You found a song, but it says “guitar” above the lyrics? No problem. Chord names are note names – a C is a C on every instrument. You simply use your ukulele grip for the same name. You only need to watch out for two things: capo instructions and guitar chord diagrams.
Chord names: just keep them
If the sheet says C, Am, F and G, you play exactly those four chords on the ukulele. The ukulele sounds higher than the guitar, but it’s the same chord – so you can play together. If a grip is hard on the ukulele, such as E or Bb, see Playing hard ukulele chords the easy way or move the song to an easier key (Transposing).
Converting capo instructions
If a guitar song says “capo 3”, the guitar clamps a capo at the 3rd fret. It then plays the shape of, say, G, but sounds three semitones higher. On the ukulele you have three options:
- Play the sounding chords: count every chord up three semitones. G, C, D and Em become Bb, Eb, F and Gm. That sounds exactly like the guitar, but the grips are often harder.
- Use a capo yourself: clamp a ukulele capo at the 3rd fret as well and play G, C, D and Em. More in Using a capo on the ukulele.
- Leave the capo out: if you play on your own, you can simply play G, C, D and Em without a capo. The song then sounds a bit lower – which often suits a child’s voice even better.
Guitar chord shapes on the ukulele
The four ukulele strings G, C, E and A are tuned just like the four high guitar strings with a capo at the 5th fret (only the G string sounds an octave lower on the guitar). That’s why your ukulele C looks like the top four strings of a guitar G. If you already know guitar chords, you can reuse their shapes – but on the ukulele they have a different name, five semitones higher:
- Guitar shape G → ukulele C
- Guitar shape D → ukulele G
- Guitar shape A → ukulele D
- Guitar shape E → ukulele A
- Guitar shape C → ukulele F
- Guitar shape Em → ukulele Am, Am → Dm
And what is a guitalele?
A guitalele is a small six-string guitar about the size of a tenor ukulele. It is tuned like a guitar with a capo at the 5th fret: A D G C E A. So guitar shapes work, but sound five semitones higher – the G shape gives a C. The four high strings G, C, E, A match a low-G ukulele (Low-G ukulele). Your ukulele grips work on it too, as long as you don’t strum the two lowest strings.
In the app
Copy the lyrics and chords of the guitar song into the app as your own song. There you can shift it with “One semitone higher” and “One semitone lower” until the grips are easy. The app also suggests a key with easy grips (★).
Add your own song