar is that the lowest note I can play is G the same as the 3rd string on a guitar, and because it has 18 frets, the highest note I can hit is E-flat, or 23 frets above the open E on a guitar.

It gets complicated from there, because traditionally small ukes have the G string tuned up an octave, so the lowest pitched string is not the G but the C.
So we say the uke is in C tuning.

The beautiful thing is that all the chord shapes you already know work on a uke.
But on anything smaller than a baritone they're five frets higher, so a D chord on a guitar or a baritone uke is a G on any smaller uke.


Traditional tuning for the soprano ukulele was D6-tuning: A4 D4 F#4 B4, but standard tuning for concert and tenor ukuleles the C6-tuning instead: G4 C4 E4 A4. The G string is tuned an octave higher than might be expected. This is known as reentrant tuning. Some prefer "Low G" tuning on the tenor, with the G in sequence an octave lower. The baritone is usually tuned to D3 G3 B3 E4, which is the same as the highest four strings of the standard 6-string guitar.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukulele
 
The 4 most common sizes are:

Soprano - Scale length approx 13"
Concert - Scale length approx 15"
Tenor - Scale length approx 17"
Baritone - Scale length approx 19"-20"

Guitar scale lengths are usually around 24-3/4" - 25-1/2" for a full size guitar. 3/4 sized guitars usually have scale lengths of around 22" - 23"

There is also a smaller but less common ukulele size called a supronino. Their scale lengths are less than 13" but I don't know how much.



Oh, Im sorry. I did not word that well. I mean what is the range (pitch or whatever) they can play, compared to a guitar? Sorry for not wording that right. Especially since you guys came with great answers anyway. :)
 
It depends a bit on the tuning and number of frets but generally sopranos with let's say 12 frets in reentrant tuning range from D4 (for D tuning) / C4 (for C tuning) to B5 (D tuning) / A5 (C tuning). Concerts and tenors usually have more frets so that adds a few more notes on the higher register.
If you tune your uke with a low 4th, then the lowest note you can get is an A3 in low D tuning (also called Canadian tuning) and a G3 in low G tuning.
Baritones usually have linear tuning, and start from D3 to whichever note you might get on a guitar, give or take a couple of notes depending on the length of the fretboard. Some people tune the baritone reentrant, in which case the lower note is a G3, and some people tune it GCEA but an octave lower than standard C tuning, in which case the lowest note is a C3. Transpose for corresponding highest note.
 
Oh, Im sorry. I did not word that well. I mean what is the range (pitch or whatever) they can play, compared to a guitar? Sorry for not wording that right. Especially since you guys came with great answers anyway. :)

Standard tuning on a C tuned re-entrant uke has the lowest note at middle C (open third string). Middle C on a guitar is second string first fret. A guitar's lowest note is an E that is 20 frets lower. Depending on the number of frets on a ukulele, the uke can have more notes on the top end verses the guitar. If I am figuring it correctly, a 20 fret guitar and a 15 fret uke would have the same uppermost range. There are many ukes that have more than 15 frets, so their range would stretch higher.

Standard uke tuning with Low G tuning gives you 5 more notes on the low end. Baritone ukuleles can be tuned various ways but are commonly tuned like a four string guitar, with the lower 2 strings omitted. Lowest note there is D, 10 frets below middle C.

–Lori
 
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There's the kala pocket uke (ushualy tuned a few steps higher than GCEA.) which is insanely tiny followed by other sopranino ukes like the ohana. Then there is soprano tenor and concert wich are tuned the same way. Then there is baritone wich is tuned like the highest 4 strings of a guitar. Then there is the u bass wich is the same size as a baritone but tuned like a bass.
 
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