ToolsBaritone
Baritone ukulele fretboard
Explore our Baritone ukulele fretboard to see and hear all notes, and keys.
How the Baritone ukulele fretboard works
This chart follows tab order, with string 1 at the top and string 4 at the bottom. Open notes sit at the nut, and each fret raises a note by one semitone. Look closely at fret 12: every open-string note appears again there, one octave higher. From that point, the same note pattern starts again.
Tap any note to hear it. The dots at frets 5, 7, 10, and 12 are position markers. The Baritone view starts with D, G, B and E open strings. Switch to Standard above the neck to compare the note positions.
Baritone tuning rises in pitch from the fourth string to the first. Its lowest open note is D3, unlike the high G of Standard tuning. The same chord name uses different shapes, so follow Baritone chord diagrams when you connect these notes to chords.
Keys and scales on ukulele
A key is the home note a song keeps coming back to. A major scale is the seven notes that belong to that key. C major is C, D, E, F, G, A, and B — no sharps or flats — which is why it is a friendly first map.
Tap a key above the fretboard to show only that major scale. Every occurrence of the root note is highlighted, while the blue outline marks a compact root-to-root practice position. Move from C to C#, then D, and the same shape moves one fret higher each time. This is a movable pattern: the notes change, but the scale spacing stays the same: whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step.
What remains is the palette for melodies in that key, and for the chords that sit in it. In C, the shapes you already know — C, F, G, and Am — are built from those seven notes.
You do not need every scale type to start. Learn where C, F, and G live on the neck, then use a chord progression in that key. The map is there so the notes stop feeling random.
Frequently asked questions
- How do you read a ukulele fretboard?
Open notes sit at the nut. Each fret is one semitone higher than the last. This chart follows tab order, with string 1 at the top and string 4 at the bottom. On a Baritone, the open strings are E, B, G and D from top to bottom.
- How many frets does a ukulele have?
Soprano often has 12 to 15, concert and tenor a few more, and baritone often around 19. The first 12 frets cover every note name once per string. This explorer extends to fret 14 so every root-to-root major-scale practice position fits.
- What notes are on a ukulele fretboard?
The open Baritone strings are D, G, B and E from string 4 to string 1. Each fret is the next chromatic note. Fret 12 repeats the open-string note one octave higher. Tap a key above the neck to highlight its major scale.
- What is a scale on ukulele?
A major scale is the seven notes that belong to a key. C major is C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Tap a key on this page to see only those notes. Melodies and the chords in that key are built from them.
- What is the difference between a key and a scale?
The key is the home note a song keeps returning to. The scale is the set of notes that belong to that key. In C major, C is home and C D E F G A B are the notes. Chords such as C, F, G, and Am live in that key.
- Why is string 1 on top of this fretboard?
Tabs and many online charts put string 1 at the top and string 4 at the bottom. On this Baritone fretboard, that is E, B, G and D from top to bottom. Vertical Baritone chord diagrams show D, G, B and E from left to right. Same instrument, two views.