If you’re a beginner ukulele player it’s important that you choose the best concert ukulele you can get for learning and practicing. Getting a cheap and bad ukulele can quickly discourage you and make you want to quit.
A concert ukulele is just one of seven different size ukuleles. It is right about in the middle as far as both size and sound go; being a bit larger than a soprano uke and a tad smaller than a tenor ukulele. The length of a concert ukulele is just under 2 feet, or 23 inches, with a scale length of around 15 inches. The tonal range goes from C4 to A5 and is spread across 15 to 18 frets. You can tune it to the standard ukulele tuning of G-C-E-A as well as A-D-F#-B, a common alternate tuning. The best concert ukulele is one that has the sound you desire and is comfortable to, both, hold and play.
The Best Concert Ukulele
A good concert ukulele will produce an amazing classic ukulele sound, have great volume, stay in tune for long, look beautiful and feel comfortable while playing.
And even though soprano ukuleles are more popular and common among ukulele players, concert ukuleles are a better option for beginners as they offer more space between frets making learning easier plus they’re more durable and last longer.
In this post, we’ve featured some of the best concert ukuleles available in the market. We’ve covered ukuleles from almost every popular and reputable ukulele brand, those with great sound, and a few that fit into even the tightest of budgets.
In this post, we’ll also tell you exactly what to look for when buying a ukulele so that you never end up with a low quality or overpriced ukulele. So without wasting any more time, let’s just dive in:
Here Are The Best Concert Ukuleles Of 2020:
- Oscar Schmidt OU5 Best Overall
- Martin C1K Concert Ukulele Best Premium/For Pros
- Fender Fullerton Telecaster Ukulele Best Acoustic-Electric
- Cordoba 15CM Best For Beginners
- Donner Concert Ukulele Best Budget
1. Oscar Schmidt OU5 Concert Ukulele Best Overall
Oscar Schmidt OU5 is a concert ukulele manufactured by American company Washburn which is one of America’s leading manufacturers and importer of guitar & string instruments. It offers a great balance between quality and value.
This concert ukulele offers everything that a pro ukulele player needs in an ukulele. Its body is made up of Hawaiian Koa, one of Hawaii’s most valuable and sacred trees, which enhances the ukulele’s durability.
It features a beautiful abalone binding and rosette that makes it look stunning and it includes a lifetime warranty. This beautiful ukulele is designed to last a long time.
Its neck is made of a 16 inch rosewood fretboard and it features a Grover chrome tuner which helps it stay in tune for longer and generate an amazing tone.
Manufacturer: Oscar Schmidt, Washburn
Weight: 2 pounds
Wood Material: Koa
Neck Material: Nyatoh
String Material: Aquila Nylon
Pros:
- Constructed with high quality material and designed to work for years
- Features Grover chrome tuner that helps keep ukulele in in tune
- Looks as beautiful as it sounds
- Includes Aquilla Strings that stays in tune for longer
- Comes with lifetime warranty
Cons:
- Slightly heavier than most ukuleles in this range
2. Kala KA-SA-C Solid Acacia Series Concert Ukulele
KA-SA-C Solid Acacia is a concert sized ukulele developed by American company Kala Brand Music Co. based in California which is known for their high-quality ukuleles and guitars.
It’s made up of solid acacia and is designed to look similar to Hawaiian koa wood.
Another feature that makes this ukulele special is its neck which is made up of mahogany and includes walnut fingerboard which makes it very easy to play and makes it ideal for newbies.
For additional tonal support it also features Rosewood binding and a GraphTech NuBone nut and saddle.
Manufacturer: Kala Brand Music Co.
Weight: 1.55 pounds
Wood Material: Acacia
Neck Material: Mahogany
String Material: Aquila
Pros:
- All-Acacia body provides great tone and look
- Its mahogany neck and walnut fingerboard makes it very responsive and playable
- Looks beautiful and delivers classic concert ukulele tone
- Manufactured by Kala Brand a reputable brand in world of ukuleles
Cons:
- Has a thin sound. Volume is neither high nor deep
3. Martin C1K Concert Ukulele Best Premium/For Pros
Martin C1K Concert Ukulele is one of Martin’s finest Ukuleles so far. It sounds amazing, is convenient to play and looks beautiful.
This ukulele is made up of solid wood and has Hawaiian koa top, back and sides and its body is finished with high quality satin lacquer and features a dovetail neck joint which provides more stability and beauty.
