Tools
Ukulele Fretboard
Explore our virtual fretboard to see and hear all notes, and keys.
How the 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. Choose Standard, Low G, Baritone, or D Tuning above the neck, and the letters move with you.
Look across all four strings and you can see the same relationship move with you. In standard gCEA, fret 2 gives aDF#B, the D tuning. At fret 7, the note names are DGBE, the baritone tuning, although baritone uses lower octaves. Every note moved by the same number of frets, so the distances stayed the same.
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 is tab order, with string 1 on top and string 4 at the bottom. In standard tuning the open strings are gCEA: G, C, E, and A.
- 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?
In standard tuning the open strings are gCEA: G, C, E, and A. Each fret is the next chromatic note. The 12th fret is the same note as the open string, one octave higher. Switch to Low G, Baritone, or D Tuning above the neck if that is how you tune, and the letters move with you.
- 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. In standard tuning the open strings are gCEA: G, C, E, and A. Chord diagrams on this site show GCEA from top to bottom, the way you look at the ukulele in your lap. Same instrument, two views.