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Western Folk Instruments
Autoharp
The autoharp is a chord zither (called an Akkordzither in Germany, where it was invented in the 1870s); the instrument is used by many folk, country, and bluegrass singers today. It is fairly simple to play. There is a shallow soundbox, about 33 cm (21 inches) long with a curve on one side, with as many as 48 strings attached longitudinally. Each string is tuned to a particular note, using a tuning key (or wrench). There are anywhere from 6 to 21 transverse chord bars, perpendicular to the strings, that are held above the strings by a coil spring at each end. Each bar is labeled with the name of the chord, and has felt pads placed such that, when the bar is pressed all of the strings NOT represented in the named chord are muted.
Usually, the strings are sounded by the right hand, sometimes using thumb and finger picks, and the chord bars are held down by the left hand. It can be played held against the left shoulder, or placed flat on the lap or a table.
Autoharps can be strung in diatonic or chromatic scales. Diatonic instruments can usually play in 1-3 keys, whereas the chromatic instruments can play in any key.
Although the autoharp is often thought of as a rhythm instrument, modern players can produce clear melodies. Diatonic players can play challenging fiddle tunes up to speed by using open-chording techniques, "pumping" the damper buttons while picking individual strings very accurately. Skilled chromatic players can render music of surprising complexity. Diatonically strung single key instruments from modern day luthiers are known for their lush sound, which is accomplished by doubling the strings for individual notes. Since the strings for notes not in the diatonic scale do not appear in the string bed, the resulting extra space is used for the doubled strings, resulting in fewer damped strings. Two- and three-key diatonics compromise the number of doubled strings to gain the ability to play in two or three keys, and to permit tunes containing accidentals which could not otherwise be rendered on a single key harp.
The picture below shows a 15-bar autoharp.
Banjo
The banjo is a stringed instrument that originated in Africa; original examples are sometimes called the "gourd banjo". The name banjo is commonly thought to be derived from the Kimbundu term mbanza. Some etymologists derive it from a dialectal pronunciation of "bandore", though recent research suggests that it may come from a Senegambian term for the bamboo stick used for the instrument's neck.
The modern banjo comes in a variety of different forms, including four-string (plectrum and tenor banjos) and five-string versions. A six-string version, tuned and played similar to a guitar is gaining popularity. In almost all of its forms the banjo's playing is characterised by a fast strumming or arpeggiated right hand, although there are many different playing styles.
Historically, the banjo occupied a central place in African American traditional music as well as in the minstrel shows of the 19th century. Today, although the banjo is most commonly associated with country or bluegrass music, the instrument has enjoyed inclusion in a wide variety of musical genres, including pop crossover music.
The banjo consists of a wooden or metal rim with a plastic polyester (PET film) or calf or goat skin drumhead stretched across it, a neck mounted on the side of the rim, a tailpiece mounted opposite the neck, four or five strings, and a bridge. The woods used in construction vary, but are often combinations of maple, walnut, and ebony for fingerboards, pegheads, and the tops of bridges. In the five-string banjo, the fifth peg is normally on the side of the neck, although some English versions (the Zither banjo) mount the fifth string tuner on the tuning head with the others, and route the string through a tube in the neck where it exits near the fifth fret.
The earliest banjos were unfretted, like the African instruments that inspired them, but most banjos today are fretted. Banjo strings are most commonly metal, although nylon and gut can be used on some banjos, especially those played in the classical style. The two most common modern day acoustic banjos are the resonator banjo which has a detachable chamber, or resonator, on the back of the rim and the open-back banjo which does not have a resonator.
The picture below shows a banjo in the collection of the Smithsonian Instutition.
