Classical and Traditional Baritone Ukulele Tabs
These tabs aren't mine but were donated by Roger Ruthen. They're written for baritone ukulele but they'll all work for low-G standard ukulele.
Eric Clapton – Wonderful Tonight (Tab)
This instrumental version of Eric Clapton's Wonderful Tonight was arranged by alyssamarie067. I think she does a great job of it. The melody of the song is very strong, so it works very well stripped down like this.
She also does a mean version of Classical Gas. Which I may well have to have a stab at tabbing at some point.
Baritone Ukulele Tuning
The standard baritone ukulele tuning is DGBE. Here's an mp3 with those tuning notes:
And some other methods for baritone tuning:
Download the AP Tuner: Play the notes into your mic and it'll tell you whether you're sharp or flat. The notes you are aiming for a D3, G3, B3, E4.
Buy a Tuner: You have to be careful about buying a ukulele tuner - some will only have gCEA tuning. The Intelli-Tuner will work for baritone and re-entrant (and more besides).
Tune to a Guitar: Dead easy. The four highest strings of the guitar are tuned the same as a baritone ukulele.
Michael Leviton – Summer’s the Worst (Chords)
Michael Leviton - Summer's the Worst (Chords)
I had to start off with my favourite baritone song of all time.
The inversions of the chords in the chart are those (I think) he's using in the album version. But in live versions - such as this one - he uses this version of the chords. He also does an intro on the baritone that mimics the accordion in the original.
Baritone Ukulele Chords – Chord Chart
Here's a baritone ukulele chord chart containing 120 of the most common chords:
The chords it includes are:
- Major
- Minor
- 7th
- Minor 7
- 6th
- Diminished
- Sus2
- Sus4
- Augmented
- Major 7
What Is A Baritone Ukulele?
The baritone ukulele is the largest of the four main sizes of uke with a scale length (the distance between the nut and the bridge) of 19 inches.
As well as being larger than the other ukuleles, it is tuned differently. While other ukuleles are tuned gCEA (with the G being higher than the C), the baritone ukulele is usually tuned DGBE - exactly the same as the top four strings of a guitar. This leads some people to say that the baritone is closer to being a small guitar than a large ukulele.
Advantages of the Baritone Ukulele
Plenty of Bass: Compared to the other ukuleles, the baritone has a much larger bass range. This will give you many more options when accompanying yourself and more 'open' chords.
Bigger Sound: The larger body of the baritone gives it a louder and deeper tone than the other ukuleles.
Very Like A Guitar: Many guitar players who wish to switch to the ukulele choose the baritone first. With the strings being tuned the same as a guitar, there's no need to learn new chord and scale names.
Disadvantages of the Baritone Ukulele
No Ukulele Sound: The sound of a baritone is a lot closer to that of a guitar than a ukulele. You certainly don't get the close harmony chords you get on the re-entrant tuned ukuleles. And the sound of it when strummed isn't that same sharp, punchy tone you can get with the smaller ukuleles.