High-G Ukulele: String Order, Pitch Order, and Your First Melody

Pluck your open fourth string, then your open third string. On a high-G ukulele, the sound goes down: G4 to C4. The fourth string is physically next to the third, but it is not the lowest-sounding string. That small distinction explains why a melody can rise while your picking hand moves toward string 4.

This lesson separates three things you can check: the sounding note, its octave, and the string-and-fret location used to play it. You will sort the four open sounds, find G4 in two places, and play one original eight-note melody along a supplied route. Keep your installed tuning unchanged during the comparisons. Use no capo: every open-string name and fret calculation below starts from the unshifted high-G setup.

1. Confirm the installed tuning

Use this lesson with high-G C tuning: strings 4–3–2–1 sound G4–C4–E4–A4. The octave numbers matter. G4 is the first G above middle C; C4 is middle C itself. Saying only “G–C–E–A” leaves the fourth string’s register unstated.

Lanikai’s care guide, in its four-string high-G chart, specifies those four pitches. Confirm the installed setup with your teacher or the instrument's setup information. A ukulele’s size alone does not confirm the strings currently fitted to it.

Sound each open string individually. If your tuner displays octave numbers, check those as well as the letters. If it displays only a letter, a G reading does not tell you whether you have G3 or G4. Ask your teacher to compare the sound with an octave-specific reference rather than guessing from the letter.

Kala’s tuning resource also asks beginners to sound strings individually. Here, the task is identifying the installed setup. If your fourth string sounds an octave below the G4 target, pause this playing exercise and confirm the setup. The low-G examples later are reading comparisons, not directions to retune an installed string across an octave.

The printable High G: String Order and Sound Order keeps the physical strip, pitch comparison and short melody together. Keep it beside you once the four open pitches have been confirmed.

String order, 4–3–2–1: G4–C4–E4–A4. String/fret labels use zero for open. Listen for down, up, up.

2. Number the strings without ranking their sounds

A string number identifies a physical string. In this tuning, string 1 is A4, string 2 E4, string 3 C4, and string 4 G4. Starting with string 4 and moving across the numbered sequence gives G–C–E–A. Starting with string 1 and reversing that sequence gives A–E–C–G. Neither statement alone says “lowest to highest.”

Point to each string while saying its number and full open pitch: “four, G4; three, C4; two, E4; one, A4.” Then find string 2 without playing all four.

This strip lists strings 4–1 from top to bottom for this diagram. It records which string you select, not which sound is lowest. Match the numbered strings on your own instrument with your teacher; a rotated or mirrored picture can move an edge on the page without changing its string identity.

Avoid using “top,” “bottom,” “up” or “down” by themselves when asking for a string. Those words can describe the instrument’s position, a picture’s orientation, or the direction of pitch. “String 4, open G4” gives your teacher a much clearer description than “the low string.”

In the location labels below, 3/2 means string 3 at fret 2. The first number selects the string; the second selects the fret. A zero means open: pluck without stopping the string at a fret. These labels identify places; they do not assign fingers or teach a tablature-reading system.

For this G4, string 2 selects the string, fret 3 selects the stopping point, and the digit 4 names the octave. The three numbers do different jobs.

Translate both ways: 2/0 means open string 2, sounding E4; open string 1 means 1/0, sounding A4.

3. Sort the open strings by sounding pitch

Now put the same four open notes in ascending order: C4–E4–G4–A4. Their string numbers are 3–2–4–1. String 3 is lowest, string 1 is highest, and string 4 sits between strings 2 and 1 in pitch. The physical strings stay exactly where they were.

Play 3/0, 2/0, 4/0, 1/0 slowly. Listen for each sound rising from the one before it. Then play 4/0, 3/0, 2/0, 1/0 and listen for the initial drop. You have changed the plucking order, not the tuning.

Pitch order, low to high: C4–E4–G4–A4 on strings 3–2–4–1. Only the plucking order changes.

This return to a higher pitch at one edge of the string layout is the feature called reentrant tuning. Barnes & Mullins explains that the high G sits above the middle C and E strings. Reentrant describes the arrangement; it does not mean the instrument is out of tune.

Bottom to top: C4, E4, G4, A4, supplied by strings 3, 2, 4, 1. The brackets count the half steps between neighboring open pitches.

Write G4, C4, E4 and A4 on separate slips. Arrange them from lowest to highest, then add their string numbers: 3–2–4–1. Return the slips to physical order and notice where pitch direction reverses.

For a staff-reading anchor, use Treble clef. Its middle-C-to-G reference helps you locate the bottom of this melody’s range. In our figures, the notes are written at the pitches you should hear; there is no hidden octave shift to apply.

C4 uses the ledger line below the treble staff; E4 is the bottom line, G4 the second line, and A4 the second space.

Read the notehead first and the location label second. G4 on the staff tells you the target sound, but it does not automatically specify the fourth string. That distinction will matter when you find the same G on another string.

Reverse pitch order: play 1/0, 4/0, 2/0, 3/0 for A4–G4–E4–C4. The sounds descend while the string numbers run 1–4–2–3. Name the expected sound before each pluck.

