Virtual Ukulele (Online Ukulele)
This virtual ukulele puts the neck of a four-string ukulele in standard tuning, G C E A, on your screen, with a nylon-string sound generated in the browser. Play the frets, use several fingers, drag across the strings to strum or play with your computer keyboard.
How to use it
- Tap a fret to hear the note; the light strip before the nut plays the open string.
- Pick one of the Common chords or build another with Root and Type. The numbers are the frets, from the 4th string (G) to the 1st (A).
- Strum with ↓ Downstroke and ↑ Upstroke, or slide your finger across the open-string strip.
- Under Scales, choose the root and the scale to see the notes on the fretboard and hear them with Play scale.
- On a computer, the four rows of the keyboard are the four strings and the space bar strums.
Help and explanations
Pick a chord and the online ukulele shows the shape, plays it and tells you its notes. Beginner chords are already in the list (C, G, Am, F...) and the rest you can build by choosing the root and the type. It also has scales and low G tuning, with the 4th string an octave lower.
Ukulele tuning: G C E A
From the 4th string (the top one) to the 1st: G C E A. The 4th string is high, higher than the 3rd and the 2nd: this is re-entrant tuning, which gives the ukulele its bright sound and keeps chords compact. In low G tuning, the 4th string drops an octave and the instrument gains bass; the chord shapes don't change.
Soprano, concert and tenor ukuleles use this same tuning; only the size of the neck changes. The baritone ukulele is tuned like the four highest strings of a guitar, D G B E.
From guitar to ukulele
The four strings of a ukulele are the four highest strings of a guitar with a capo at the 5th fret. That's why the guitar G shape (on the high strings, 0003) becomes C on the ukulele, the D shape becomes G (0232) and the A minor shape becomes D minor (2210).
If you already play guitar, you'll pick up the ukulele fast: the shapes are familiar, only the names change. It works the other way around too: what you learn on the ukulele carries over to the first four strings of the guitar.
Tips
- The first four chords to practice: C, G, Am and F. With them you can play loads of pop songs.
- A classic ukulele strumming pattern: down, down, up, up, down, up.
- In low G, melodies can go lower; for accompanying your own singing, re-entrant tuning sounds lighter.
- Start with the volume low, especially with headphones.
- To tune your own ukulele, use the ukulele tuner.
Frequently asked questions
What are the notes of the ukulele strings?
G, C, E and A, from the 4th to the 1st string (G4 C4 E4 A4). The 4th string, G, is higher than the 3rd and the 2nd; only the 1st is higher than it.
What is a low G ukulele?
It's a ukulele with the 4th string tuned an octave lower (G3 instead of G4). It loses a bit of sparkle and gains low notes. Choose Low G in the tuning selector.
What are the easiest ukulele chords?
C (just one finger, 0003), Am (2000), A7 (0100), F (2010) and G (0232).
Is the ukulele easier than the guitar?
To get started, yes: four nylon strings, a short neck and chords with one or two fingers. And ukulele shapes are the same as on the four highest guitar strings, so nothing is lost if you switch.
What's the difference between soprano, concert and tenor ukuleles?
Size: the soprano is the smallest and the tenor the largest, with more frets and a fuller sound. The tuning is the same, G C E A; the baritone, bigger still, uses D G B E.
Can I play the online ukulele with my keyboard?
Yes: the four rows of the keyboard are the four strings (the number row is the 1st, A) and the first key of each row is the open string. The space bar strums down and Shift + space strums up.