A parent plays guitar, the child plays ukulele – or the instruments are mixed in class. Does that work? Yes, quite simply: everyone plays the chord names on the sheet, each with their own grip. A C is a C on guitar, ukulele and baritone ukulele, even though the fingers sit in completely different places.
CWhen someone uses a capo
If the guitar uses a capo, its shapes sound higher. The rule: sounding chord = shape name + number of capo frets in semitones. If the guitar plays a G shape with capo 2, an A sounds – so the ukulele plays A. Or the ukulele also puts a capo at the 2nd fret and plays G like the guitar. Both sound right together.
Guitar with capo 5 = ukulele
A neat trick: if the guitar puts a capo at the 5th fret, its four high strings are tuned exactly like a ukulele – G, C, E, A. Only the G is an octave lower, as on a low-G ukulele. The guitar can then play the same chord shapes as the ukulele on those four strings, and both play literally the same chord. Handy when parents want to learn alongside their child.
Without a capo, the four high guitar strings (D, G, B, E) match the baritone ukulele exactly. So baritone and guitar share the same chord shapes with the same names. A ukulele shape, on the other hand, sounds five semitones lower on guitar and baritone: the ukulele C shape is a G there.
Making it sound good
- Tune together: tune both instruments with the same tuner, right before playing.
- Share the roles: the guitar sounds fuller and deeper, the ukulele bright. It sounds lovely when the guitar picks gently or strums only on 1 and 3 while the ukulele keeps the rhythm – or the other way round.
- Volume: a guitar is much louder. The guitarist can strum more gently so the ukulele can be heard.
- Pick the same key: in the app’s song player, set the same key on each device so the chords shown match.