4. Compare high G4 with low G3 on paper

G3 and G4 have the same letter name and different registers. G3 is one octave below G4. The University of Puget Sound’s octave-register lesson identifies middle C as C4 and explains the numbered registers. Keep the digit attached when naming a target: “G four” is a complete answer here.

The octave number changes at C, not at A or G. Ascending from A4 gives A4, B4, C5. That is why string 1 reaches C5 at fret 3 in the location map.

An octave spans twelve half steps. A change from G4 to G3 therefore keeps the letter G while moving the sound twelve half steps lower. It is a much larger change than being slightly flat. On the staff, the two G notes occupy visibly different heights.

G3 is twelve half steps below G4. Compare the ledger-line G3 with the G4 on the second staff line. This is a reading comparison; keep your installed tuning unchanged.

Imagine a different tuning model in which string 4 sounds G3 while strings 3, 2 and 1 remain C4, E4 and A4. Its physical string order would sound G3–C4–E4–A4, rising throughout. This hypothetical comparison explains what “low G” changes in the pitch map. Read it on paper while leaving your instrument alone.

Only the fourth-string pitch changes: G4 above, G3 below. C4, E4 and A4 stay fixed. Read the low-G comparison without retuning.

The names G–C–E–A fit both models, so those four letters cannot settle the octave question. Nor can a correct string number: 4/0 means “open fourth string” in either model, but its sound depends on that string’s tuning. A location instruction needs a known tuning before it determines a pitch.

Say “G4” for the first note above and “G3” for the first note below. C4, E4 and A4 remain unchanged.

5. Find the same G4 in two places

Count fret spaces from the nut, the bar at the headstock end of the fingerboard. Fret 1 is the first space; fret numbers increase toward the body. To play 2/3, press string 2 just behind the third fret wire, on its nut side, and pluck that string. Keep neighboring open strings clear. Use enough pressure for a clean note. Daniel Ward’s fretting lesson explains the placement just behind the wire.

Count spaces from the nut. For 2/3, place your fingertip on string 2 close to fret wire 3, on its nut side. The diagram assigns no finger and is not drawn to physical scale.

Return to the confirmed high-G map. Open string 4 gives G4. String 2 begins at E4; moving along it to fret 3 also gives G4. You now have two locations for one sounding pitch: 4/0 and 2/3.

Matching pitch alone does not identify the location. Check which string you played as well as the G4 you heard.

Alternate those locations slowly. Expect the same pitch and octave; the strings may differ in tone and decay. Do not use a difference in brightness alone as evidence that you played another octave. Compare the pitch with your teacher’s reference, and check the location with your eyes.

Work out the fretted G rather than treating it as a shape to memorize. Moving one fret higher on the same string adds one half step. From E4, fret 1 is F4, fret 2 F♯4, and fret 3 G4. The sharp sign, ♯, raises a natural note by one half step, so F♯4 lies between F4 and G4. Fender’s theory reference gives the one-fret/half-step relationship; the calculation here applies it to our stated E4 open string.

Stay on string 2: E4–F4–F♯4–G4 adds one half step per fret. F♯ is a counting reference, not a note in the eight-note melody.

E–F is only one half step, while F–G is two. Counting letters alone would miss the F♯ between F and G. Half steps & whole steps shows those distances on a keyboard; Open Music Theory explains the same distinction. Count pitch distances, then translate each half step into a fret.

Each row keeps one string fixed while each column adds a fret. Read the row label before the pitch: string 3 fret 2 is D4, while string 2 fret 2 is F♯4. The two outlined G4 cells share pitch and octave. This is a location grid, with no time axis and no finger assignments.

Test the grid with a requested string: find D4 on string 3, using frets 0–3. Begin at C4 and move two half steps to fret 2. Now find G4 on string 2: start at E4 and move three half steps. The specified string makes each of these a location problem with one answer inside the stated fret range.

A different question, “Where can I play G4?”, can have more than one answer. The Which G? Check the Ukulele Route exercise uses requested strings and a limited fret range so you can check an exact location, then separate that task from checking the sounding octave.

For a second worked target, find A4 on string 4 within frets 0–3. Open string 4 is G4, so count G4–G♯4–A4: fret 2. A4 is also available on open string 1, but that would answer a different location request. The exercise asks for both a fret and a pitch name with octave, so write “fret 2, A4” when string 4 is supplied.

Then find B4 on string 1. Begin with A4 and count two half steps through A♯4 to B4: again fret 2. The fret number matches the previous answer, but the sounding note changes because the open string changed. Check both starting points before assuming that the same fret number means the same pitch.

6. Play the supplied eight-note route

Our melody is C4 D4 E4 G4 | A4 G4 E4 C4. The divider separates two bars of 4/4, each containing four quarter notes. Count 1–2–3–4 in each bar; each written note lasts one quarter-note beat. Puget Sound’s time-signature lesson explains that meter convention.

