“Ukulele” is a family name. Four sizes share it directly — soprano, concert, tenor, baritone — and around them cluster the relatives: the bass uke, the eight-string taro-patch, the banjo-bodied banjolele, and the six-string guitalele. This page is the family map: what each one is, how it is tuned, and who it fits. Every tuning fact in the table is drawn from the same instrument registry that powers this site’s chord and scale pages.
The whole family, one table
| Instrument | Tuning | Voicing |
|---|---|---|
| Soprano Ukulele | GCEA | Reentrant (high-G) |
| Concert Ukulele | GCEA | Reentrant (high-G) |
| Tenor Ukulele | GCEA | Reentrant (high-G) |
| Baritone Ukulele | DGBE | Linear |
| Bass Ukulele | EADG | Linear |
| Taro-Patch Ukulele | GCEA | Reentrant (high-G) |
| Banjolele | GCEA | Reentrant (high-G) |
| Guitalele | ADGCEA | Linear |
The four sizes
Soprano (scale length around 13″/33 cm) is the original and the sound in your head when you think “ukulele”: plinky, bright, featherweight. Frets are close together — big hands will feel cramped past the seventh fret, but nothing beats it for strumming charm. Concert (~15″/38 cm) keeps the classic voice with a touch more room and volume; it is the safest single recommendation for a first uke. Tenor (~17″/43 cm) adds warmth, sustain, and stage presence — the working performer’s default, and the usual host for a low-G string. Baritone (~19″/48 cm) leaves the classic voice entirely: tuned DGBE like a guitar’s top four strings, linear, mellow — a guitarist’s instant home, at the cost of the uke shimmer. All three GCEA sizes share every grip on this site unchanged; the baritone has its own charts.
The relatives
The bass ukulele plays real bass — EADG an octave-and-more below, on fat rubbery strings, amplification essentially required; it holds down the low end of a uke group and one is enough per room. The taro-patch is the doubled-course cousin: GCEA in pairs for a wide, shimmering chorus of a strum. The banjolele puts GCEA fingering on a small banjo body — startlingly loud, instantly vintage, the jazz-age busker’s choice. And the guitalele is six strings tuned ADGCEA — a capo-5 guitar in uke clothing, covered in full in coming from guitar.
Choosing yours
Total beginner with no strong opinions: concert. Small hands or maximum portability: soprano. Singer-songwriter wanting warmth, or planning a low-G string (see low-G vs high-G): tenor. Guitarist unwilling to relearn chord names: baritone or guitalele. Whatever you choose, the reference here speaks its language — every size’s chords, scales, and drills are charted for its actual tuning, starting from the first-ukulele buying guide.