Foundations
Four strings, nylon, and GCEA. The ukulele is the fastest fretted instrument to get a real song out of, so the order here is: play one chord today, tune it yourself, then learn what your hands are doing. Shared harmony ideas live on Western theory.
First: one chord, one finger
C major needs one finger — ring finger on the A string, fret 3 — and the other three strings stay open. Tap the diagram to hear it, then play it four times slowly with the index finger of your strumming hand brushing down across all four strings.
That is already a song's worth of ukulele. Add Am (middle finger, G string fret 2) and you can loop C – Am for as long as you like. The full set is on Open chords; a loop to play them over is on Play along.
Parts and hold
A ukulele has four strings, a neck with metal frets, and a body. Holding it: body against you, neck slightly up. Fretting hand: thumb behind the neck, tips on the strings — not a death grip.
Right hand rests lightly near the soundhole. Most strums use the index finger (nail down, flesh up). Fingerpicking uses thumb + fingers (pima) — see Fingerpicking.
Tuning — G C E A
Standard tuning (my dog has fleas): G · C · E · A, from the string closest to the ceiling down to the floor (when you hold the uke).
- Tune with the shared tuner (ukulele · high-G GCEA).
- Mnemonic: My Dog Has Fleas (or “Good Children Eat Apples”).
- Nylon stretches — retune after the first few minutes of playing.
Tuning by ear, once the tuner has you close. Three checks, each a fretted note against the next open string:
- C string at fret 4 = open E.
- E string at fret 5 = open A.
- G string at fret 2 = open A as well — the reentrant G sits only two frets below the A string.
Play the pair together and listen for the wobble: as the two pitches converge the wobble slows, and when it stops you are in tune. That is the skill a tuner cannot give you, and it takes about a week to hear reliably.
A new string will not hold pitch for a day or two. That is nylon stretching, not a fault — tune, play a minute, tune again. More options (low G, D tuning, baritone): Tunings.
Open strings — click to hear
High-G reentrant: the G string sounds above the C string.
That sentence is the strangest thing about the instrument, so hear it rather than take my word for it. On a standard high-G ukulele the string nearest the ceiling is not the lowest note — the C string is. Play them back to back:
The four strings in order sound G–C–E–A, which climbs, dips, then climbs again. That dip is why ukulele chords sound bright and close rather than deep, and why a strum sounds like a chord rather than a bass note with notes stacked above it. It also means low on the instrument does not mean nearest the ceiling — worth remembering the first time you read TAB. Prefer the deeper sound? That is low G.
TAB for ukulele
Four lines — A on top, then E, C, G at the bottom (same as guitar TAB convention:
highest pitch line on top). Numbers are frets. 0 = open.
A|---3--- E|---0--- C|---0--- G|---0--- → C major
When it buzzes or thuds
Every beginner hits the same four problems, and all four are fixable in seconds once you know which one you have. Play a single string and listen:
| What you hear | What it is | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Rattle or fret buzz | Finger too far behind the fret | Move the fingertip up against the fret wire, almost touching it |
| Dead thud, no pitch | Not enough pressure, or the pad instead of the tip | Fret on the very tip, nail short, thumb behind the neck |
| One string in a chord silent | A neighbouring finger is leaning on it | Stand the fingers up steeper; check each string of the chord alone |
| Sharp, sour notes | Squeezing — nylon bends easily under pressure | Use the least pressure that gives a clean note, then stop adding |
The general rule: press less than you think and place closer to the fret than you think. Squeezing harder is the wrong answer to almost every ukulele problem.
4-week starter plan
- Week 1 — Tune daily. The one-finger C, then Am, F and G shapes. Downstrokes only.
- Week 2 — Smooth changes C–Am–F–G. Add G7. Island strum seed (DDUUDU).
- Week 3 — Song loops on Play along. Add Dm, Em.
- Week 4 — Chuck / mute. One fingerpicking pattern. Peek at movable shapes.
Ten minutes, when ten minutes is all you have
Short and daily beats long and occasional, on every instrument but especially this one. A session that fits in a tea break:
- 2 min — tune, and check one pair by ear as above.
- 3 min — one chord change, back and forth, slowly, until it stops needing a look. Two chords is a change; four chords is a song.
- 3 min — that change in time with the metronome in the practice bar below, one strum per beat. Slower than feels necessary.
- 2 min — play something you already know, badly and cheerfully. This part is not optional; it is why you will come back tomorrow.
What’s next
Text twin: foundations.md