Reading the Ukulele Fingerboard

In Standard Tuning, the Ukulele fretboard has the open strings “G, C, E, A” from strings 4 to 1, or bottom to top. We may remember these open string notes by using the phrase “Good Charlie Eats Apples”.

The notes of the fingerboard ascends from the open strings with the chromatic scale up the Ukulele neck and descends down the neck. Taking the 4^th string as example, the 4^th string begins and ascends with G, G#, A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G. Decending from the 12^th fret, we will have G, Gb, F, E, Eb, D, Db, C, B, Bb, A, Ab, G.

Because the “Musical Alphabet” or Chromatic Scale has 12 notes, the notes of the fingerboard repeat the open string notes on the 12 fret 1 Octave above Open. Thus, the 13^th fret holds the same notes as the 1^st fret, and the 14^th fret has the same notes as the 2^nd fret, and so on.