How To Tune A Ukulele

Do you want to know how they tuned the ukulele at home? There are many instruments in the world that are really nice to play, but not all of them are very popular. This unfortunately happens with the ukulele. Despite being an instrument that is frequently used in classical music in some countries, the ukulele is really not the instrument most used or required by people who like to play instruments.

Part of this is because the ukulele is used more in tropical music and comedy instrumental music, that its popularity in the general musical realm is not as great as that of other types of string instruments. Because of this many people don’t really know how to tune a ukulele.

In the end, this instrument is actually much simpler than you can imagine.

But if you are not one of the people who have a developed musical ear and require another type of method to be able to tune your ukulele, then don’t worry. Here we will clearly explain the most effective ways to tune your ukulele. To tell the truth, it is something so simple that we are going to show you several methods so that you can carry out this action and have your instrument ready to play it whenever you want.

What do you need to tune a ukulele?

• ukulele
• Tuner

Instructions to tune a ukulele

1. First of all you should start with knowing the structure of your instrumentand the functionality it has. Sometimes it happens that people believe that their ukulele is out of tune, but there are times when this is not the case. It happens that we are not completely familiar with the instrument and when playing or listening to it it seems to us that something is wrong there, but in reality you may simply not be completely familiar with the sound of this instrument and that is why it seems to you that something is wrong. wrong. Or, you may not be playing the instrument properly.
2. In the upper part of the fingerboard or arm of the instrument, you will be able to notice 4 lever-shaped elements that can be rotated. These elements are called pegs and each of them has a very important function on one of the strings of the instrument. Throughout the fingerboard, we can find several spaces interspersed by metallic lines, these are called frets. If we press the strings in the middle of the frets we can get a higher sound from the strings. If your ukulele is in tune, you may notice that the sounds come out clean.
3. The inner peg that we can see if we hold the instrument dexterously is the G string, the one above it in the same direction as the arm, is the one that holds the C string, in the upper parts just above the lower part. where the peg of the C string is, there is the peg of the E string and next to it is the peg of the A All these strings should remain with these sounds, which are the ones that have been assigned as notes for this instrument. If it has different notes, it is not well tuned.
4. Holding the ukulele dexterously, as if you were going to play it, you will be able to see four strings, the closest to you is the A string, followed by Mi, Do and Sol. In this way you will be able to know where the strings go and in which way you should tune each one of them. Now that you know what each string is, we can start tuning our ukulele.
5. There are many instruments or elements that we can use to tune an instrument. The most popular or that we can easily obtain in any music store are the rod tuner, the wind tuner and the electric tuner. You can use any of these or that is easier for you to use. If you are one of those people who find it very difficult to tune an instrument by reproducing the same sound on the piano or on the wind tuner, then we recommend you download a mobile application that can tell you if you are tuning your instrument properly.
6. These types of tuners are used to tune any type of string instrument such as basses, guitars, violas, violins, cellos, etc. So having a tuner of this type can be very useful if you are one of those people who likes to experiment with several instruments and not just dedicate yourself to one. ( Perhaps this article may interest you: How to learn to play the guitar.)
7. Actually tuning a ukulele is quite simple, we just have to turn the knobs and press or release them while alternating this with playing the strings. You should play each string every time you move the peg, either to the left or to the right, by either releasing or tightening the string. So you can be aware of whether you have managed to tune the instrument. The idea is that when your ukulele is in tune it will sound the same as when you play the same note on the piano, the wind tuner, or when the electronic tuner tells you that it is in the correct key.
8. Keep in mind that you should not play the string at the same time that you are pressing the tuning peg,as it could make the wrong sound or the string could burst and injure you or your instrument. That’s why you should go little by little moving the knobs and every time you stop, only then can you touch the string. And ready! You will have managed to tune your ukulele easily and at home. Now you can play your ukulele whenever you want at home or wherever you are.

Tips for tuning a ukulele

• We hope you liked these instructions and that with them you can tune your ukulele. Wasn’t it very easy?
• One very important piece of advice that we want to give you is that unless you are going to play your ukulele daily, try to detune it when you are not using it, because if you keep your ukulele in tune, the pressure on the strings could damage the fingerboard or wear out the strings.
• Some people make the mistake of pressing down too hard on the tuning pegs and having the strings too tight thinking that this is the proper way that they are going to get the best sound out of the ukulele or that they have tuned the instrument. This could not be more detrimental to your instrument. As we have told you before, the natural sound that your instrument should make is that of the notes Sol Do, Mi and La in their respective places.
• If your ukulele feels different from these, it may be because the strings are too tight or too loose.
• If you are one of the people who do not like to use tuners because they seem complicated, don’t worry, in time you will be able to develop your musical ear better and you will be able to tune your ukulele from memory without the need for any other tuning equipment.
• Another very important tip for the maintenance of a ukulele is to change the strings from time to time. You can change them, for example, every year, every 6 months or every time you notice them worn, we do this to prevent the worn strings from breaking.