Baritone ukuleles are similar to the gem of the ukulele family since they are tuned very differently. You love to play the ukulele and if you are thinking of picking up a Baritone ukulele, then it can disappoint you in the beginning.
Because it’s hard to find the right instructions to learn how to tune a Baritone Ukulele.
According to my research on the ukulele, a large number of the ukulele is designed with GCEA tuning notes while the Baritone Ukulele is designed with the tuning of D3-G3-B3-E4.
Table of Contents
If you’ve thought of buying a Baritone you should need to know how to tune a baritone ukulele?
Don’t worry you’ve come to the right place. My article is going to be covered with all the information about How to Tune a Baritone Ukulele.
How to Tune a Baritone Ukulele
Baritone Ukuleles are usually tuned in G key with D G B E notes. D, G, and B notes are located just below in the middle C, and note E is located just above.
Now to tune your Baritone you have to start with loose strings and tighten each string at the time of plucking it till the string’s pitch and the video’s pitch match.
Remember, if two pitches are played at the same time then they are in-tune, and then there will be a clean quality sound without any “warble.”
Let’s have a look at how to tune a Baritone ukulele step by step:
Baritone Ukulele Tuning Step by Step
At first, you can tune your Baritone by ear. You can tune your Baritone to itself, by ear, with a reference note for the lowest string.
- Tune Top String to D
Tune the top string to D to
find a source for the D string to middle C. Follow this, it can be an in-tune keyboard/piano and a tuning fork, etc.
At this point, you have to tune the string to this pitch and then start by loosening the string.
Now, at the time of playing the reference note, you have to tighten the string slowly when you’re plucking it and you have to do it till the string’s pitch becomes identical with the reference pitch.
- Tune G string from the D string
In this stage, you have to tune your G String from Your D String
Don’t worry because your D string is already tuned so now you can move on to the G string. But you have to hold down the D string at the 5th fret and pluck it.
Now what you have to do is tighten your loose G string slowly until it matches that pitch.
- Tune B String from G String
If you want to get the pitch of the B string, you have to hold down the G string at the 4th fret. Again, just pluck this string while tightening B string till they are in-tune.
- Tune Bottom String to E from Sting B
You are almost done, for the final task what you have to do is to hold the B string and pluck it to get the E pitch. Like before, now tighten your loose E string at the time of plucking the B string until both the pitches match.
Bravo! You have finished your task! Because now you have already got the idea about how to tune a Baritone Ukulele!
Now let’s have a look at some other facts related to Baritone Ukulele Tuning Topics. It’s not just about tuning Baritone
Now, let’s dive into some other topics related to Baritone Ukulele Tuning:
Frequencies of Baritone Ukulele
I have added some data where you can see different frequencies of different notes which are used in tuning a Baritone Ukulele:
Note- Frequency
String-D – 146.83 Hz
String-G – 196 Hz
String-B – 246.94 Hz
String-E – 329.63
Check this link for more Information: Baritone Ukulele
How to Tune a Baritone Ukulele of 6 string
If you are a guitarist or a beginner or a pro you should have an idea that there is a standard way to tune a 6 string Baritone Ukulele. To tune a 6-String Baritone ukulele you have to double up the lowest and highest strings.
So the point is, the top D string and E string will be doubled up. Then the final tuning will be DDG BEE.
A noted point, some 6-string Baritone ukuleles are designed in a way that they can be tuned like a guitar or maybe like other different tuning systems. Don’t worry, just make sure that you are following the instructions I have already added to my article.
You have to be very careful while tuning a Baritone Ukulele to avoid any kind of damage to your Baritone.
How to Tune a Baritone Ukulele of 8 String
You may find it difficult to tune an 8-string ukulele because it’s rare for an 8 string to tune with each string twined up in pairs that will be played together.
In that case, a Baritone ukulele will convert its tuning to DDGGBBEE tuning, with each string twined with a significant pair. Here each pair of strings will be tuned together. Thus it will produce a fuller sound.
My next purpose is to introduce you to another variation of the Baritone Ukulele. That is Baritone Banjo.
How to Tune a Baritone Banjo Ukulele
Baritone Banjo Ukulele is tuned to DGBE tuning. It’s just as simple as banjo ukuleles. So, the standard notes of the Baritone Banjo Ukulele are just as the notes of Baritone Ukulele: DGBE.
Remove String Tensions
In this part, I will present you with data of different strings with different weights.
Ukulele Type – Approx String
4 String – 53 lbs
6 String – 77 lbs
8 String – 90 lbs
The tension you can face is, how larger your Baritone Ukulele is, the higher tension your Baritone Ukulele is under.
Baritone Ukulele Tuning and the other ukuleles like Soprano, Concert, and Tenor
Ukuleles like soprano, concert, and tenor are usually tuned in C string. It means, then the note is GCEA. Here string G is a re-entrant string.
But on the other hand, The Baritone is tuned like a guitar in G string with the DGBE note. It’s a very easy linear tuning system. Thus Baritone produces a deeper, fuller, and guitar-like sound quality which is much better than its other smaller siblings.
Surprisingly, this Baritone sounds like a guitar. We can describe this hero as a hybrid between a guitar and a ukulele. How? Simple, Baritone is portable, light in weight, and it also contains the richness of a guitar. So, even though it’s not fully a guitar, its texture is good as poor as a guitar.
Baritone Ukulele can be Tuned to GCEA as like as Soprano, Concert, and Tenor
Using special Baritone GCEA strings one can tune Baritone to GCEA like Soprano, Concert, and Tenor. But the noted point is, one has to use special GCEA strings since these will help to avoid both over-tightening DGBE strings and damaging the Baritone and strings.