Dobro and Other Resonator Guitars
A resonator guitar or resophonic guitar is an acoustic guitar whose sound is produced by one or more metal resonators rather than by a wooden guitar belly.Resonator guitars are of two styles: (1) square necked guitars designed to be played in steel guitar style, and (2) round necked guitars, which may be played in either the conventional spanish guitar style or in the steel guitar style.There are three main resonator designs: (1) the tricone design of the first National resonator guitars, (2) the single inverted-cone design of the Dobro (see below), and (3) the spiderless single cone biscuit design of other National instruments. Many variations of all of these these styles and designs have been produced under many brands. The body of a resonator guitar may be made of wood, metal, or occasionally other materials. Typically there are two main soundholes, positioned on either side of the fingerboard extension. In the case of single cone models, the soundholes are either both circular or both f-shaped, and symmetrical; The older tricone design has irregularly shaped soundholes. Cutaway body styles may truncate or omit the lower f-hole.Shown below is a modern tricone resonator guitar (picture from the Wikipedia article)
The name Dobro originated in 1928 when the Dopyera brothers formed the Dobro Manufacturing Company to manufacture a new resonator guitar design they called the Dobro. Dobro is both a contraction of Dopyera brothers and a word meaning good in their native Slovak language. An early company motto was Dobro means good in any language. The Dobro brand appeared on several other instruments, notably electric lap steel guitars and solid body electric guitars, and on other resonator instruments.
The Dobro was the third resonator guitar design by John Dopyera, the inventor of the resonator guitar, but the second to enter production. Unlike his earlier tricone design, the Dobro had a single resonator cone, and it was inverted, with its concave surface up. The Dobro company described this as a bowl shaped resonator. The Dobro was louder than Dopyera's original design, the tricone, and cheaper to produce. Cost of manufacture had in Dopyera's opinion priced the resonator guitar beyond the reach of many players, and his failure to convince his fellow directors at the National String Instrument Corporation to produce a single cone version was part of his motivation for leaving. Since National had applied for a patent on the single cone, Dopyera had to develop an alternative design, which he did by inverting the cone so that rather than having the strings rest on the apex of the cone as per the National method, they rested on a cast aluminum "spider" which had 8 legs sitting on the perimeter of the upside down cone.
In the following years both Dobro and National built a wide variety of metal- and wood-bodied single-cone guitars, while National also continued with the tricone for a time. Both companies sourced many components from National director Adolph Rickenbacher, and John Dopyera continued to be a major shareholder in National. By 1934, the Dopyera brothers had gained control of both National and Dobro, and they merged the companies to form the National Dobro Corporation. From the outset, wooden bodies had been sourced from existing guitar manufacturers, particularly the plywood student guitar bodies made by the Regal Musical Instrument Company. Dobro had granted Regal a licence to manufacture resonator instruments, and by 1937 they were the only manufacturer, and the licence was officially made exclusive. Regal-manufactured resonator instruments continued to be sold under many names, including Regal, Dobro, Old Kraftsman, and Ward. However all production of resonator guitars ceased following the US entry into the Second World War in 1941.
Emile Dopyera (also known as Ed Dopera) manufactured Dobros from 1959, before selling the company and name to Semie Moseley, who merged it with his Mosrite guitar company and manufactured Dobros for a time. Meantime, in 1967, Rudy and Emile Dopyera formed the Original Musical Instrument Company (OMI) to manufacture resonator guitars, which were at first branded Hound Dog. However in 1970 they again acquired the Dobro name, Mosrite having gone into temporary liquidation. OMI together with the Dobro name was acquired by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1993. They renamed the company Original Acoustic Instruments, and moved production to Nashville. Gibson now uses the name Dobro only for models with the inverted-cone design used originally by the Dobro Manufacturing Company. Gibson also manufactures biscuit style single resonator guitars, but sells them under names such as Hound Dog and Epiphone.
The name dobro is particularly associated with the single-inverted-cone resonator design, as opposed to the tricone and biscuit designs which are both similarly associated with the National brand. As of 2006, many different makers including Gibson were manufacturing resonator guitars to the inverted-cone design originally produced by the Dobro Manufacturing company.