The strings used in this product are Martin’s M600 which are known for their durability, so it’s pretty much guaranteed to last a long while.
The ukulele is equipped with a Grover nickel tuning machine which provides smooth and accurate tuning. This is one of the more expensive ukuleles but it offers impressive craftsmanship, unmatchable sound quality and impeccable beauty and playability.
Manufacturer: Martin Guitars
Weight: 2 pounds
Wood Material: Koa
Neck Material: Select Hardwood
String Material: Martin’s M600
Pros:
- All-solid wood body makes it look fabulous
- Extremely high quality product made by the biggest brand in Ukulele industry, Martin Guitars
- Grover nickel tuning machine gives smooth and accurate tuning
- Tonewood helps with reverberation and give this ukulele breath-taking sound
Cons:
- Pretty expensive although worth it
4. Fender Fullerton Telecaster Ukulele Best Acoustic Electric
Fender Fullerton Telecaster is a ukulele manufactured by American company Fender Musical Instruments. It is one the most beautiful ukes available in the market thanks to its elegant design.
Its 15.04 inch neck constructed from maple and walnut fingerboard enhances its playability and response. This concert sized ukulele has the classic, bright and sweet, nylon string ukulele sound that everyone loves.
It includes built-in electronics like a preamp for playing live and recording and features volume and tone control with a handy built-in tuner.
Made with spruce top and mahogany back and side, it provides a rich concert ukulele tone. Best of all, it looks just like a miniature classic Fender Telecaster!
Manufacturer: Fender Musical Instruments
Weight: 2.79 pounds
Top Material: Spruce
Neck Material: Maple
String Material: Nylon
Pros:
- Super-cool body shape
- Rich full concert uke tone
- Great playability and response
- Built in electronics with volume and tone control
Cons:
- Neck is a little chunky
5. Fender Zuma Concert Ukulele
Another brilliant uke by Fender Musical Instruments. Unlike the Tele above, this one has a typical classic ukulele design and is light and easy to play.
This concert uke is crafted from sapele wood with an open-pore finish that gives it a balanced warm tone and blends easily with other instruments.
Its 16-fret flat-radius fingerboard is made up of rosewood and creates smooth response and stellar playability.
It features easy to change no-tie bridge which makes changing strings super convenient unlike special knotting required by traditional ukuleles.
Manufacturer: Fender Musical Instruments
Weight: 2.8 pounds
Top Material: Sapele Wood
Neck Material: Naoto Wood
String Material: Nylon
Pros:
- Sapele construction provides amazing tone
- 4-in-line Tele headstock with vintage-style tuning machines
- No-Tie bridge for easy string change
- Glossy finish and painted top
Cons:
- Slightly heavier than most ukuleles
6. Cordoba 15CM Concert Ukulele Best For Beginners
15CM is a concert sized handmade ukulele created by company Cordoba Guitars that features all quartersawn mahogany top, back and sides for full rich tone.
Quarter Sawn mahogany wood is strong and rigid thus it gives 15CM a balanced lively rich sound.
Unlike other ukuleles in this price range, 15CM includes abalone-style rosette and ivoroid body and fingerboard binding.
This easy to play and great sounding ukulele is ideal for beginners and intermediate uke players.
Manufacturer: Cordoba Guitars
Weight: 1.08 pounds
Top Material: Rosewood
Neck Material: Mahogany
String Material: Nylgut
Pros:
- Sleek satin finish
- Silver tuners with pearl buttons
- Fully handmade with mahogany top, sides and back
- Premium Aquila strings
- Features abalone-style rosette, ivoroid body and fingerboard binding
Cons:
- Strings could have been better
7. Cordoba 21C Spruce & Striped Ebony Concert Ukulele
This is another concert ukulele designed by Cordoba. It’s made from choice guitar tonewoods of solid spruce with striped ebony back and sides.
Mahogany neck and pau ferro fingerboard enhances its warm tone and volume.
It features a comfortable C-shaped mahogany neck with articulate pau ferro fingerboard.
This uke is an affordable, durable and lightweight instrument that sounds amazing and looks beautiful.
