“My new ukulele won’t stay in tune. Is there something wrong with the tuners?”

Posted by on May 11th 2021 @ 2:16 pm

Photo by Johannes Weber

I’ve heard variations of this many times, usually from new players. Today, I read from a new banjolele player who thought it might the drum head (no, it isn’t the drum head). People just don’t realize how stretchy new strings are when they first start out and this is a big source of frustration for some.

An Overnight Fix to Get Your Uke in Tune Quickly

New strings usually take constant tuning until they ‘settle in’ – this can take anywhere from days to weeks. One trick that has worked for me to speed up this process is to tune the ukulele up a whole step higher – ADF#B (which is a standard tuning in some places, so I’m not worried the tension is going to ruin my ukulele); I then let it rest overnight and retune to GCEA the following day.

There are other tricks, which involve stretching the strings with your fingers, but I’ve heard this can cause the strings to stretch unevenly, which could lead to other problems down the road. Although, I don’t have experience with this happening, I stopped recommending this kind of string stretching because it does seem plausible.

So, if you can wait 24 hours, the overnight ADF#B fix described above has been a solid way to cut down on weeks of frustration for me when I install new strings or buy a new ukulele (which probably happens a little too often).

Ryan's favorite starter ukulele: The Enya Nova U Concert Ukulele 23” on Amazon sounds great, is easy to play, in tune and nearly indestructable. "I left it in the car through the heat of summer to see what would happen, and it still plays beautifully."

Post filed under All UkulelePlay! Blog Posts.

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