Tune Your Ukulele: G–C–E–A

The strings are named g–C–E–A from the one nearest the ceiling to the one nearest the floor — sing "My Dog Has Fleas" to hear the classic pitch pattern. And here is the ukulele's famous surprise: the fourth string is reentrant — that little g is tuned a fifth higher than the C beside it, not lower. There is no bass string at all. That is why strummed uke chords sound so close, sparkly, and cheerful, and why "up" across the strings is not always "down" in pitch.

Tuning is easiest with the free in-browser tuner — pick the standard high-G ukulele preset, pluck each string, and turn its tuner until the needle centres. Always tune up to the note: if a string is sharp, drop below the target and come back up so it holds. To learn the by-ear method (and more on what reentrant means), read the how-to-tune guide, which covers G–C–E–A alongside the other instruments.

One warning about nylon: new strings drift for days as they stretch, so a fresh set will go flat mid-session — that is normal. Make a ten-second tuning check the first thing you do every time you pick the uke up. An in-tune instrument is the difference between "this sounds like a song" and "something is wrong and I don't know what".