Ukulele

A small four-string instrument with nylon strings, traditionally tuned to a re-entrant interval pattern that puts the highest note in the middle of the string order.

That re-entrant tuning is the key to its sound: the first and fourth strings sit close in pitch, so strummed chords are dense and percussive rather than spread out, and picking patterns produce a distinctive overlapping effect. The short scale and nylon strings make it easy to fret and gentle on the fingers, which is why it appears in teaching as well as in its own repertoire. Sizes from soprano to tenor change the volume and the comfortable key.

Example: a strummed chord on a soprano ukulele in re-entrant tuning sounds brighter and more clipped than the same chord on a guitar.

Ukulele

See also