The picture below is of a Gibson model Dobro.
Dulcimer, Mountain
The Appalachian dulcimer is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings, although contemporary versions of the instrument can have as many as twelve strings and six courses. The body extends the length of the fingerboard and traditionally has an hourglass, teardrop, triangular, or elliptical shape. As a folk instrument, wide variation exists in Appalachian dulcimers. For example, a courting dulcimer has two fretboards, which allows two players sitting across from each other to perform duets, hence the name. The Appalachian dulcimer is related to similar European instruments like the langeleik and scheitholt.
The frets of the traditional Appalachian dulcimer are typically arranged in a diatonic scale. Traditionally, the Appalachian dulcimer was usually tuned to DAA, or notes with this 1 5 5 relationship. The key note is on the bass string and the middle string and melody strings are a perfect fifth above it. This 1 5 5 tuning facilitates playing melodies in the Ionian (major) mode. Playing melody on the highest-tuned string(s), and allowing the unfretted drone strings to provide a simple harmony, gives the instrument its distinctive traditional sound. Other tunings are used for playing melodies in other modes--for example, the tuning DAC (1 5 7) facilitates playing melodies in the Aeolian mode (a common minor mode).
Modern players today most commonly play in the DAD (or similar 1 5 8, do sol do) tuning. Because most modern instruments also include an additional fret a half step below the octave position (called the "six and a half" fret), playing in this 1 5 8 tuning allows the playing on songs in both the Ionian (major) mode and the Mixolydian mode (in which the "ti" note is lowered a half step). This tuning is also quite conducive with playing chords.
Chromatic dulcimers are also made, and playing a diatonically fretted dulcimer in a 1 3 5 (do mi sol) tuning allows players to reach almost all of the chromatic notes needed for modern songs.
The Appalachian dulcimer is widely used in the American old-time music tradition. The instrument first appeared in the early 1800s from the Scots-Irish in the southern Appalachian Mountains, and is thus also called a mountain dulcimer. The instrument was based on pre-existing similar European, instruments, particularly the German scheitholt. Soon it acquired a distinctive American flavor. The instrument became used as a parlor instrument, as its sound volume is well-suited to small home gatherings.
The Appalachian dulcimer achieved a renaissance in the 1950s urban folk music revival in the United States through the work of Jean Ritchie, a Kentucky musician who introduced the instrument to New York City audiences. In the 1960s, the American folk musician Richard Fariña (1937–1966) became the first to utilize an Appalachian dulcimer in a less traditional way, pointing out its similarity in tone to some Middle Eastern and Asian instruments. Styles performed by modern dulcimer enthusiasts run the gamut from traditional folk music through experimental forms, although most perform in more or less traditional styles.
Fiddles
For all practical purposes, the fiddles played in country, bluegrass, and folk music today are the same as violins (although sometimes a different bridge may be used). Please see the information section on violins for more information.
Guitar
The guitar is a musical instrument that is used in a wide variety of musical styles. In popular culture it is recognized as the primary instrument in blues, country, flamenco, pop, and rock music. The guitar usually has six strings, but guitars with four, seven, eight, ten, and twelve strings also exist.
An acoustic guitar does not depend on any external device for amplification. The shape and resonance of the guitar itself creates acoustic amplification. However, because the unamplified guitar is not loud, it cannot compete with other instruments in terms of sheer audible volume. Therefore, many acoustic guitars are available today with built-in electronics and power to enable amplification.
There are several different types of acoustic guitars, as described below.
- Renaissance and Baroque Guitars are the gracile ancestors of the modern classical guitar. They are substantially smaller and more delicate than the classical guitar, and generate a much quieter sound. The strings are paired in courses as in a modern 12 string guitar, but they only have four or five courses of strings rather than six. They were more often used as rhythm instruments in ensembles than as solo instruments, and can often be seen in that role in early music performances. Renaissance and Baroque guitars are easily distinguished because the Renaissance guitar is very plain and the Baroque guitar is very ornate, with inlays all over the neck and body, and a paper-cutout inverted "wedding cake" inside the hole.
