There are four standard sizes of ukulele:

• Soprano : The ‘original’ ukulele size with a ‘scale-length’ (the distance between the nut and the saddle) of 13 inches. I’ve heard it argued that this size of ukulele is the only ‘true’ ukulele. That of course depends on your definition of what makes a ukulele a ukulele. I’ll talk about that in a future post.
• Concert (more common) or Alto (rarely used) : An innovation of the roaring twenties when the ukulele was all the rage. Vaudeville performers, desiring a ukulele with a little more projective power for stage use, added two inches to the ukulele to give it a 15-inch scale length.
• Tenor : Later on, someone added another two inches, for a 17-inch scale length, and dubbed the instrument a ‘tenor.’ Tenor’s have the most projective power of the three and a deeper ‘bass’ response (which means the lower notes have a fuller tone). With extra length often comes more frets, which means you can play higher.
• Baritone : Someone in the 1940s added yet another two inches, for a 19-inch scale length, AND tuned the strings down a 4th to DGBE, the same as the top four strings of a guitar, and decided to call it a Baritone.

Soprano, Concert & Tenor ukuleles all usually tune to gCEA (reentrant) or GCEA (linear or low-G); therefore they can all play from the same chord charts, music, tabs and books that are printed for the ukulele. For the Baritone ukulele you will use different chord charts and there is not a ton of music or tabs for the instrument; however, it is easy to adapt Guitar music, which is abundant, by ignoring the missing E and A bass strings.

If you want to go really small, there are pocket and sopranino ukuleles out there.

If you’re a bass lover, ukulele basses abound; however these are really just ultra-short-scale basses that are tuned exactly like a bass guitar (their main advantages being portability and ease of play).

If you’d like to read more about this subject, the wikipedia article on ukuleles is pretty thorough.

It has been asked, ‘Which size of ukulele is the best?” To which the quick answer is … The one you like the best. However, I will go into some of the strengths and weaknesses of each of the instruments in a future post – all of them have their good points and I own at least one of each size.

Post filed under All UkulelePlay! Blog Posts.