Press Play for the low A, then each string below: A D G C E A, low to high.
Guitalele Tuning: 110 Hz sawtooth tone
Start with your device volume low.
Sawtooth wave · both channels
110Hz
Period 9.09 ms
Wavelength 3.12 m (10.2 ft)
The note A2
Ready. It starts quiet and fades in over half a second.
A steady tone can harm ears and speakers before it sounds loud. Hear nothing? Do not turn it up to find the tone: small speakers cannot play very low tones, and many adults cannot hear very high ones.
Percent of this tool's loudest. Your device volume does the rest.
6th string A2, a guitar's open A110 Hz, five semitones over a guitar's low E (82.41 Hz) and the same pitch as a guitar's open 5th string. Held at fret 5 it sounds the 5th string's D.
5th string D3, a guitar's open D146.83 Hz, the pitch of a guitar's open 4th string. Held at fret 5 it sounds the 4th string's G.
4th string G3, a guitar's open G196 Hz, the pitch of a guitar's open 3rd string and the lowest string of a ukulele in low G tuning. Fret 5 sounds the 3rd string's C.
3rd string C4, middle C261.63 Hz. The odd one out, just as the G string is on a guitar: fret 4, not fret 5, sounds the 2nd string's E.
2nd string E4, a guitar's high E329.63 Hz, the pitch of a guitar's open 1st string. Held at fret 5 it sounds the 1st string's A.
1st string A4, the high A440 Hz, the A that instruments tune to: five semitones over a guitar's high E (329.63 Hz) and two octaves over the 6th string.
How it works
Guitalele tuning is A D G C E A, low to high (ADGCEA): a guitar's six strings, each a fourth higher, as if a capo sat at fret 5.
Read the full guide
How to tune a guitalele
1. Press Play. The sixth string's A sounds; bring your thickest string to it.
2. Press the rows in turn, fifth string to first, and match each string to its tone.
3. Check by fret: a string held at fret 5 sounds the next string open. The third string is the exception and needs fret 4.
4. With a guitar at hand, hold one of its strings at fret 5: that is the note of the guitalele string with the same number.
A sawtooth wave plays each tone: the overtones keep the low A clear on a small speaker.
Questions and answers
What notes is a guitalele tuned to?
A2, D3, G3, C4, E4 and A4, from the thickest string to the thinnest. The first string is the 440 Hz A that instruments tune to, and the sixth string is the same note two octaves lower, at 110 Hz.
Is a guitalele tuned like a guitar?
The steps from string to string are the same, so guitar chord shapes and scale patterns fit. Every string sits five frets higher than its guitar twin, though, so the shapes sound a fourth higher: an E shape gives A, a G shape gives C.
Is a guitalele tuned like a ukulele?
Its top four strings are G C E A, the notes of a ukulele in low G tuning, where the fourth string is an octave lower than usual. Play only those four and ukulele chord shapes work as they are.