- Classical Guitars are typically strung with nylon strings, played in a seated position, and are used to play a diversity of musical styles including classical music. The classical guitar is designed to allow for the execution of solo polyphonic arrangements of music. This is the major point of difference in design intent between the classical instrument and other designs of guitar. Flamenco guitars are very similar in construction, have a sharper sound, and are used in flamenco. In Mexico, the popular mariachi band includes a range of guitars, from the tiny requinto to the guitarron, a guitar larger than a cello, which is tuned in the bass register. In Colombia, the traditional quartet includes a range of instruments too, from the small bandola (sometimes known as the Deleuze-Guattari, for use when travelling or in confined rooms or spaces), to the slightly larger tiple, to the full sized classical guitar.
- Portuguese Guitars are 12-string guitars used in Portugal for the traditional Fado song. Their origins are somewhat uncertain but there is a general agreement that it goes back to the medieval period. This particular instrument is most likely a merge of medieval "cistre" or "citar" and the Arabic lute.
- Flat-top (Steel-string) Guitars are similar to classical guitars, but usually have a significantly larger body, as well as a narrower, reinforced neck and stronger structural design, to sustain the extra tension of steel strings which produce a brighter tone, and according to some players, a louder sound. The acoustic guitar is a staple in folk, Old-time music, and blues.
- Archtop Guitars are steel-string instruments featuring a violin-inspired f-hole design in which the top (and often the back) of the instrument are carved in a curved rather than a flat shape. Lloyd Loar of the Gibson Guitar Corporation invented this variation of guitar after designing a style of mandolin of the same type. The typical archtop is a hollow-body guitar whose form is much like that of a mandolin or violin family instrument and may be acoustic or electric. Archtop guitars were immediately adopted upon their release by both jazz and country musicians and have remained particularly popular in jazz music, usually using thicker strings (higher gauged round wound and flat wound) than acoustic guitars. Archtops are often louder than a typical dreadnought acoustic guitar. The electric hollow body archtop guitar has a distinct sound among electric guitars and is consequently appropriate for many styles of rock and roll. Many electric archtop guitars intended for use in rock and roll even have a Tremolo Arm.
- Resonator, resophonic or Dobro guitars (see separate entry on this page): Similar to the flat top guitar in appearance, but with sound produced by a metal resonator mounted in the middle of the top rather than an open sound hole, so that the physical principle of the guitar is actually more similar to the banjo. The purpose of the resonator is to amplify the sound of the guitar; this purpose has been largely superseded by electrical amplification, but the resonator is still played by those desiring its distinctive sound.
The type of resonator guitar with a neck with a square cross-section -- called "square neck" -- is usually played face up, on the lap of the seated player, and often with a metal or glass slide. The round neck resonator guitars are normally played in the same fashion as other guitars, although slides are also often used, especially in blues. - Twelve-String Guitars usually have steel strings and are widely used in folk music, blues and rock and roll. Rather than having only six strings, the 12-string guitar has pairs, like a mandolin. Each pair of strings is tuned either in unison (the two highest) or an octave apart (the others). They are made both in acoustic and electric forms.
- Russian Guitars are seven string acoustic guitars which were the norm for Russian guitarists throughout the 19th and well into the 20th centuries. The guitar is traditionally tuned to an open G major tuning.
- Acoustic Bass Guitars also have steel strings, and match the tuning of the electric bass, which is likewise similar to the traditional double bass viol, or "big bass", a staple of string orchestras and bluegrass bands alike.
The picture below shows the variety of acoustic guitars available today (photos from Real Guitars, Ft. Meyers, FL).
