Let's Get in Tune! — How to Tune a Ukulele
This post is about the practical details of tuning a ukulele.
Because many people asked me to explain tuning in greater detail — and because tuning really can be difficult for beginners — I decided to devote the first tutorial video to tuning.
UPDATE (10 May 2019): The video above was made more than eight years ago. Everything explained in it still works today, but since then countless tuning apps have become available for phones (try searching for “tune ukulele”, for example). These can be used to tune in much the same way as shown in the video. Obviously there is no need — nor any way — to clip your phone onto the ukulele. Once the app is running, however, its screen gives similar feedback: you can see whether the string is sounding too low and needs tightening, or too high because it has perhaps been overtightened and needs loosening.
Many tuning apps are designed for several instruments. If you download one of these — such as GuitarTuna, which I particularly like — you naturally need to select ukulele before tuning. An important difference is that most clip-on tuners sense the vibration of the instrument, so they are easy to use even with loud background noise. Mobile apps, on the other hand, use the phone's microphone, so you need a quiet environment if you want to tune with a phone.
Things are even easier if you buy a ukulele with built-in electronics, because these often include an integrated tuner as well. In that case you need neither a separate tuner nor an app. Good luck with tuning!
UPDATE(3 November 2021): In a ukulele demonstration video I explain tuning with a built-in tuner in considerable detail, so I also recommend this blog post to anyone interested.
