Our online ukulele tuner features over seven different popular types of tunings in a sleek, compact, easy-to-use interface. Simply select the type of tuning you want from the bottom left drop-down menu, the tone you want (ukulele or sine wave), and flip one of the black switches on. Make sure your speakers are turned up!
How to Tune Your Ukulele by Ear
You can use this tool as a point of reference for tuning your ukulele. If you just want to tune your ukulele to normal or standard tuning, make sure “Standard Tuning (gCEA)” is selected on the tuner.
We’ll tune the ukulele’s top string first. Turn the black switch “on” under the “G” note to hear the pitch.
As the sound is playing (as long as the switch is on the sound will keep looping), hum the note and get it in your head. Do this before plucking any strings on your ukulele. Once you’re certain you’ve heard the pitch, pluck the top string, or the G string, on your ukulele. Now, get this pitch in your head.
If the pitch of the plucked string is higher than the pitch of the sound playing on the tuner, that means the string on your ukulele is sharp.
If the pitch of the plucked string is lower than the pitch of the sound playing on the tuner, that means the strings on your ukulele is flat.
As both sounds are ringing, you want to turn your tuning pegs on your ukulele to match the two pitches. When the pitches aren’t matching, at the initial attack of the two sounds, you’ll hear almost a warbly sound between the two like this:
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When the pitches are matching, the warbly sound will be gone and the two sounds will ring smoother against each other like this:
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Be sure to check out our more in-depth article on ukulele tuning to explore how a ukulele is tuned and the different types of tunings.
Why Does My Ukulele Still Sound Out-of-Tune?
Tuning an instrument such as a ukulele by ear takes a little bit of practice and the ability to identify pitch. That’s why I mentioned above how it can be helpful to hum each pitch before comparing them so your brain is registering the pitch.
The surest way of getting your ukulele in tune is by using a chromatic tuner. The tuner I use is a Korg CA-30, which I believe has been discontinued and replaced by the Korg CA-40 (pictured above). For the price, the Planet Waves chromatic tuner has received good reviews too. Check out my review on 5 Great Chromatic Tuners for Ukulele for more recommendations.
just bit confused! i been tuning my uke by tuning the E string and then tuning the other strings off that, ie A string with Estring 5th fret, G string with Estring 3rd fret and C string 4th fret with Estring and it sounds like it perfect, but when i tune each string individually with my chromatic tuner it sounds all out of whack.. whats the best way?
Sometimes there is a discrepancy between when we tune by ear verses when we use the tuner. While our ears will generally get us very close, the tuner never lies, so even if we are slightly off it’ll point it out to us. Usually, we can tune by ear just enough to get a pleasing tuning, but if we are ever playing with other instruments or playing with a recording, it’s always a good idea to use a chromatic tuner to get that extra accuracy.
All to say, a chromatic tuner will always give you better accuracy but it sounds like you are getting pretty close just by ear, which is great. For myself, I always try to use a chromatic tuner if I have one handy, although sometimes I get lazy and it’s easier to just use the tuner on this page!
thanks, I spent a bit of time on it yesterday with the chromatic tuner and it’s going perfectly now, so not sure what I was doing wrong
I do like to have it perfectly in tune! sounds so much better.
Hi
I have recently revived my interest in the ukelela a would recommend a clip on tuner. Very easy to use. Tells you whether tuning is high or low When your uke is tuned correctly, the screen turns green.
The one I have was purchased from my local music store and cost around £18.00 sterling. A worthwhile investment. Made by Tanglewood and is the “Traffic Light Tuner TCT-1
A very useful bit of Java! Thanks.
Glad you like it!
yay
A question!
I use a tuner like your to tune my Ukulele (it cost approximately $90). It has a nice tone. However, even when it is tuned by sine or by tone, the A string, when playin chords just doesn’t sound right. SHould I so-to-say tune that string until the chords sound right or is it that my Uke is a cheapy. I have also notice that with some guitars I have had in the past unless it was very good one like a Yamaha Classical that I had at one time. I do not have perfect pitch but this is driving me CRAZY.
In Christ,
Charles
Hey Charles, my guess is that the intonation on your ukulele might be a little bit off. This is common for entry-level ukuleles. In this case, I would say that it would be best to tune the string so it sounds right in the context of the chords you are playing rather than to the tuner.
