Six-string guitar · Standard
The open low E and high E are two octaves apart.
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Yamaha’s standard guitar tuningStandard instrument tunings you can hear
Hear the open strings of a guitar, violin, ukulele, koto and more. Play a whole tuning in string order, or tap one note to hear it on its own.
Instrument recordings adapted to A4 = 440 Hz. The number after a note is its octave. The smaller number above it identifies the string or course.
Guitar
Seven-string guitar · Standard
The six upper strings keep standard guitar tuning. String 7 adds B1.
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Strandberg’s seven- and eight-string tuningsEight-string guitar · Standard
String 8 adds F♯1 below the seventh string’s B1.
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Strandberg’s seven- and eight-string tuningsUkulele
Ukulele · Standard high G
Standard for soprano, concert and many tenor ukuleles. String 4 is higher than the open C and E strings.
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Kala’s ukulele tuning guideUkulele · Low G
A dedicated low-G fourth string puts G3 one octave below high G. The other strings stay the same.
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Kala’s ukulele tuning guideBaritone ukulele · Standard
The same open pitches as strings 4 through 1 on a standard guitar.
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Kala’s ukulele tuning guideElectric bass
Four-string bass · Standard
The same open pitches as a four-string upright bass in orchestral tuning.
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Yamaha’s electric bass tuningsFive-string bass · Low B
The common low-B setup extends the four-string bass downward. Some five-string basses add a high C instead.
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Yamaha’s electric bass tuningsSix-string bass · Standard
Low B and high C extend the familiar E–A–D–G set in both directions.
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Yamaha’s six-string bass note chartBowed strings
Violin · Standard
The four open strings rise in fifths and match the pitches of a mandolin’s four courses.
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Yamaha’s violin and viola comparisonViola · Standard
The upper three strings match the violin’s G3, D4 and A4. The viola extends down to C3.
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Yamaha’s violin and viola comparisonCello · Standard
The same open-string letters as the viola, one octave lower.
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Yamaha’s cello guideUpright bass · Orchestral
The four strings rise in fourths. The notes shown are sounding pitches. Double-bass parts are usually written an octave higher.
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Philharmonia’s double bass guideMandolin, banjo and koto
Mandolin · Standard
Mandolin has four courses, or pairs. Both strings in a pair are tuned to the same pitch.
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Classical Mandolin Society’s notation guideFive-string banjo · Open G
The short fifth string is the high G drone. It sounds higher than every other open string.
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Deering’s banjo tuning guide13-string koto · Hirajōshi in D
In this classical setting, string 1 shares D4 with string 5. Some modern pieces use D3 for string 1. Movable bridges set the pitches.
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European Shakuhachi Society’s Hirajōshi notesKeep listening
See what changes between guitar tunings or hear high G and low G ukulele side by side. Try playing Sakura in Ryuichi Yamada’s virtual koto.
Sound credits
Acoustic guitar comes from Jeff Learman’s Martin HD28 recordings. Electric bass comes from Karoryfer’s Swagbass recordings. The bowed strings use solo violin, solo double bass, viola section and cello section recordings from Versilian Studios’ VSCO 2 Community Edition.
Ukulele comes from Mateusz Dąbrowski’s FreePats recordings. Mandolin comes from Lucas Gonze’s solo recording and StephanDo’s concert mandolin recording. Banjo comes from pflanigan’s 070714 banjo and wipeoutpop’s Banjo 1. These sources and the guitar, bass and bowed strings above are CC0.
We isolated, retuned and adjusted the levels of the koto notes from Koto performance by Torsodog (CC BY 3.0). Some clips use a nearby recorded note transposed to the target pitch.