Ukulele Standard GCEA Tuner — Tune to Standard GCEA in Your Browser
Mic-based chromatic tuner pre-set to Standard GCEA. No download, no sign-up, works in your browser.
Tuning summary
- Notes (low to high)
- G4 · C4 · E4 · A4
- Instrument
- Ukulele
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- About this tuning
- Standard re-entrant ukulele tuning. The 4th string (G) sits above the 3rd string (C), giving the ukulele its bright, signature voice.
Start tuning
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About Standard GCEA on ukulele
Standard ukulele tuning is GCEA, but with a twist: the G string is tuned an octave higher than expected. The full pitch set is G4, C4, E4, A4 — meaning the fourth string (G) is actually higher than the third string (C). This is called re-entrant tuning, and it is the single most defining feature of the ukulele's voice. The unfretted strings spell a C6 chord with the G as the highest pitch, which is why every strum has that bright, slightly chimey quality.
The re-entrant G changes the harmonic shape of every chord on the instrument. Strumming open strings does not produce a clean low-to-high run; instead, the listener hears the C as the lowest note, with the G floating above it. Chord melody work and fingerpicking patterns that exploit this — the campanella style, where a single line is spread across all four strings to imitate ringing bells — are unique to re-entrant tunings. It is part of why a ukulele sounds nothing like a guitar capoed high.
Standard re-entrant GCEA is the assumed default for soprano, concert, and tenor ukuleles in most published method books. Hawaiian, hapa-haole, and modern singer-songwriter ukulele all sit in this tuning. Beginners who buy any soprano or concert ukulele off the shelf will find it strung this way, and most chord charts on the web assume it.
If you are starting on ukulele, stay in standard re-entrant for at least the first months. The first chord every method teaches is C major (third fret on the A string, all other strings open). After that, the F, G7, and Am chords get you through hundreds of songs. Strumming patterns that lean on the high G as a drone — letting it ring while the other three strings change chords — are a hallmark of beginner-friendly ukulele songbooks.
Frequently asked questions
- Why is the ukulele's G string higher than the C string?
- Re-entrant tuning is the traditional Hawaiian setup. The high G gives the ukulele its bright, chimey character and enables campanella-style fingerpicking where a melody crosses all four strings.
- Will I need different strings for standard re-entrant tuning?
- No — every soprano and concert ukulele set sold off the shelf is built for re-entrant GCEA. The G string is the thinnest in the set despite being the lowest-numbered string.
- Can I play guitar chords on a ukulele?
- Not directly — the ukulele is a different tuning and has only four strings. But guitar chord shapes for the top four strings transfer if you imagine a capo at fret 5, since the top four guitar strings would be DGBE and a capo at 5 puts them at GCEA.
- Does standard ukulele tuning work for soprano, concert, and tenor?
- Yes — all three sizes use the same GCEA pitches. The body size changes the tone but not the tuning.
- How do I quickly switch back to standard from low-G or another tuning?
- Restring with a re-entrant G string and tune it to G4 (the same G as the third fret of the high E string on a guitar). The other three strings stay at their standard pitches.