Manufacturer: Cordoba Guitars
Weight: 1.06 pounds
Top Material: Solid Spruce
Neck Material: Mahogany
String Material: Nylon
Pros:
- Solid spruce top helps with fast response and great projection
- Ebony back and sides provides warmth
- Pau Ferro fingerboard enhances its tone
- Premium Aquila strings
Cons:
- Slightly less playability
8. Cordoba 15CM-E Acoustic-Electric Concert Ukulele
This ukulele by Cordoba Guitars is the ideal for beginners as its all mahogany construction gives it rich amazing tone and abalone rosette along with fingerboard binding enhances its playability.
It comes with built in electronics that enable it to hook up to an amp or PA system which is a pretty rare feature for ukuleles, especially at this price point.
The cream binding and satin finish make this ukulele look amazing.
Cordoba built this model for long term use as its ivoroid body and fingerboard along with premium Aquila strings greatly increases its durability.
Manufacturer: Cordoba Guitars
Weight: 1.32 pounds
Top Material: Mahogany
Neck Material: Mahogany
String Material: Nylgut
Pros:
- Durable
- Features electric at an affordable price
- Elegant look and great tone
- Larger scale, easy to play for people with big hands
Cons:
- Tuners are on the cheap side
9. Kala Satin Mahogany Concert Ukulele with White Binding
Kala Satin KA-C is a concert sized ukulele manufactured by Kala Brand Music Co. that features Mahogany back, top, sides and neck.
Kala’s quality craftsmanship is the primary reason behind this ukulele’s mesmerizing warm and lush tone.
The satin finish along with bright contrasting cream binding greatly enhances its looks.
Features Aquila Nylagut strings that provide brilliant tone and high durability. You won’t have to worry about them for a long, long time.
Manufacturer: Kala Brand Music Co.
Weight: 1.25 pounds
Top Material: Mahogany
Neck Material: Mahogany
String Material: Nylon
Pros:
- Affordable for people with low budget
- Full Mahogany body provides great look and mellow sound
- Warm, full-bodied balanced tone
- Equipped with a set of ultra-stable die-cast tuners
Cons:
- Better choices for not much more cost
10. Kala MK-C Makala Concert Ukulele Bundle
Kala MK-C Makala Concert Ukulele is another one of Kala Music Brand’s masterpieces that comes with a Bag, Tuner, Strap, Aquila Strings, Online Lessons, Austin Bazaar Instructional DVD, and Polishing Cloth.
This is one of the most affordable high quality ukuleles available in the market. The satin finish gives it a vintage look and mahogany neck gives it really bright sound making it ideal for playing a wide range of genres.
Its fretboard is made up of selected Laurel and nuts & saddles features plastic construction which makes it highly durable and last for a long time.
Kala Mk-C features a long mahogany neck with appropriate gap between the frets which makes it comfortable to hold and play for a long time.
Manufacturer: Kala Brand Music Co.
Weight: 2.14 pounds
Top Material: Mahogany
Neck Material: Mahogany
String Material: Aquila Super Nylgut
Pros:
- Best high quality ukulele at low cost
- Satin finish provides vintage looks
- Bright sound makes it ideal for playing wide range of genres
- Durable, guaranteed to stick for a long time
Cons:
- Not ideal for professionals
11. Donner Concert Ukulele Mahogany 23 Inch Ukulele Best Budget
Donner DUC-1 23 inch concert ukulele is the most affordable concert ukulele in our list. It is perfect for beginners to practice and for people with low budgets.
It’s full mahogany body and neck gives rich and bright sound while Aquilla nylon strings and Donner tuning machines help keep it in tune.
At 23 inches long it is easy to play for most people and offers adequate room between fingerboard and spring.
Comes with a gig bag, strap, nylon strings, clip-on tuner, and free online lessons as a gift.
Manufacturer: Donner
Weight: 3.14 pounds
Top Material: Mahogany
Neck Material: Mahogany
String Material: Nylon
Pros:
- 23 inches long, ideal size for a concert ukulele
- Full Mahogany body and neck provides rich sound
- Aquilla nylon strings help keep it in tune
- Equipped with free accessories including gig bag, strap, tuner etc.
Cons:
- Better choices for veteran players
12. Donner Solid Electro-acoustic Ukulele Electric Concert Ukulele EQ
Donner DUC-4E is a perfectly crafted electric Hawaiian ukulele with 3 band Equalization that enables easy tone adjustment.
Its nuts and bridge saddles are made with real high density cattle bones and provide superior sound transmission than plastic nuts.