The turner is right on..Checked it against my Snark..Thanks for this and the site..Keith
That’s awesome! I’m glad I got it on the mark
Do you have one for a baritone Uke? Any sugestions on which tuning I should use. Some say to treat it like the bottom 4 strings of a guitar but I’m hoping it will still sound like a Ukulele.
I haven’t played it yet. Got it at an auction for $6 with no strings and ordered a set of Martin Baritones online to arrive soon. I’m not a musician (yet) but was curious and the price was right.
Hey Andy, you are right that you should tune the baritone uke like the four bottom strings of a guitar: DGBE.
This will still sound like a ukulele, but the nature of a baritone ukulele is that it has a deeper sound. So it is going to sound darker and warmer. The chord positions will be a little different… you’ll have to refer to some guitar chords and ignore the top two strings. It sounds like you got a great deal. It’s definitely worth a try.
I just bought the “Tiki” Ukalele tuner by Gogo tuners, and it is the best item I could have for my Uke!! Check it out everyone
Thanks for the tip Uke Monster!! I went to Sam Ash and after testing it ….I have to say it’s an excellent tuner. The screen resolution and sensitivity is awesome
Hey all found a great Uke tuner. The TIKI, by Gogo tuners, looks and works epic!!!
When using the Korg chromatic tuner, what freq. should I use when
tuning my tenor ukulele?
440hz will do the trick!
I am trying to learn on a bariton Uke. Your tuning seems to be a bit different. What are you playing on your lessons and how does that change what I do. I’d like to know before I start taking lessons gthat don’t apply to me. Thanks, Doug
Hey Doug. I’m in either in standard tuning (gCEA) or low G tuning (GCEA) for the lessons you see spread across the site. You might find my post explaining different types of tuning helpful. You can get that here.
For some of these lessons, you might have some difficulties playing along because a baritone ukulele is tuned like the bottom four strings of a guitar (DGBE). The chord fingerings will be different for you. The best thing to do is to look up guitar chords and just pay attention to the bottom four strings.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of material up right now for those playing baritone ukuleles. I apologize for this. Hopefully I can get some up in the short future!
remember no stupied questions except this one. On my clip on tuner on bottom left that has a letterA and a three digit number,what is for and where should it be?
Not a stupid question, Georgette.
All notes are defined in relation to the starting point, “A”.
The three numbers tell what frequency “A” is set to on your tuner.
Your tuner probably allows you to adjust this starting point. If so, standard tuning is to set A = 440 vibrations per second.
Hey Brett, thanks a lot for your great site! just got an uke last week as a birthday present from my girl, and after checking out various beginners sites i was happy to find yours – definetly the best in every aspect! thank you very much for sharing and spreading, also for the free book wich i just started to work thorugh.
now i was wondering wether you would test the iphone-app-uke-tuners that are available and make a recommendation. i guess many would find it very handy to have that on their mobile instead of carrying an extra device around! what do you say? best for your website, guess will go for premium when i will stick to my uke…
Hey Morph, that’s a great idea to do a post reviewing different iPhone apps. Right now, I’ve been using an app called “ClearTune” and I really like it. It’s accurate and works well.
Hi! I just got my first baritone ukulele today. I’m a beginner and first time player
And I really meant to buy those small ukuleles but ended up with the big baritone ukulele *i never knew until know*
And so I want to make my baritone ukulele sound standard, not the GCEA. Would it work? Or does baritone ukuleles only HAVE TO have the GCEA tuning.
WOOPS! completely messed up on what I wrote :/ lol
Ok so I got my baritone, and I was wondering if its possible to tune it on STANDARD, not the baritone tuning? or does the baritone ukulele really really has to have the baritone tuning?
You know, I’ve never tuned a baritone to standard tuning. If you are going to do it, I would recommend not using baritone strings to tune it to standard tuning because you’ll probably break them. You’d probably want to get regular ukulele strings and try those.
I bought a baritone recently and I put a “ukulele capo” on the 5th fret. It sounds like a soprano ukulele to me.
Paul
Thanks for the tip, Paul!
I just learned them all upside down =(
Uh oh!
can i use a normal guitar tuner…..
You should be able to just fine as long as the tuner is chromatic.
thank you soo much!!! my ukulele was out of tune for soo long but i couldnt find a good online tuner
thanks!!!!
No problem!