Guitalele tuning: A D G C E A

Standard guitalele tuning

From the lowest (thickest) string to the highest, a guitalele is tuned A D G C E A. Guitar-style string numbers count from the highest string, so string 1 is the high A and string 6 is the low A.

Frequencies are for standard concert pitch (A4 = 440 Hz). Strings 6 and 1 are both A, two octaves apart.

How it compares with a guitar

Standard guitar tuning is E A D G B E. Every guitalele string is five semitones (a fourth) higher, and the gaps between neighbouring strings are the same. A guitalele therefore sounds like a guitar with a capo on the 5th fret.

That is why guitar chord shapes work unchanged on a guitalele but produce a different chord: the shape you know as C on guitar sounds F on guitalele. The guitalele chords chart lists 47 shapes with their guitalele names.

How it compares with a ukulele

The top four guitalele strings, G C E A, have the same note names as a standard ukulele, and the C, E and A are the same pitches. The difference is the G: most ukuleles use a high G (G4) above the C, while a guitalele’s G is G3, an octave lower. The guitalele also adds two lower strings, D and A.

How to tune a guitalele with a tuner

1. Choose guitalele tuning if your tuner offers it. On a chromatic tuner, just tune each string to the note in the table above.
2. Start with string 6, the low A. Pluck one open string at a time and let it ring.
3. Read the tuner. Flat (too low) means tighten the peg; sharp (too high) means loosen it.
4. Tune up to the note. If you overshoot, go a little below and come back up; strings hold their pitch better that way.
5. Work through all six strings, then check them all again. Tightening one string slightly changes the tension on the neck and can pull the others out.

The Guitalele Tuner & Chords app is built for this: it opens on A D G C E A, works out which string you plucked, and can play each string’s reference tone. See how it works.

How to tune a guitalele by ear (relative tuning)

If you have one reference note, you can tune the rest of the strings to each other. First tune string 6 to A from a piano, a reference tone or another instrument. Then:

1. Press string 6 at the 5th fret: that is D. Tune open string 5 to match it.
2. Press string 5 at the 5th fret: that is G. Tune open string 4 to match.
3. Press string 4 at the 5th fret: that is C. Tune open string 3 to match.
4. Press string 3 at the 4th fret: that is E. Tune open string 2 to match. (This is the one pair that uses the 4th fret, as with the G and B strings on a guitar.)
5. Press string 2 at the 5th fret: that is A. Tune open string 1 to match.

Relative tuning keeps the strings in tune with each other, but the whole instrument is only as accurate as your first note. A tuner is quicker and more precise.

Common tuning problems

The strings keep going flat

New strings stretch for the first days of playing. Retune often; it settles down as they stretch in.

My chords sound wrong although each string is “in tune”

Check that each string is on the right octave. The low A (string 6) is two octaves below the high A (string 1); a string tuned to the right note name in the wrong octave will be far too slack or far too tight.

The tuner shows a guitar note instead

Make sure the tuner is set to guitalele, not guitar. A guitar tuner expects E A D G B E, which is five semitones lower.

Guitalele chords chart   Get the app