Mandolin
A mandolin is a small, stringed musical instrument which is plucked, strummed or a combination of both. It is descended from the mandora. It is characterized by (1) eight metal strings in four pairs (courses) that are plucked with a plectrum; (2) a body with a teardrop-shaped or oval soundtable (or face); (3) a neck with a flat or slightly radiused fretted fingerboard, and a nut and floating bridge; (4) a tailpiece or pinblock at the edge of the face to which the strings are attached; (5) mechanical tuning machines, rather than friction pegs; (6) one or more soundholes on the face, of varying shapes, that are open and not latticed.
The most common tuning for the mandolin is in fifths, the same as for the violin (G-D-A-E, lowest to highest).
Mandolins come in several forms. The Neapolitan style, known as a round-back or bowl-back, (or "tater-bug" in colloquial American), has a vaulted back made of a number of strips of wood in a bowl formation, similar to a lute, and usually a canted, two-plane, uncarved top. The Portuguese bandolim, a flat-back style, is derived from the cittern, but is tuned the same as most mandolins. Another form has a banjo-style body.
At the very end of the nineteenth century, a new style of mandolin, with carved top and back construction inspired by violin family instruments, began to supplant the European-style bowl-back instruments, especially in the United States. This new style is credited to Orville Gibson, a Kalamazoo, Michigan violinmaker who founded the "Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Manufacturing Co., Limited" in 1902. Gibson mandolins evolved into two basic styles: the Florentine or F-style, which has a decorative scroll near the neck, two points on the lower body, and usually a scroll carved into the headstock; and the A-style, which is pear shaped, has no points, and a simpler headstock. These styles generally have either two f-shaped soundholes like a violin (F-5 and A-5), or an oval sound hole (F-4 and A-4 and lower models) directly under the strings. The Gibson F-hole F-5-style mandolins have come to be considered the most typical and traditional for playing American bluegrass music, while the A-style is generally more associated with Irish, folk, or classical music. The F-hole models have a distinctly different sound than the A-style models.
The Mandolin "Family"
Like the violin of the violin family, the mandolin is the soprano member of the mandolin family. Its scale length is typically about 13 inches (330 mm). Modern American mandolins modeled after Gibsons have a longer scale, about 13-7/8" (352mm).
Other members of the mandolin family are:
- Mandola (US and Canada), termed the tenor mandola in Europe, Ireland, and the UK, which is tuned a fifth below the mandolin. Some also call this instrument the "alto mandola." Its scale length is typically about 16.5 inches (420 mm). It is normally tuned like a viola: C-G-D-A.
- Octave mandolin (US and Canada), termed the octave mandola or mandole in Europe, Ireland, and the UK, which is tuned an octave below the mandolin. Its scale length is typically about 20 inches (500 mm), although these instruments can have scales as short as 17 inches (430 mm) or as long as 21 inches (530 mm).
- Mandocello, which is classically tuned to an octave plus a fifth below the mandolin, in the same relationship as that of the cello to the violin: C-G-D-A. Today, it is not infrequently restrung for octave mandolin tuning or the Irish bouzouki's GDAD. Its scale length is typically about 25 inches (635 mm).
- Mando-bass, has 4 single strings, rather than double courses, and is tuned like a double bass. These were made by the Gibson company in the early twentieth century, but were never very common, as most mandolin orchestras preferred to use the ordinary double bass. Calace and other Italian makers predating Gibson also made mandolin-basses.
- Greek laouto is essentially a mandocello, ordinarily tuned D-G-D-A, with half of each pair of the lower two courses being tuned an octave high on a lighter gauge string. The body is a staved bowl, the saddle-less bridge glued to the flat face like most ouds and lutes, with mechanical tuners, steel strings and tied gut frets. Modern laoutos, as played on Crete, have the entire lower course tuned in octaves as well as being tuned a reentrant octave above the expected D. Its scale length is typically about 28 inches (712mm).
