Want to get past the beginner level? Understanding the baritone ukulele fretboard can seem daunting. But you can do it by breaking it down into steps and using these helpful diagrams and free worksheets.
Step 1: Download the free worksheet (optional).
Print out a few copies of the free baritone ukulele blank fretboard worksheets and use them to quiz yourself as you go through the next steps.
Step 2: Review the notes of the open strings.
You probably already know these: DGBE. You can remember the notes with a mnemonic phrase:
Do Get a Baritone ukE
Tip: You only need to learn the open strings plus 11 frets.
Beginning with the 12th fret, the entire pattern repeats.
Step 3: Start with the three easiest frets.
Refer to Diagram 1 below for Step 3, Step 4, and Step 5.
The easiest frets are the ones with no sharps or flats on the open strings. Once you’ve committed them to memory, you can use them to count forward or back to any other fret. You can remember the notes with these phrases:
5th Fret: GCEA – God Created Everything Amen *
10th Fret: CFAD – Cool Fans Are Devoted
12th Fret: DGBE – Do Get a Baritone ukE
When you get to the 12th fret, the entire pattern of notes repeats, exactly as if you’re starting over with the open strings—just one octave higher.
* GCEA are the open strings on a traditional uke (soprano, concert, tenor). On a baritone ukulele, when you bar the 5th fret, you’re playing the same notes as the open strings on a traditional Hawaiian ukulele.
Step 4: Learn the rest of the “natural” notes.
Refer to Diagram 1 below for Step 3, Step 4, and Step 5.
The “natural” notes (the white keys on a piano) are the notes that are not sharps or flats. All the notes that are named with a plain letter (without sharps or flats) are natural notes. They are: A, B, C, D, E, F, G.
There are three rules for learning the natural notes on fretted instruments:
- E and F are next to each other without any frets in between, as shown in Diagram 1.
- B and C are next to each other without any frets in between, as shown in Diagram 1.
- the other natural note intervals have a fret in between, as shown in Diagram 1.
Why oh why? Wouldn’t it be SO much easier if all the natural notes were the same distance apart? The answer has to do with major scales, sharps, and flats, which we’ll get into in due time (see FAQs below). For now, learn the task that is in front of you at each step, and trust in the universe, little grasshopper, that there’s a good reason!
Remember, as a beginner, you can focus on the first twelve frets at first. The entire pattern of the fretboard repeats beginning with the 12th fret. The 12th fret is the same as the open strings (just one octave higher). The 13th fret is the same as the 1st fret (just one octave higher). And so on.
Tip: “Natural” just means not sharp, not flat, as in “middle C is a C natural.”
Step 5: Identify the three octaves of the baritone ukulele fretboard.
Refer to Diagram 1 below for Step 3, Step 4, and Step 5.
- An octave is the distance of a major scale: doe-ray-mee-fah-so-lah-tee-doe.
- An octave is the distance from C to shining C (B to B, D to D, and so on).
- An octave is 12 frets.
In Diagram 1, the three octaves of the baritone ukulele are shown in three diffrerent colors.
Diagram 1: The Natural Notes on the Baritone Ukulele Fretboard
The natural notes are the notes without sharps and flats. Learn these first. They are the white keys on the piano.
Tip: When you see the same letter and the same color on two different strings, that means they are the same note in the same octave.
For example, the C note in the pink boxes is middle C on the piano. There are three places on the baritone ukulele fretboard where you can play middle C.
Turn your phone to landscape for best results.
* GCEA: “God Created Everything Amen” – these are the open strings on a traditional uke (soprano, concert, tenor). On a baritone ukulele, when you bar the 5th fret, you’re playing the same notes as the open strings on a traditional Hawaiian ukulele.
Step 6: Review and Reward!
Whew! You’ve gotten this far! It may take a while for the first five steps to become second nature. That’s perfectly okay. Be patient, be kind to yourself. Meanwhile, reward yourself with a treat, a bubble bath, a nice pat on the back, a new ukulele! Just getting this far means you’ve learned more than many players bother with!
Tip: the top reason why would-be musicians don’t make progress is: giving up too soon.
You know that little voice in your head? It’s the one that says: “Who are you kidding? You’ll never be able to play an instrument. It’s too hard. You don’t have that kind of talent. You’ll have to settle for watching other people jam. You should just go get a snack and watch other people jamming on YouTube.”
