UKE Tunings - DM's Beatles forums

Someone here asked about tuning ukes, and in another Beatle forum there is currently a uke thread going, so I asked for you. Here's what we got:

>> Are they tuned the same as a guitar? That is, EADGBE?>> >
>
>
> Yes and no. They (soprano ukes) use the same intervals as the EADG
> strings on a guitar with two differences:
>
> 1. Key. Generally, soprano ukes are in either D or C. So they would go
> A-D-F#-B or �G-C-E-A.
>
> 2. The first string (A or G) would be one octave higher. That is, you'd
> start on an A, go DOWN to D below it for the next string, then up to F#
> for the third string, and up to B for the last one. Played unfretted,
> you get the "My dog has fleas" tune.

Then someone else wrote:

I think you mean the same intervals as the DGBE strings.

>A-D-F#-B or �G-C-E-A.

Yeah, the GCEA is a little more common, but the ADF#B pops up a lot
too. �If you use the more standard GCEA, I would look at it this way:
If you put a capo on the fifth fret of a guitar and then play only the
top (highest) four strings, that's the same as a uke. �Except the G is
actually one octave higher.
This practice of tuning the lowest string higher is called reentrant
tuning, which is one thing that makes it sound a bit like a banjo.

On the other hand, apparently there is a movement amons some musicians
who don't use the reentrant tuning and tune the G an octave lower, as
if it were like a guitar. �This gives the instrument a little more
range but takes away from its unique sound, IMO.

>The first string (A or G) would be one octave higher

This is just nitpicking, but technically that's considered the fourth
string. �I know it's a common misconception among people to call it the
first string.