- Piccolo, or sopranino, mandolin is a rare member of the family, tuned one octave above the tenor mandola and one fourth above the mandolin. One model was manufactured by the Lyon & Healy company under the Leland brand. A handful of contemporary luthiers build piccolo mandolins, including Stephen Gilchrist of Australia and Jamie Wiens of Canada. Its scale length is typically about 9.5 inches (240 mm).
- Irish bouzouki is also considered a member of the mandolin family. Although derived from the Greek bouzouki, it is constructed like a flat backed mandolin and uses fifth-based tunings (most often GDAD, an octave below the mandolin, sometimes GDAE, ADAD or ADAE) in place of the guitar-like fourths-and-third tunings of the three- and four-course Greek bouzouki. Although the bouzouki's bass course pairs are most often tuned in unison, on some instruments one of each pair is replaced with a lighter string and tuned in octaves, in the fashion of the 12-string guitar. Although occupying the same range as the octave mandolin/octave mandola, the Irish bouzouki is distinguished from the former instrument by its longer scale length, typically from 22 inches (560 mm) to 24 inches (610 inches); scales can be as long as 26 inches (660 mm), the usual Greek bouzouki scale.
- Cittern. The modern cittern is also an extension of the mandolin family, being typically a five course (ten string) instrument having a scale length between 20 inches (500 mm) and 22 inches (560 mm). It is most often tuned to either DGDAD or GDADA, and is essentially an octave mandola with a fifth course at either the top or the bottom of its range. Some luthiers, such as Stefan Sobell also refer to the octave mandola or a shorter-scaled Irish bouzouki as a cittern, irrespective of whether it has four or five courses.
History of Mandolins
As early as 15,000 BC to 8,000 BC, single stringed instruments that were bowed, struck, or plucked, appeared in cave paintings. From these, the families of stringed instruments developed. Single strings were long and gave a single melody line. To shorten the scale length, other strings were added with a different tension so one string took over where another left off. In turn, this led to being able to play diads and chords. The bowed family became the rabob, rebec, and then the fiddle, becoming the violin and modern family by 1520 (incidentally also in Naples). The plucked family led to lute-like instruments in 2000 BC Mesopotamia, and developed into the oud or ud before appearing in Spain, first documented around 711 AD, courtesy of the Moors.
Over the next centuries, frets were added and the strings doubled to courses, leading to the first lute appearing in the thirteenth century. The history of the lute and the mandolin are intertwined from this point. The lute gained a fifth course by the fifteenth century, a sixth a century later, and up to 13 courses in its heyday. As early as the fourteenth century a miniature lute or mandora appeared. Similar to the mandola, it had counterparts in Assyria (pandura), the Arab countries (dambura), and Ukraine (kobza-bandura). From this, the mandolino (a small gut-strung mandola with six strings tuned g b e' a' d g sometimes called the Baroque mandolin and played with a quill, wooden plectrum, or finger-style) was developed in several places in Italy. The mandolino was sometimes called a mandolin in the early eighteenth century.
These early mandolins are termed Neapolitan mandolins, because of their origin from Naples. They are distinguished by a almond-shaped body with a bowled back that is constructed from curved strips of wood along its length. The soundtable is bent just behind the bridge, the bending achieved with a heated bending iron. This "canted" table aids the body to support a greater string tension. A hardwood fingerboard is flush with the soundtable. Ten metal or ivory frets are spaced along the neck in semitones, with additional frets glued upon the soundtable. The strings are brass except for the lowest string course which are gut or metal wound onto gut. The bridge is a moveable length of ivory placed in front of ivory pins that hold the strings. Wooden tuning pegs are inserted through the back of a flat pegboard.
In the twentieth century, the mandolin and mandolin family of instruments became popular for Celtic, bluegrass, jazz, and classical music.
The picture below shows a Neapolitan bowl-back mandolin (photo found on the Banjolin website) on the top, and an antique f-style mandolin below.
