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There are many types of ukulele available like soprano ukulele and concert ukulele. How do we decide which type of ukulele will be suitable for us?

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  • What are you all going to use it for?
    – Todd Wilcox
    Commented Oct 19, 2018 at 2:08
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    I will be using the ukulele to play pop songs.
    – durgadevi1
    Commented Oct 19, 2018 at 2:10
  • One more thing to consider is if you will want to tune the g string up the octave (re-entrant tuning) or down an octave. Re-entrant is standard. But some people prefer not to tune that way. I think, but am not sure you can't just drop the tuning down, but will need to get a special string set. If you want to tune one way or the other way have the store put the proper strings on it for you at time of purchase.
    – b3ko
    Commented Oct 19, 2018 at 11:40

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The critical factor between soprano (standard) and alto (concert) ukulele is size, aka scale length.

Concert ukuleles are longer than sopranos, meaning the physical distance between frets is larger. Depending on your individual fingers and preferences, this may or may not be a good thing. The larger distance can mean that the cramped positions will be easier; however, long stretch positions will be more difficult.

There is also a slight difference in tone (timbre) between the two. Note that tuning is the same between the two (the only different one is baritone).

Note also that while the soprano is the smallest standard ukulele size, if you prefer the concert, you may want to consider the tenor as well, for tenor ukuleles are like the concerts, but larger.

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It depends on what kind of sound you want to produce. A soprano creates a higher sound while a concert ukulele creates a much fuller sound.

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    "a soprano creates a higher sound" isn't this wrong? Aren't a concert and a soprano tuned the same way?
    – Tim H
    Commented Jan 11, 2019 at 8:00
  • @TimH You're right if "higher" means pitch or frequency, which I think is how most people understand the word. However, I suspect the answer is using "higher" to refer to the timbre. Not a very exact use of the word (a better one could probably be found), but makes sense in this context.
    – Wayne Conrad
    Commented Aug 14, 2019 at 12:51

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