Ukulele Pitch Pipe

A ukulele tuner is a useful bit of kit to have. But they’re by no means essential. A cheaper option for making sure you stay in tune is a set of ukulele pitchpipes.

A ukulele pitch pipe has four holes. Each one representing one string on the ukulele. You blow into it and tune your ukulele to the note.

There are a few drawbacks with pitch pipes. Firstly, you have to buy one for each tuning you use. So if you play in C and D tuning you’ll need two sets. Also, if you use an unusual tuning, you might not be able to find a pitch pipe matching it. Using pitch pipes can also be quite tricky if you’re playing somewhere noisy.

One Comment

  1. Tim June 11th, 2016 5:33 pm

    Pitch pipes are better than nothing, but I have to comment on how accurate they aren’t.

    I have a Korg digital tuner, and used it to check the pitch pipes I’ve picked up.

    First was a full dozen (new in the retail shipping box, I got a deal) William Kratt “Super Pitch Pipes”, model SN-5 for C tuning. White plastic body with metal pipes. These are supposed to be “The” pitchpipe, and sell for $12-15 USD. In checking the full box, only three had one accurate note. Most were off at least 8 cents, many by 15-20.

    I have some of the cheaper $5 all plastic Kala and other branded pipes, that appear to all be made by the same factory. They are actually about as good as Kratts.

    It’s handy to have some sort of tuner in each uke case, which gets a bit expensive for digitals. Pitch pipes give a starting point, at least. Better to use “A” tuning forks for about $4-10 each. Touch the bottom to the uke body for a louder tone.

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