D tuning on the ukulele used to be an extremely popular tuning method but has recently fallen out of favor in the uke community. A guitalele is tuned a 4th up from standard, which gives us the tuning of a guitare requinto a d g c e a and. It clarifies the structure of chords and scales, i. The more common tuning for a baritone ukulele is a standard guitar tuning. The sound files are each about 250k and may take a little while to download.
But, if youve just bought one, and have gotten it out of the box at home, theres one thing you need to know before anything how to tune a. You can use a keyboard or piano to tune each individual string on your ukulele to a specific note. The note a string plays known as its pitch depends on three things, two of. Online ukulele tuner standard tuning g c e a youtube. This is the same as the bottom four strings of a guitar. Today, most of the books and videos you will find use g4, c4, e4, a4 as the standard ukulele tuning. Learn about the history of the ukulele, its components, how to hold and tune it in c tuning, an. Standard tuning is gcea, which is the most common ukulele tuning. Here i provide chord tables with the most important chords for the three most common ukulele tunings. Baritone ukulele tuning d, g, b, e baritone tuning is used on baritone ukuleles and sometimes even on tenor ukuleles.
Here are some other ukulele tunings used by different ukulele players. It is pretty easy and great for beginners because you are only playing open strings on the ukulele, and so you can have a free hand to. The banjo is an essential instrument in everyones bluegrass band and this chart will get you going. This is the g that is one whole octave below the high g.
I have found it very helpful in learning the many ways to make the cords but if you are looking for a book to learn how to play, this is not it. Most soprano, concert, and tenor ukuleles read more about ukulele sizes here will be tuned to standard reentrant ukulele tuning. If you stick to some of the triedandtrue options, you can always get help. In ukulele tablature, the four lines each represent one of the ukuleles strings. The standard tuning notes on a baritone ukulele are d, g, b, and e. This books was listed as ukulele cords and thats basically what it is. Making sense of ukulele tunings ukulele in the classroom. In my book melodic meditations for ukulele, i have a simple chordmelody piece called yia yias lullaby in standard reentrant tuning. The wonders of modern technology provide an opportunity to tune your ukulele to an audio clip on the internet. As youll see in the video, it doesnt have anything close to a true bass sound but for a ukulele jam. Ukulele scales and modes by 7 mustknow ukulele scales in standard tuning gcea. Of course, any tuning is possible for ukulele, but if you get too way out, youll have to figure out all the chord shapes on your own. Ukulele chord chart standard g c e a tuning ukulele chords. The easiest way to get your ukulele in tune is to use a clipon electronic tuner.
Baritone banjoleles, also like their standard cousins, are tuned with dgbe tuning, with a. Alfreds teach yourself to play ukulele standard tuning. Baritone tuning is the same as standard, only its tuned down a perfect 4th lower to a g6 chord. Then move right along to playing notes, chords, and scalesall while you play a variety of wellknown songs and increase your knowledge of reading and understanding music notation. There are also specialized tuning forks for other notes, but for the ukulele an inexpensive standard a4 tuning fork, as shown by the illustration, is best suited. Beginners of all ages can start their journey to a lifetime of musical enjoyment. You might come across alternatives to ukulele standard tuning. With the d, g, and b being those below middle c, and the e being those above middle c. Gcea standard c6 tuning fretted friends 9781906207298. For the tenor, however, it is usual to have the d note be higher than the g note analogously to soprano ukulele tuning. The standard tenor ukulele tuning is g, c, e, a, which is identical to the soprano and concert ukuleles.
Below are the notes for two common alternate ukulele tunings. 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. We can, and such a tuning was very popular in the 1940s and 1950s and is used by the famous ukulele player lyle ritz on his albums. The d tuning edition of alfreds teach yourself to play ukulele item 145 is available from your favorite music retailer and at. Knowing the names of the notes of the fingerboard is separate from learning to read standard music notation. This means that soprano, concert, and tenor banjo ukes are tuned to gcea tuning, with a high gstring. Learn to play the ukulele and open up a brandnew world of musical knowledge with this exciting method from alfred. All keys, all 180 main ukulele chord diagrams in a2 poster or a4 pdf format.
Guitar edition volume ii major the musicians black book series 2. In a lowg tuning, you replace the high, thin gstring by a low, fat gstring. Standard tuning is transposed to a lower octave suitable for a baritone uke than what youd find for a soprano, concert, or tenor ukulele. Ukulele fingerboard chart complete ukulele chord dictionary this book teaches entirely in c tuning. Banjos, ukulele tuning and charrangos are classic examples of this type of break in tuning. Although it is your decision in what order to learn the chords, learning them in alphabetical order can be a good way to start. The two most used for ukes are open g with the notes g, c, e, g and open d tuning with the notes d, a, d y f. Includes a banjo fret board with all of the notes marked. Listen to the first note played g and play your open. The image of a ukulele comes actually from the sound of the instrument. This ukulele tuning is equivalent to the tuning of the last four strings on a guitar. Ive included the string names to the left of the line to show you. Just the standard tuning for ukulele with the notes played so you can tune it easily.
