The short answer: g C E A, and the top string is a high G
Standard ukulele tuning, from the string nearest your chin to the string nearest the floor, is G, C, E and A. Written the way tuners and method books write it — g C E A — the lowercase g is the detail that actually matters. It means the fourth string is tuned to a G higher than the third string's C, not lower. Most instruments get lower in pitch as the strings get thinner; the ukulele's fourth string breaks that pattern on purpose. Get all four strings to g C E A against a reference pitch — a clip-on tuner is the fastest way — and your ukulele is in standard tuning, which is what every beginner chord shape and method book assumes unless it says otherwise.
Why the fourth string sounds higher than the third
This is called re-entrant tuning, and it is the single most confusing thing about the ukulele for anyone coming from guitar or piano. On a guitar, every string is lower in pitch than the one before it, all the way from the thin high E down to the thick low E — line the six strings up by thickness and you have also lined them up by pitch. A standard ukulele breaks that pattern. Instead of continuing to drop, the fourth string jumps up an octave from where a straight low-to-high tuning would put it. Run the strings in playing order — fourth, third, second, first — and the pitches go G, C, E, A. That is not a steady climb: the third string sits below the fourth, and only from there does the pitch march up through E to A. The fourth string has re-entered the upper part of the range instead of anchoring the bottom of it. That is the re-entrant in re-entrant tuning.
It changes how the instrument sounds, not just how it is strung. Because the fourth string does not anchor the bottom of a chord the way a guitar's low E does, the ukulele has no real bass register — its lowest note in standard tuning is the open third string, middle C. What you get instead is the bright, chiming strum people associate with the instrument: the high G sits up among the other three strings rather than underneath them, so a strummed chord scatters its notes across a narrow, high range instead of spreading low to high.
Tuning with a clip-on tuner
A clip-on tuner is the most reliable way to get in tune, and it is what most teachers recommend while you are still learning to trust your ear. Clip it to the headstock rather than using a phone's microphone — it reads the pitch through the wood as the string vibrates, which works even in a noisy room. Pluck one string at a time and turn the matching peg slowly; a ukulele's short scale — and, on friction pegs, the lack of any gear reduction — means a small turn moves the pitch more than you would expect, so tiny adjustments are usually enough. Where possible, tune up into the note from slightly flat rather than down from sharp — approaching from below takes slack out of the string's wind around the peg and holds tuning better.
One thing a basic tuner will not tell you is whether you are at the right octave. A tuner reads pitch class, so it will happily confirm "G" whether your fourth string is at a floppy, under-tensioned low G or a properly tensioned high G. If that string feels loose compared with the other three, you have likely drifted an octave low rather than actually being in tune — trust the string's feel alongside the tuner's reading, not the tuner alone.
Tuning by ear from a reference pitch
Tuning by ear starts the same way on any stringed instrument: you need one fixed reference pitch, because tuning the strings relative to each other only gets them in tune with one another, not with the outside world. Middle C or A440 from a piano, tuning fork or app all work. From there:
- Tune the third string (C) to your reference pitch.
- Fret the third string at the fourth fret — that note is E. Tune the second string, played open, to match it.
- Fret the second string at the fifth fret — that note is A. Tune the first string, played open, to match it.
Guitarists use a similar trick, fretting one string to find the pitch of the next, chaining all six strings from a single reference note with one exception partway through. A standard ukulele cannot complete a chain like that in one direction, because the fourth string, the re-entrant G, sits higher than the C you started from, and fretting a string only ever raises its pitch. You have to double back: fret the third string (C) at the seventh fret and you will land on a G in the same octave as the open fourth string. Match the two and all four strings are in tune. It is a genuinely fiddlier process than tuning a guitar by ear, and it is fine to lean on a tuner for this last string alone.
Low-G: what changes, and who it suits
Low-G tuning drops the fourth string a full octave, so the order becomes a straightforward low-to-high G, C, E, A instead of the re-entrant g C E A. It is a genuine, common alternative, not a mistake and not "more advanced" than standard tuning — just different. Dropping the G gives the instrument a fuller, deeper sound with more sustain, which suits fingerstyle playing and solo arrangements that want a bassline or a low note. What you lose is the re-entrant chime: chords now voice from low to high like a small guitar's, rather than scattering across a narrow high register, so the bright, bouncy strum people think of as "the ukulele sound" is softened.
If you restring for low-G, a plain string has to be noticeably thicker to reach that pitch at usable tension, which is why most low-G sets use a wound string — though thick unwound low-G strings exist, and some players prefer them for matching the tone of the other three. Standard is still high-G.
Baritone ukulele: D G B E
Baritone is a different instrument in most of the ways that matter — physically larger, with a longer scale length — and it is tuned differently too: D, G, B, E, with no re-entrant string at all. That happens to be the same four notes, in the same octaves, as the top four strings of a guitar in standard tuning. If you already play guitar, any chord shape you know that only uses those four strings transfers straight across to baritone ukulele with no relearning. If that overlap is useful to you, see how guitar lessons work at Trill Route alongside ukulele.
Why your ukulele won't stay in tune
New strings are the biggest culprit. Nylon and fluorocarbon strings stretch considerably when freshly installed, and a new set can go noticeably flat within minutes of tuning it up. Expect to retune every time you pick the instrument up for the first several days to a couple of weeks — this is normal and says nothing about the quality of the strings or the instrument.
Temperature and humidity matter too. Ukuleles are small and lightly built compared with a guitar, so both the strings' tension and the wood itself respond more noticeably to a warm room turning cool, or a dry day turning humid. Over-tightening causes its own problems: turn a peg too far too fast and you risk snapping a string, especially the thin first string. Many ukuleles, especially traditional or lower-cost ones, use friction pegs rather than geared tuners — they need a firm, even push while turning or they slip loose again within minutes, and a small screw in the end of the peg button sets the tension. If your ukulele will not hold tune no matter how carefully you turn the pegs, geared tuners are worth asking about — and if you are just starting out, a first ukulele lesson is a fast way to get comfortable with this in person rather than working it out alone.
Keep going
- The First Four Guitar Chords, and the Order That Makes Them Easy — learn E minor, A, D and G in the order that adds one new difficulty at a time.
- A 20-Minute Practice Routine You'll Actually Stick To — split twenty minutes into warm-up, hard work and something you enjoy, so the habit actually sticks.