Tune your ukulele with the microphone. Choose soprano, concert, tenor or baritone, pluck one string and this free online ukulele tuner finds it on the headstock, shows how many cents it is flat or sharp and tells you to tighten or loosen it. Standard GCEA with high G is set up for you.
Ukulele Tuner
–
- You play
- – Hz
- Cents
- – ¢
- Target
- –
In tune: 0 of 4 strings
Microphone off. Nothing is recorded or uploaded: the sound is analysed in your browser.
Which string is highest?
Settings: A4 calibration, noise, microphone
Measured for 0.7 s when you press Start.
Related Tools
- Guitar Tuner
Six strings, Drop D, open tunings and 12-string.
- Chromatic Tuner
Names any note, for any ukulele tuning.
- Instrument Tuner
Banjo, mandolin, violin, bass and more.
- Pitch Detector
See the pitch of your voice or ukulele over time.
- Online Metronome
Practise strumming patterns in time.
How to Tune a Ukulele Online
- Pick your ukulele size. Soprano, concert and tenor use the same notes; baritone switches to D G B E.
- Choose the tuning: High G (standard), Low G or D tuning.
- Press Start tuner and allow the microphone. Keep quiet for a moment while it measures the room noise.
- Pluck one string and let it ring. The string lights up on the headstock and the bubble shows how far off it is: Flat: tighten or Sharp: loosen.
- Turn the peg slowly until the bubble sits in the green zone and the peg gets a tick. When all four strings are ticked, play each one again as a final check.
Want to tune by ear? Tap a peg to hear a plucked reference note for that string, like a pitch pipe, and match your string to it.
Standard Ukulele Tuning: G C E A
Soprano, concert and tenor ukuleles are tuned G C E A, named from string 4 (nearest your face) to string 1 (nearest the floor). The C string is middle C, and the A string is the 440 Hz note orchestras tune to.
| Tuning | String 4 | String 3 | String 2 | String 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High G (standard) | G4 392.00 Hz | C4 261.63 Hz | E4 329.63 Hz | A4 440.00 Hz |
| Low G | G3 196.00 Hz | C4 261.63 Hz | E4 329.63 Hz | A4 440.00 Hz |
| D tuning | A4 440.00 Hz | D4 293.66 Hz | F♯4 369.99 Hz | B4 493.88 Hz |
| Baritone | D3 146.83 Hz | G3 196.00 Hz | B3 246.94 Hz | E4 329.63 Hz |
Every other note and its frequency is listed in the musical note frequency chart.
Why is string 4 higher than string 3?
Standard tuning is re-entrant: the G string is tuned to G4 (392 Hz), higher than the C string next to it (261.63 Hz). That gives the ukulele its bright, close-voiced strum. The tuner’s string-order chart shows this: the G bar stands above the C bar. With Low G the G drops an octave to G3 (196 Hz) and the strings rise from 4 to 1, like a guitar. If you pluck a low G while High G is selected, the tuner notices and offers to switch.
Soprano, Concert, Tenor and Baritone Ukulele Tuner
| Size | Scale length (about) | Usual tuning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soprano | 33 cm (13 in) | G C E A, high G | The classic small uke; D tuning (A D F♯ B) is used on some vintage and UK songbooks |
| Concert | 38 cm (15 in) | G C E A, high G | More room between frets; same notes as soprano |
| Tenor | 43 cm (17 in) | G C E A, high or low G | The size most often strung with a low G |
| Baritone | 48–51 cm (19–20 in) | D G B E | Same notes as the top four guitar strings, so chord shapes differ from a GCEA uke |
The tuner uses the same targets for soprano, concert and tenor, so choose the one you own for the labels and pick the tuning. Baritone players can find their chord shapes in the baritone ukulele chord chart.
How to Read the Tuner
- Bubble: left of centre means flat, so tighten the string; right of centre means sharp, so loosen it. Green means in tune (±3 cents by default).
- Strobe band: the stripes stop moving when the string is exactly in tune.
- Glowing peg with ↑ or ↓: the string being tuned and the direction the pitch must go.
- Readouts: the frequency you play, the offset in cents and the target, for example A4 · 440.0 Hz. A cent is a hundredth of a semitone; see cents in tuning.
Tips for Tuning a Ukulele with a Phone
- Tune up to the note. If a string is sharp, go below the note and come back up; nylon and fluorocarbon strings hold better that way.
- New strings keep going flat. They stretch for several days. Retune often, or gently pull each string away from the fretboard and tune again.
- Pluck with your thumb near the neck joint and let the note ring; a soft pluck gives the steadiest reading.
- Noisy room? Open Settings, choose the noisy-room filter and measure the noise again, then hold the phone close to the sound hole.
- Match a piano or a band by setting A4 in Settings (for example 442 Hz). Why 440 Hz is the standard is explained in A440 explained.
More ideas for checking your intonation up the neck are in ukulele tuning tips with pitch detectors, and you can train your ear to hear small tuning differences with interval ear training.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this ukulele tuner free and does it need an app?
It is free and runs in your browser on phones, tablets and computers. There is no app, download or account, and the microphone sound is never recorded or uploaded.
What order are ukulele strings tuned in?
Any order works. Many players start with the A string (string 1) because it is the familiar 440 Hz reference, then tune E, C and G. The tuner detects whichever string you pluck.
Can I tune a 6-string or 8-string ukulele?
Yes. These have doubled strings: tune the main string of each course with this tuner, then tune its partner, which is either the same note or one octave apart. For an octave string, the chromatic tuner names the exact note.
Why does my ukulele sound out of tune when the tuner says it is in tune?
Check that every string is ticked in the same round, because tuning one string changes the tension of the others. If open strings are right but chords still sound off, the frets or the saddle may be the cause (intonation), not the tuning.