Ukulele & Guitar Chord Forms

There is a relationship between standard tuning for guitars and standard tuning for ukuleles. Because of this, chording skills on either of these instruments are partially transferable to the other.

The bottom 3 strings of a standard-tuned ukulele are tuned 5 semitones (frets) higher than the corresponding bottom 3 strings on a standard-tuned guitar. The 4th string from the bottom is tuned 17 semitones higher than the corresponding guitar string. One octave (12 semitones) plus 5 semitones equals 17 semitones, so any given chord finger pattern on a ukulele produces a chord 5 semitones above the chord produced by the same finger pattern on a guitar.

Figure 1 shows the note and octave, as well as the sound frequency in hertz of each string on both the ukulele and guitar.

Ukulele                    G4      C4      E4      A4
                           392.00  261.63  329.63  440.00

Guitar     E2      A2      D3      G3      B3      E4
           82.407  110.00  146.83  196.00  246.94  329.63

                          Figure 1

Figure 2 is a diagram of the 5 semitones difference for all 12 notes (or chord roots). It may be used to quickly determine what a ukulele chord pattern would be when played on a guitar, and vice-versa. For example, pattern 3211 is an A#(Bb) chord on a ukulele, and it is an F chord on the bottom four strings of a guitar. Pattern 0212 is a D7 on a guitar, and a G7 on a ukulele. (See example pattern diagrams below.)

                          Bb       Db    Eb       Gb    Ab
Ukulele Chord Roots    A  A# B  C  C# D  D# E  F  F# G  G#
                       |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
                       |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Guitar Chord Roots     E  F  F# G  G# A  A# B  C  C# D  D#
                             Gb    Ab    Bb       Db    Eb

                          Figure 2

A#(Bb) on Uke

F on Guitar

G7 on Uke

D7 on Guitar

Example Chord Patterns

If a capo is clamped behind the 5th fret of a guitar, it can be played (using only the bottom 4 strings) as if it were a ukulele. The 4th string from the bottom will be an octave lower than the corresponding string on a ukulele, but chords will still be correct.

If you usually play a guitar, but play a ukulele occasionally, you can minimize the confusion by transposing the actual key down 5 simitones when playing the ukulele. For example, if the actual key is C, transpose to G and use guitar key-of-G forms (which are the same as ukulele key-of-C forms). Use Figure 2 to determine the chord-forms key. When transposing, Ukulele Chord Roots is the actual key (Old Key), and the corresponding Guitar Chord Roots is the chord-forms key (New Key).