Ukulele for Guitarists
Your top four strings, capo 5, new names.
A ukulele in standard tuning, G C E A, is the top four strings of a guitar with a capo at the 5th fret. Every guitar shape works, it just has a new name: the open D you know, D F# A, is a G chord on the ukulele.
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Capo 5 on your top four strings
Guitar D G B E, moved up five frets, becomes G C E A: the ukulele. So a chord shape on your top four strings keeps its fingering and changes its name by a fourth. The one surprise is the G string: it is tuned high, so the lowest note of a ukulele chord is usually on the C string, not the G.
- Ukulele G C E A = guitar D G B E + 5 frets.
- Same shape, new name, a fourth higher.
- The G string is tuned high (re-entrant).
Your shapes, renamed
Take the top four strings of chords you know. The D shape becomes G; the G shape (0003) becomes C; the C shape (2010) becomes F; the E shape (2100) becomes A; and Am (2210) becomes Dm. That is most of a ukulele songbook on day one.
- D shape → G, G shape → C, C shape → F.
- E shape → A, Am shape → Dm.
- Count up a fourth: D→G, G→C, C→F.
Strum lighter, think higher
Ukulele has no bass strings, so it sounds best strummed lightly and played higher. Keep chord changes tight and let the rhythm carry the song. If a Guitar Pro file has a ukulele track, More Than Modes can show it on a ukulele fretboard and play it, so you can learn the real part.
- Light, even strums — no heavy downstrokes.
- No low strings: let the singer or bass hold the bottom.
- Melodies sound sweeter on the high G string.
A ukulele is a guitar’s top four strings with a capo at 5. Your shapes already work; just call each one a fourth higher.
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