Moving To Baritone Ukulele

So you’ve got a good grasp of your ukulele, but have wondered what it’s like to play the Big Daddy of ukuleles? – a Baritone ukulele.

A baritone ukulele is tuned D G B E in it’s standard tuning. It is also normally a linear tuning, i.e. the D string is the lowest string, not as in the Soprano/Concert/Tenor uke a re-entrant tuning, where the G string of G C E A stringing is a high note.

Similarities to Guitar Tuning

If you, like me you play guitar, the tuning of a baritone ukulele offers no fears. Strings 1 to 4 of a guitar are D G B E, then on top of that you add two bass strings A and E to give E A D G B E bass to treble. Hence baritone chords are very similar to guitar chords, just missing the 2 bass strings.

Baritone Tuning in Comparison To Other Ukulele Scales

If you place a capo on the 5th fret of a baritone ukulele, the open strings are G C E A, in other words the tuning for a soprano/concert/tenor uke.

This means that the chord shapes for the baritone are same as other ukes, it’s just the chord they sound is different.

Chord Shape Equivalents

Baritone Soprano/Concert/Tenor
A D
B E
C F
D G
E A
F Bb
G C

Other Familiar Chords

Baritone Soprano/Concert/Tenor
Am Dm
Bm Em
B7 E7
D7 G7
E7 A7
Em Am
G7 C7

You might begin to see a pattern here, the soprano/concert/tenor uke chord is a fourth higher than the baritone chord. So if you are familiar with the 12 bar blues which much of popular music stems from, then the root note (or key of the tune) is the first chord, commonly shown in Roman numerals as I, the second chord in the sequence is IV(fourth), and the last chord is V(5th)

If you count on your fingers from thumb to ring finger, from A you get D (ignore sharps/flats). From thumb to little finger, brings you to E or the fifth chord.

Reasons You Might Play A Baritone Ukulele For Some Music

The tone of a baritone ukulele is much lower and mellower, which it makes it very good for playing ballads on, especially if you finger pick. I find the baritone very good for finger picking. On my baritone I have replaced the two bass strings which were metal wound with nylon strings, which are much nicer on the fingers and give the whole instrument a uniform feel.

If you play with other ukulele players, the addition of a baritone uke in the mix adds a lot of warmth to the overall sound.

Something else that might come as a relief to some, is that certain chords are much easier to play on baritone, than other ukes. Of course the reverse applies as well.

The dreaded E chord for example is the same shape as the easy A chord on a soprano/concert/tenor.

I’ve done a couple of comparisons between a concert and baritone uke in the video, to give you and idea of sound comparison. Why not give it a try – it’s a challenge.

If you are interested in learning to play baritone ukulele you shoule check out Terry Carter’s baritone video course over at Uke Like The Pros.

Grab my free Ukulele Go! beginners pack.

25 thoughts on “Moving To Baritone Ukulele

  1. So I dont know how to play soprano but I am learning the Bari uke. Im interested in where to learn how to accompany a Soprano or a group. Lots to learn, Thanks! Amy

    1. Hi Amy, your baritone will naturally give you a different tone to the soprano ukuleles in a group so you could simply play the same chords to accompany. You could also try some simple picking patterns. That should get you started.

  2. I read with much interest the following which you wrote earlier…….
    Reasons You Might Play A Baritone Ukulele For Some Music

    The tone of a baritone ukulele is much lower and mellower, which it makes it very good for playing ballads on, especially if you finger pick. I find the baritone very good for finger picking. On my baritone I have replaced the two bass strings which were metal wound with nylon strings, which are much nicer on the fingers and give the whole instrument a uniform feel.

    My biggybig question please.
    What strings did you use for the wound strings on D and G ?

    1. This is old, but dodie has some great songs written on it, my fave being not what I meant, written with Dom Fera

    2. Classic-country-song-lyrics.com. Is awesome. Has a link bar too if you think od a song you want to find. That bar works half the time but worth it.

  3. Also, I’m looking for Dean Lewis songs on the bari since I really like his music, but I can’t find any anywhere, does anyone know of any sites that could help, like chord conversions?

  4. This is old, but dodie has some great songs written on it, my fave being not what I meant, written with Dom Fera

  5. Hi I just bought a tenor and bari uke. LOVE BARI. can I learn too play on it instead of the other or not?

  6. I’m new to ukulele and am learning to play on a baritone, having played guitar for years and have a (hopefully not foolish) question. With the 4 bari uke strings corresponding to the top 4 guitar strings, can I just play songs from guitar tabs and chord diagrams (simply eliminating the two missing strings)?

    1. Hi Dave, yeah the baritone is the same as the highest strings on the guitar (the closest strings to the floor). Absolutely you can do that and it would be a great starting point for you.

  7. I recently bought a baritone ukulele and I find it very difficult to learn it since I haven’t played any instrument before. I’m self learning it, so please could you suggest me some tricks/ source that would help me … : )

  8. I really would love to see some baritone lessons. I have been trying to learn baritone for the better part of a year and still havent been able to find any resources on baritone ukulele. Specifically fingerpicking

    1. Hi Calvin, the main issue with me making any baritone specific material is that I don’t own a baritone ukulele. As the baritone is tuned the same as the highest strings on a guitar, you can borrow from guitar tabs, this should definitely get you started.

  9. What is the fingerpicking pattern used in Georgia please.
    Sounds wonderful and really suits the song. Thanks, Lis

  10. If a soprano, tenor or concert ukulele is playing a song in the key of C can you accompany with a baritone ukulele in the key of C which would be at a lower tone or should you be using a different key (ie Key of D) or using a capo on the 5th fret up on the baritone?

  11. Hi. Does that mean if a song on a guitar uses a capo on the third fret then you would also use a capo on baritone third fret?

    1. Sure thing Kelly, so an F chord on baritone would be fretted the following way: D string fretted at the 3rd fret, G string fretted at the 2nd fret, E and A strings fretted at the first fret. This gives you the notes: F, A, C and F.

      If you apply the same fretting on a re-entrant tuned ukulele you’ll end up with the following notes: Bb, D, F and Bb, in other words the notes that comprise the Bb chord.

      Hope that helps.

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