How to tune your ukulele

Summary

Mix and match activities to create a fun lesson in which students will learn to tune their ukuleles. Integrate Solfeg.io in teaching the basics of ukulele playing.

🎲 What’s included in the activities:

• Understanding what tuning is and how it is done
• Understanding the correlation between the pitch and the tightness of a string
• Finding the corresponding peg to each string
• Tuning the ukulele

💻 Materials:

• Mobile devices with the Solfeg.io mobile app installed
• Ukuleles

What is tuning?

🕐 Time: 5 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Understand what tuning is and how it is done
• Understand the correlation between the pitch and the tightness of a string

🎲 Activity:

• Ask students what they think tuning is.
• Explain that to play together with other students or along to the song on the app, their ukuleles should be in tune, meaning each string should sound right.
• Each string has a different pitch - G, E, C and A.
• Show where the tuning pegs are located and explain that they should be turned to adjust the pitch of the string.
• You can demonstrate on your ukulele how the sound of a string changes when the corresponding peg is turned.

When the string is tightened, the pitch goes up.

When the string is loosened, the pitch goes down.

Which peg?

🕐 Time: 5 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Get familiar with the parts of the ukulele
• Find the corresponding peg to each string

🎲 Activity:

• Distribute ukuleles to the students.
• Ask them to find the pegs that correspond to each string.

Tuning

🕐 Time: 10 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Get all ukulele strings in tune
• Learn to use the Solfeg.io tuner

🎲 Activity:

• Open the Solfeg.io mobile app and find the ukulele tuner at the bottom of the Home section.
• Students should take turns to tune their ukuleles or sit not too close together, otherwise the tuner might catch the sound of a neighbor's ukulele.
• Tap on the letter A to hear how the A string should sound.
• Pluck the A string on your ukulele.

Keep the ukulele close to the phone.

• If the circle on the round line is orange and located to the left of the center, the sound is too low. You should tighten the string by turning the corresponding peg.

Turn the peg until the circle reaches the center of the line and turns green.

• If the circle on the round line is orange and located to the right of the center, the sound is too high. You should loosen the string by turning the corresponding peg.

Turn the peg until the circle reaches the center of the line and turns green.

• If the circle on the round line is green and located in the center, the string is in tune!
• Now, tap on the letter E and try to get the E string in tune by turning the corresponding peg!
• Next, tap on the letter C and repeat the actions with the C string!
• And finally, tune the G string!

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