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Check Out The Best Tuners You Can Find Available In 2023!
Are you able to tune your uke with a guitar tuner? There are a number of guitar tuners available on the market and some of them can be used for ukulele tuning also.
Here in our guitar tuner ukulele article, you will be able to read and learn about various types of tuners. Ukulele tuner, guitar tuner, and also the versions of guitar tuners that can be used for both instruments.
Clip-on tuners are probably the most versatile and perfect tuners that could be used (even by beginners) to tune a ukulele. This multi-instrument tuner could be very helpful when tuning your ukulele.
You should make sure that your Tuner is Chromatic, which means it has all of the ukulele notes. The issue is that the Uke has a “C” string and the guitar does not.
Many tuners are set up only for guitar, they just have guitar strings and you cannot use them as ukulele tuners and tune a ukulele with them.
Tuning a ukulele
In order to play music in modern scales, all instruments need to be set to exact pitches. When the instrument is tuned to specific pitches that process is called tuning.
String instruments just like the ukulele have tuning pegs, which might be turned in both directions to either increase or decrease the pitch that corresponds to one of the ukulele strings.
Tuning your ukulele with a Guitar Tuner
There are many accurate models and types of tuners, and that is the real problem when trying to tune a ukulele with a guitar tuner.
With some of the models, you will be able to tune your ukulele while with others it won’t work, one of the reasons is the “C” string as we mentioned before.
We are going to make some comparisons of tuners, so you will know if you can use the one that you already have on your uke.
But getting a new one and expanding your ukulele accessories list is always a great idea.
If you consider buying a new guitar and bass tuner, feel free to check out our offer:
Check Thomann CTG-10 Clip Tuner at the link below!
Check Korg Pitchclip 2 Clip-On Tuner at the links below!
Non-chromatic tuners
These tuners are designed specifically for tuning guitars and are not suitable for the ukulele. They are able to recognize (hear) which string are you playing and if it’s low or high.
They are designed to detect the notes you are playing on the guitar’s open strings. We wouldn’t recommend these tuners to beginners.
Chromatic tuners
These tuners, however, are able to listen to all notes. They are able to detect notes you are playing on your uke and additionally point out which note you’re closest to.
Doing so tells you whether or not your string is flat or sharp as in comparison with the desired pitch, they go into detail and are great for tuning your ukulele.
Here is our offer for Chromatic Tuners in case you consider buying one:
Check Korg CA-50 Chromatic Tuner at the links below!
Check Korg TM-60 Black Tuner at the links below!
Pedal Tuners
Pedal tuners are plugged into and they don’t need microphones for tuning. These tuners are not suitable for standard tuning and acoustic instruments such as ukuleles and classic guitars simply because they have nowhere to plug in.
Unless it is an electric ukulele of course. In case you have an electric ukulele you will have no problem using the pedal tuner to tune your ukulele.
Check Harley Benton PowerPlant Tuner at the link below!
Check Peterson StroboStomp HD at the links below!
Check Boss TU-3W Waza Floor Tuner at the links below!
Clip-on Chromatic Tuners
The most effective and key sorts of chromatic ukulele tuners are those that clip onto the head of your instrument. They are accurate widely popular and available.
These are designed to attach to the uke like a clothes peg and can feel the vibration of the note you are playing.
Since they recognize the note by vibration you can use them for tuning many string instruments.
A Clip-on tuner can be used for tuning every ukulele (classical, metal, bass, electrical), violin, guitar, etc.
We believe that this is the best type of tuner for a ukulele, that you should search and spend money on it.
We will try to bring you some suggestions, and they will be at your service for a long time if you take care of them properly.
Check Harley Benton CTG-20 BK USB Clip Tuner at the link below!
Check Peterson StroboClip HD at the links below!
The Open Strings
Each sound you’ll ever make with a stringed instrument is determined by the tuning of its open strings. The ukulele is no exception. Each sound follows from the sound of the open strings so it’s crucial that you have good tuning.
The first thing and a very crucial is to understand your open strings setup. You should sit down with your ukulele and strum the open strings.
The string closest to your face (or your chin) is tuned to the note G. The one under it is tuned to the note C, the one below that is an E, and the thinnest one is tuned to the note A on your ukulele.
Using online tuners
There are various good apps for ukulele tuning on the market and they’re quite easy to use. These tuners work in one of two basic ways: it listens to you or you listen to them. You can also use an online tuner like this one: fender.com/online-ukulele-tuner.
With the first type, the application listens to the notes you are playing through your microphone, and then it will assess if your string is pitched in tune.
If not, it’s going to indicate that it’s either flat (which means you have to tighten the string to boost the pitch) or it’s sharp (which means that you have to loosen the string to decrease the pitch).
With the second type, the application plays for you and you need to pay attention and use your ear well in order for your string to best match the given sound and do the best tuning.
It will not be hard to do, even if it’s your first time. Listen to the desired pitch and as mentioned before, tighten the string to boost the pitch or loosen the string to decrease the pitch.
Online apps are really helpful when it comes to ukulele tuning, however, the best option as we already mentioned would be a clip-on chromatic tuner.
They don’t request access to the internet or to your microphone and they are portable and good for tuning everywhere and anytime.
Tuning your ukulele with the keyboard
You can tune your uke with anything that produces a fixed pitch that you could compare to.
This means the keyboard also makes a great tuner (and there are lots of keyboard apps as well). Even if you are not familiar with the keyboard.
To orient yourself with the keys, find the note referred to as the middle C. It is more or less the note C that lies in the middle of the keyboard. In SPN, that is note C4.
Conclusion on Guitar Tuner Ukulele!
You always need to remember that the tuning (standard ukulele tuning) of your ukulele goes like this: G4 – C4 – E4 – A4 (the third string is tuned to a C, and the fourth string or top string of the ukulele is tuned to a G), and remember that the lowest sounding string out of them is note C4.
The best physical tuners are:
- A Clip-on tuner – they attach to the head of your instrument like a clothes peg and detect the vibrations of your instrument.
- Chromatic tuner – they recognize every possible tone.
It is possible to tune your ukulele with a keyboard if you are able to orient around the keys using middle C. Which is also known as C4 in SPN.
And of course, online applications, you can easily use those apps if you have access to a device and if you can rely on your microphone and your own hearing.
