The ukulele, from Hawaiian: variantly spelled ukelele in the UK, sometimes abbreviated as the uke, is a chordophoneclassified as a pluckedlute; it is a subset of the guitarfamily of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four coursesof strings.
The ukulele originated in the 19th century as a Hawaiian interpretation of a small guitar-like instrument brought to Hawaiʻi by Portuguese immigrants.It gained great popularity elsewhere in the United States during the early 20th century, and from there spread internationally.
Tone and volume of the instrument vary with size and construction.
Tuning your Uke
Like most ukes, the soprano ukulele is tuned to the notes GCEA (going from top string to the string nearest the ground). The G note is higher than the C note (this is known as re-entrant tuning). There are a number of different ways you can go about making sure you soprano is in tune.
Using a Tuner
Of course, there are probably going to be many times when you want to tune your ukulele. So it's very useful to have a portable tuner. Portable tuners work by clipping on to the headstock of your ukulele and detecting the vibrations as you play. That means you can tune even in noisy environments such as a uke group - a big advantage.
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