The following figure shows a righthanded ukulele tuned to standard reentrant tuning. The baritone ukulele chord bible, with its 1,728 chords offers a complete solution for both beginner and experienced professional musician alike. A down and outward pluck with the pad of your right thumb generally on the g or c string a downward motion using your right hand fingernails over the high strings generally on the c, e, and a strings. Ukulology ukulele standard tuning free pdf download. Notes the standard tuning for the soprano or concert ukulele6 is gcea, where the g string is tuned high to give the my dog has fleas tuning. Alfreds teach yourself to play ukulele, ctuning edition. Learn about the history of the ukulele, its components, how to hold and tune it in c tuning, and get acquainted with standard music notation. As you can see, the bottom string or first string is tuned to an a. These music books come with different subjects, lessons, audio, and video guide to enhance learning. Strings 1 a highest pitch 2 e 3 c 4 g lowest pitch using your tuner. Ukulele tunings have changed over time, and plenty of variety still exists, with different. To do this, i would not however advise using your standard high g strings as that thin g will end up too slack for such a low tuning. The dgbe tuning is more common for larger ukuleles, and it will give you the same root notes as the top four strings on a guitar. More advanced players can click on the pegheads to create your own tuning.
The 4 string banjo standard tuning chord chart is included in our book. Alfreds teach yourself to play ukulele standard tuning ctuning edition with cd. Ukulele tunings have changed over time, and plenty of variety still exists, with different players using different tunings for their ukuleles. This is called a reentrant g string and is unlike anything you would find on a guitar where the strings start with the lowest and go through to the highest. The note a string plays known as its pitch depends on three things, two of which you set before starting to play to select the tuning. This standard tuning is also known as c tuning, probably because, when using reentrant tuning, the lowest pitch across all the strings is c. For some reason, there are a few ukulele books that use only standard notation such as the jumpin jim books and some of the ukulele masters series.
Ukulele in the classroom books and cds are available in both c6 tuning and d6. D tuning today is most commonly found in england and canada. Inexpensive, and easy to play, the ukulele is a great extra instrument to have around, and a great introduction to music too. Complete ukulele chord charts in standard tuning ukuchords. It uses a tuning, which reminds many of us rather on a uke sound than a guitar sound.
Major scales 3 a major 3, bb major 4, b major 5, c major 6, db major 7, d major 8, eb major 9, e major 10, f major 11, gb major 12, g major, ab major 14, 2. Note that range varies with the tuning and size of the instruments. Remember that if the ukulele is tuned differently, the notes on the fretboard will change. Unlike the soprano also called standard and concert sized ukuleles, the g in the gcea tuning for the tenor is lower than the c note. Beginner lesson reading tablature sometimes ukulele songs and those of other stringed instruments are shown in tablature.
The tuning does not normally ascend or descend all in order of pitch. Whilst you are still playing the same notes its still gcea this cuts out the brighter g and makes the ukulele sound a little more mellow or bassier. But it sounds really rich and full in the baritone reentrant tuning, as shown in the excerpt in example 3. There are really six sizes that ive heard of but we will stick to the four pretty standard sizes and tunings for the ukulele. Notes are laid over the fretboard for three popular tunings. While the standard and most common tuning for the ukulele is gcea, there are alternate tunings you can use as you advance in your playing. For the basic and popular gcea ukulele tuning, play this track of the ukulele tuning notes and use it to get your ukulele in tune. Reading sheet music for the ukulele compared to tabs, reading standard notation is a complete pain in the arse. Teach yourself to play ukulele volume 1 starts you off with all the fundamentals. The layout is uncomplicated and follows a logical musical progression from standard major chords up to the more esoteric thirteenths used by many jazz players.
The chords you play are exactly the same as gcea highg tuning but give you quite a different sound to the traditional ukulele tuning. Most soprano, concert, and tenor ukuleles read more about ukulele sizes here will be tuned to. All the other notes stay the same, so its tuning is gcea. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading taking it out. It is the book that you will keep handy after you have put the others aside. This tuning with the g string an octave lower than in standard tuning is becoming more popular particularly with hawaiian players. This teeny guitar spawn has experienced a big resurgence in the last couple of years.
The official ukuchords ukulele chords charts in standard c tuning. Ukulele books offer tremendous assistance to beginner players looking to develop their playing skills. A tuning can also be named by the chord it is made up of. The second reason is that its the only true bass ukulele on this list not contrabass, meaning the tuning is one octave higher, and easier to hear without amplification. Learn to play the ukulele and open up a brand new world of musical knowledge with this exciting method from alfred. Tune to these notes in standard reentrant ukulele tuning. Teach yourself to play ukulele, standard tuning edition. To learn to read music on the ukulele in c tuning, see my series of books and lesson.