Start with bar 1. Its route is 3/0, 3/2, 2/0, 4/0. Say the full instruction before each pluck: “C4, string 3 open”; “D4, string 3 fret 2”; “E4, string 2 open”; “G4, string 4 open.” Take as much preparation time as you need at this stage. Let D4 sound for beat 2. At beat 3, release the fretting pressure on string 3 as you pluck open string 2 for E4. Ask your teacher to check that the intended open string is actually free to sound if a note does not match.

Bar 1: C4–D4–E4–G4, using 3/0, 3/2, 2/0, 4/0. The crossing to string 4 raises E4 to G4.

The fourth event is the useful surprise. Moving from string 2 to string 4 raises E4 to G4. It does not send the melody into a low register. Look at the upward move on the staff, then identify the open fourth string that supplies that higher sound.

Bar 2 uses 1/0, 4/0, 2/0, 3/0: A4, G4, E4, C4. Prepare that bar separately, then join the two. Both G notes use 4/0 for this assigned route, even though you have already found another place to play G4.

Two bars of 4/4, four quarter notes per bar. Both G4s use 4/0 in the supplied route; only D4 is fretted. Count 1–2–3–4 twice at quarter = 60 when ready. Both rows sound the same eight pitches. In the lower row, only event 4 changes location, from 4/0 to 2/3; event 6 stays at 4/0.

Use Tempo & the Metronome for the one-note-per-click practice idea. When ready, set quarter = 60, count four clicks before starting, and play one note per click. At that setting each quarter-note beat lasts one second. If a move needs more thinking time, return to untimed preparation before trying the pulse again.

First name the sounding target, then identify its assigned string and fret, then play it. Work without a beat while you need thinking time. Add the steady quarter-note pulse only after the locations are clear; the melody’s eight written events stay the same during both stages.

On High G: String Order and Sound Order, the final task asks you to replace only event 4 with 2/3. Do that after you have played the supplied version. Keep event 6 at 4/0. Both events still sound G4, but now the first G is fretted and the second is open. Explain which part changed before comparing the two versions by ear.

Read the route once more without playing. Point to the next location while naming its pitch. Then perform the melody and listen to its contour: it rises through the first bar, reaches A4 at the start of the second, and comes back down to C4. The string numbers follow a different pattern from that simple rise and fall.

7. Check octave and route separately

After one attempt, check pitch and octave, assigned location, and timing separately. Identify the problem event, rehearse it with the preceding event, then restore the pair to the complete route. A correct pitch can come from an unassigned location, and a correct location can arrive late.

For example, playing 2/3 for either G4 preserves the melody’s pitch and octave but differs from this route’s requested 4/0. Record it as a route difference. You do not need to call the pitch wrong to notice that you followed a different instruction.

Events 4 and 6 drop from G4 to G3 in the lower row. To repair the lower staff, move both G3 noteheads up one octave to the G4 line and change their labels to G4.

The lower row is a paper comparison: only events 4 and 6 have dropped to G3. With the confirmed high-G tuning and ordinary open or fretted notes used here, you cannot play that G3: your lowest available pitch is C4. A different string choice can give a wrong note, but this particular octave drop points to a different tuning model or an incorrect written example. Keep your installed tuning unchanged.

Use Which G? Check the Ukulele Route after you can explain the difference. Order the open strings, solve its requested-string targets, and inspect the two tuning-model route tables. Cover the answer key until you have written both pitch and octave; “G” alone leaves the central question unanswered. On the worksheet, correct the table’s pitch labels; its reference staves serve a different role.

Check the target pitch and tuning model first, the assigned location second, and the timing third. A correct G4 can still come from a different location.

For the exercise’s high-G table A, the wrong label is event 3: its 4/0 location should say G4, not G3. In hypothetical low-G table B, the wrong label is event 2: the same 4/0 location should say G3, not G4. The direction of correction changes with the tuning model. Keep the supplied string/fret locations fixed while correcting the names.

Away from the instrument, cover the pitch row and calculate each string/fret pair from the stated tuning. Supply the octave before uncovering the answer.

Finish by explaining the lesson aloud: “My lowest open sound is C4 on string 3. My open fourth string is G4. I can also play G4 at string 2 fret 3, but this melody assigns the open fourth string.” Then play the eight notes once more. A Tissimo teacher can listen to the octave and watch the route in a live lesson, helping you identify which part needs attention.

Free worksheets for this lesson

• High G: String Order and Sound Order — compare the four-string strip with sounding order, then follow the two-bar melody.
• Which G? Check the Ukulele Route — order open pitches, solve requested-string targets, and find two octave mistakes.
• Treble clef — locate treble notes and the middle-C anchor used here.
• Half steps & whole steps — check E–F, F–G and the half-step distances behind fret counting.
• Tempo & the Metronome — practice placing one note on each steady click.

Sources

• Fretting technique — Daniel Ward, Ukulele
• Tuning charts — Lanikai
• How to Tune Your Ukulele — Kala
• Ukulele tuning — Barnes & Mullins
• Octave Registers — University of Puget Sound
• Fret distances — Fender
• Half Steps, Whole Steps, and Accidentals — Open Music Theory
• Time Signature — University of Puget Sound