The Common Chords to tune a Baritone Ukulele?
From the very beginning, there are two versions of chords to tune a Baritone Ukulele:
- New version
- Old version
I have presented two images for you to understand both versions. The first one is New Version. That is the new version of the common chords chart to tune the Baritone Ukulele. It can be called the Higher Resolution Version. The note is: DGBE Tuning
And the second one is the Old Version.
If you are a beginner then you may face difficulty understanding this chord chart but, if you’re a pro then it’s a familiar figure to you. In this guitar chord chart, you can see there are similarities with a Baritone chord shape to the top 4 strings on a guitar.
Then, if the other sized ukuleles’ chords are understandable to you you will understand easily that the chord shapes are nearly the same, without the Baritone’s chords. They are a fifth lower.
The Scale of a Tuned Baritone Ukulele
Generally, the scale of a tuned Baritone Ukulele is 19 inches.
In the following image, you can notice the part of the strings that vibrate when it’s plucked or strummed.
In the image, it’s noticeable that the vibration frequencies determine the pitch which the audience’s or the musician’s ears hear.
To tune a string you have to tighten the string to the required frequency. Then you can produce the pitch you have desired.
The Fretboard Notes of a Tuned Baritone Ukulele
The fretboard notes of a Baritone Ukulele increases 1 half step for each fret. It means DGBE are the open strings’ notes, and D#/Eb, G#/Ab, C, and F., etc are the 1st fret notes.
I have attached an image here where you can see a fretboard note chart for the tuned Baritone Ukulele up to the 15th fret.
And here is another one but it’s an old version. This was not easier to read through can be useful for someone.
Let’s know about a very different shape of Baritone. The Pineapple Baritone Ukulele.
My next section is about:
How to tune a Pineapple Baritone Ukulele
The Pineapple body-shaped ukuleles are the same as the standard wood body shaped ukuleles. The only difference is that there are no indents on the sides of the pineapple-shaped ukulele.
Pineapple Baritone Ukuleles are not available, they are rare, but they exist.
Baritone Ukulele Tuning is different from others, how?
The tuning system of the Baritone Ukulele is so different from the other Ukuleles.
Usually, it’s rare to find an instruction to play on the DGBE note. Because that note is so different and a unique one. As a result, it’s tough to get the exact instruction on how to tune a Baritone Ukulele.
Maximum ukulele instruction material is noted for GCEA tuning notes. So it’s hard to find an instruction to tune a Baritone Ukulele.
The specific notes to tune a Baritone Ukulele are D3, G3, B3, and E4.
A Guitar Tuner to Tune a Baritone Ukulele
It’s rare to find any specific tuner to tune a Baritone Ukulele. It’s true. But why am I? I am writing to you and in this part, I will tell you a trick.
You haven’t a Baritone Ukulele tuner? Don’t worry. Various guitar tuners are available on the market and you can easily tune your Baritone Ukulele by using a guitar tuner.
Why? It’s simple. There are no limitations. It’s totally up to you. To tune your Baritone Ukulele you may use any tuning gear that you have to tune your guitar. But one thing is, avoid the lowest 2 guitar strings.
Few options of Tunings to tune Baritone Ukulele
You may have heard about the re-entrant tuning. Yes, the D, G, B, E tuning are the re-entrant tuning. I am mentioning them because you can tune your Baritone Ukulele with this re-entrant D, G, B, E tuning.
Not only that. You can tune your Baritone Ukulele with the general G, C, E, A tuning. I am sure you have an idea about the G, C, E, A tuning system.
However, that is the common scene with a Baritone Ukulele because it is rare to have a Baritone Ukulele with the standard linear tuning, DGBE.
Comparison between the tuning System of the Baritone Ukuleles and the Tenors
From the above discussion, it’s clear that the standard tune of the Baritone ukulele is the D, G, B, E tuning. That is the first and the foremost difference between the Tenors and the Baritone Ukuleles.
Mechanisms of the Baritone Ukulele Tuning
Now I am revealing another tempted information. When it’s about as usual ukulele sizes, you may have very few options to choose from but if you are talking about the Baritone Ukulele then you will have various options for the Baritone Ukulele tuning mechanisms.
Classification of the mechanisms:
The two main tuners are:
- Geared Tuners
- Friction Tuners.
Geared Tuners
The Geared Tuners generally use two gears. Each gear holds the ukulele’s string to the amount of tightness that one may desire.
Geared Tuners are classified into two tuners, they are:
- Open Gear
- Sealed Gear
In Open Geared Tuners, you may find the tuners in an exposing way. It means these gears are easy for cleaning and several adjustments. But everything has some cons with the pros. The extra exposing feature may be responsible for a dirty or damaged tuner.
Open geared tuner:
But the Sealed Geared Tuners come with a case that is around the gears. The case is to keep your tuners clean. The case protects the tuners. The pros are you don’t need to clean these gears.
Even, you don’t need to adjust them. Then the cons are, if you are thinking to adjust them then you may require maintenance. So, it’s not easy to adjust.
Sealed Gear Tuner:
Friction Tuners
The Friction tuners come with a single-shaft design. Friction Tuner:
Conclusion
So? How is it? The baritone ukulele is a superb musical instrument to play.
And I personally love it. I have tried to cover this article with all the information about how to tune a Baritone Ukulele. I hope you get it finally! Hopefully, I’ve included whatever information a beginner may search for tuning a Baritone Ukulele.