We all have that voice in our heads when we take on a new challenge.
What can you do about it? Just focus on the step that is in front of you, and commit to finishing that one step. Tell the voice, yeah, what ev, I’m going to finish this step anyway. And do it.
Pretty soon you’ll discover that small victories have become a habit for you. You’ll no longer doubt every step you take on, because you’ll know you CAN, by breaking it down into small goals, and celebrating small victories.
Step 7: On to the Sharps and Flats.
Refer to Diagram 2 below for Step 7.
Sharp means the note is one fret higher (toward the bridge). G# is one fret higher in pitch than G natural.
Flat means the note is one fret lower (toward the nut). Gb is one fret lower in pitch than G natural.
Remember the three rules from Step 4? Let’s review the first two of them:
Tip: Take note of the 11th fret. It’s the only all-sharp fret and the only all-flat fret. You can use the mnemonic phrases in Step 3 to member them:
11th Fret: C#-F#-A#-D# — Cool Fans Are Devoted
or: Db-Gb-Bb-Eb — Do Get a Bartione ukE
Diagram 2: The Sharps and Flats on the Baritone Ukulele Fretboard
The sharps and flats are the notes that aren’t natural notes. They are the black keys on the piano. See Step 7 above.
Tip: When you see the same letter and the same color on two different strings, that means they are the same note in the same octave.
For example, the C# note in the pink boxes is the black key just above middle C on the piano. There are three places on the baritone ukulele fretboard where you can play this note.
* GCEA: “God Created Everything Amen” – these are the open strings on a traditional uke (soprano, concert, tenor). On a baritone ukulele, when you bar the 5th fret, you’re playing the same notes as the open strings on a traditional Hawaiian ukulele.
Step 8: Putting it All Together
Refer to Diagram 3 below for Step 8.
Try downloading the free worksheet and writing in all the notes. There are three blank fretboards on the worksheet, so you can try writing in the natural notes and the flats on one, the natural notes and the sharps on another, and so on.
Tip: Take note of the 11th fret. It’s the one fret where you can apply the mnemonic you learned above to the sharps.
11th Fret: C#F#A#D# – C#ool F#ans A#re D#evoted
Diagram 3: The Baritone Ukulele Fretboard, Completed
Remember, you only need to learn the open strings and the first 11 frets. Starting with the 12th fret, the entire sequence repeats, just one octave higher.
* GCEA: “God Created Everything Amen” – these are the open strings on a traditional uke (soprano, concert, tenor). On a baritone ukulele, when you bar the 5th fret, you’re playing the same notes as the open strings on a traditional Hawaiian ukulele.
Baritone Ukulele Fretboard FAQs
1. Why aren’t all the natural notes the same distance apart? The natural notes are the notes of a C major scale. Western music is based on the major scale, with the C major scale as the starting point. The distance between the natural notes is the same as the distance between the notes of any major scale. For example:
C Major Scale:
C to D — 2 frets — whole step
D to E — 2 frets — whole step
E to F — 1 fret — half step
F to G — 2 frets — whole step
G to A — 2 frets — whole step
A to B — 2 frets — whole step
B to C — 1 fret — half step
This is the pattern of all major scales. Whole—whole—half—whole—whole—whole—half. When we start the pattern on C, all the notes are natural notes. All white keys on the piano.
2. Why is there no E# or B#? Why is there no Cb or Fb? Actually, these notes do exist, like this:
E# = F natural
B# = C natural
Cb = B natural
Fb = E natural
See FAQ #3 for more on this.
3. How do I know when to use sharps, flats or naturals?
In a major scale, each letter is used once and only once. That’s why, in the key of G for example, we have an F# instead of a Gb. Like this:
G
A
B
C
D
E
F#
In the key of G, the F# would not be called Gb because we need a different letter for each note of the major scale. We’ve already used the lettter G for the first note of the scale, so when we get to the seventh note of the scale, we can’t use G again, even if we add the flat sign. The same letter cannot be used for two different notes in a major scale.
When you combine this rule with the intervals explained in FAQ #1 above, you can always tell which letter to use and whether it will be sharp or flat. Use each letter once and only once, and count the whole or half steps needed for a major scale.
5th Fret: CGEA – God Created Everything Amen
You have the C and the G reversed in position.
Whoops. Good catch! Thanks so much for letting me know. I really appreciate when people take the time to help! It is fixed 🙂