Ukulele
The ukulele, or uke, is a fretted string instrument which is constructed as a small, four-stringed version of the guitar. In the early 20th century, the instrument's name was often rendered as ukelele, a spelling still used in Great Britain. The ukulele is commonly associated with music from Hawaii, where the name roughly translates as "jumping flea". In 1879, the three men generally credited as the first ukulele makers arrived from Portugal in Hawaiʻi, sailing into Honolulu on the ship Ravenscrag. These were Manuel Nunes, José do Espírito Santo, and Augusto Dias. The developed the instrument in the 1880s as a combination of the Madeiran braguinha and rajão. The ukulele resembles a smaller cuatro, a four stringed guitar from Latin America, which had been around for hundreds of years before the ukulele.
Some of the most valuable ukuleles, which may run into the thousands of dollars in price, are made from koa (Acacia koa), a local wood known for its fine tone and attractive color and figure.
The ukulele was popularized for a stateside audience during the Panama Pacific International Exposition held for most of 1915 in San Francisco, at which the Hawaiian Pavilion featured a guitar and ukulele ensemble, George E. K. Awai and his Royal Hawaiian Quartette. The popularity of the ensemble with visitors launched a fad for Hawaiian-themed songs among Tin Pan Alley songwriters. The ensemble also introduced both the lap steel guitar and the ukulele into U.S. mainland popular music, where it was taken up by vaudeville performers such as Roy Smeck and Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards. The ukulele became an icon of the Jazz Age, as this highly portable and relatively inexpensive instrument also proved popular with amateur players throughout the 1920s, as is evidenced by the introduction of uke chord tablature into the published sheet music for popular songs of the time (a role that would eventually be supplanted by the guitar).
The ukulele comes in four sizes from smallest to largest:
- Soprano (the original size), usually about 21inches (53 cm) long with a 13" (33 cm) scale length
- Concert, usually about 23 inches (58 cm) long with a 15-inch (38-cm) scale length
- Tenor (created in the 1920s), usually about 26 inches (66 cm) long with a 17-inch (43-cm) scale length
- Baritone (created in the late 1940s), usually about 30 inches (76 cm) long with a 19-inch (48-cm) scale length.
Tenor instruments may have some of the strings doubled, yielding instruments with six strings (where first and third strings are doubled) or eight strings (where all four strings are doubled with second and fourth course). In traditional Hawaiian tuning, the first and third courses are tuned in an octave.
Since the ukulele is a stringed instrument, it can be tuned with a piano, guitar tuner or a pitch pipe. From low to high, the strings of the ukulele are tuned: G C E A. The C is middle C on the piano. The strings are typically nylon.
In the United States, soprano and concert ukes are usually tuned in the chord of C6: G-C-E-A, with the G-string traditionally tuned an octave up, so it is pitched between the E- and A-strings. In the past, the soprano was often a whole step higher in the chord of D6: A-D-F#-B, with the lowest note being D (the A is a whole step below the B). This tuning was very popular in vaudeville in the days before amplification. The tension and tone are a little brighter and louder.
The baritone ukulele, which was not invented or developed until the 1940s at the request of Arthur Godfrey, is usually tuned in G (like the top four strings of a guitar, D-G-B-E), which makes it as much a guitar as a ukulele.
The tenor ukulele can be tuned either way, and in C tuning is sometimes tuned with the G-string an octave lower, so it is pitched below the C-string.
An alternative tuning is B♭-E♭-G-C, raised a semitone to the key of E flat. Either of these tunings, and the C tuning above, are known when strummed by the mnemonic, "My dog has fleas", possibly referring to the "jumping flea" translated into Hawai'ian as "ukulele."
The picture below shows an assortment of ukuleles made by Kamaka, one of the premiere ukulele manufacturers in Hawaii.
Sources
Information on this page was derived from the following sources:
Baines, Anthony (1992): The Oxford Companion to Musical Instruments. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
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