Because of its mahogany top material and beveled armrest, it is extremely comfortable to play, even for long duration.
With great sound, great playability and reasonable price, Donner DUC-4E is an ideal ukulele for beginners as well as pros.
Manufacturer: Donner
Weight: 3.09 pounds
Top Material: Mahogany
Neck Material: Mahogany
String Material: Nylon
Pros:
- Beveled armrest makes it comfortable to play for long duration
- Mahogany body and neck brings rich & bright sound
- Equipped with 3 band EQ to get the tone you want
- High density real cattle bone nuts and bridge saddles
Cons:
- Some reports of high action off the fretboard
What to Look For When Buying a Concert Ukulele?
Since there are so many options when buying a ukulele, it can be overwhelming and daunting if you don’t know what to look for. If you end up getting one that doesn’t sound good or is hard to play it can quickly discourage you and make you quit. Therefore make sure to check the following things when choosing a ukulele:
Tonewood
The type and construction of wood can have a major impact on ukulele’s performance. For Instance, the ukuleles that are made up of laminated wood i.e. multiple layers of wood glued together have less resonance and poor quality tone than ukuleles made from solid wood (a single piece of wood).
However, for people who travel a lot with their ukulele may find laminated wood better as it is more resistant to damage than solid ones. And people with a low budget will also find laminated wood better as it’s less expensive.
There’s no single wood type that is best for constructing an entire ukulele, different spots in ukulele require different characteristics and therefore the best ukuleles are often made up of more than one wood type.
Acousticguitar.com has a more thorough explanation covering the tonal differences and significance between different types of tonewood. It is focused on acoustic guitars but the same principles apply for ukuleles, as well.
Top & neck
The best wood types for top and neck are Mahogany, Koa, Spruce and Cedar as they are more elastic and they resist string tension without deformation and thus enhance the propagation of sound.
Bottom & Sides
The best wood type for bottom and sides includes Mahogany, Koa, Rosewood and Maple since they are hard and dense and are better able to contain and resist the sound within the soundbox without dispersions.
String Type
Strings can make a big difference in the way your ukulele sounds and feels. In fact, if you own an old cheap ukulele and your budget is low instead of getting a new ukulele, you can actually enhance your ukulele’s performance just by changing its strings.
If your ukulele has bad quality strings, it’s going to get hard to play and its tonal quality can suffer. If you want to own a high quality, high performance ukulele, you can’t afford to ignore string material. Here are two types of string materials that we recommend:
Nylon Strings
These are the most common string types for concert ukuleles. They are ideal for beginners as they are cheap, comfortable on the fingers and durable. Plus they produce pretty good warm and clear sound.
Fluorocarbon Strings
Fluorocarbon or plastic strings are a better option for pros as they have a brighter and clearer sound. Plus they don’t get affected by change in temperature and humidity and give consistent performance. These string types are also more comfortable to play and are thus a great feature for people who play for long duration.
Acoustic or Acoustic Electric
If you want to play your ukulele in front of a big audience, you’ll need it to be loud. While you can’t really do much to increase the volume of the uke itself, you can, however, use external equipment to make your ukulele’s sound reach far away. This is where acoustic electric comes in.
Basically, acoustic and acoustic-electric ukuleles only have one difference: acoustic-electric ukuleles come equipped with electronic components that you can plug into an amp or soundboard. This way you can boost your ukulele’s volume and reach a wider audience.
The electric feature however is pretty pointless when it comes to playing at a beach or at a campfire. Although, electric-acoustic guitars can obviously be used as acoustic too therefore, this won’t be a problem.
There’s not much price difference between acoustic and electric-acoustic guitars either so if you wish to play in front of a big audience, electric-acoustic ukuleles are ideal for you.
Price
The last thing a musician wants to do is waste their money on a subpar instrument. To prevent this you must understand ukulele pricing. Most good ukuleles range anywhere from between $50-$500, you can obviously spend a lot more than $500 but for an average person, $500 would get you everything you need in a ukulele.
If you’re a professional and want a really high-quality ukulele with extraordinary performance, sky’s the limit for you. There are ukuleles as expensive as $3000 that offers top tier craftsmanship, playability, finish, and other fancy cosmetic features.
For a beginner however, buying an expensive ukulele is unnecessary, as you don’t know enough about them to make the right decision. The best thing is that you get a good ukulele manufactured by a reputable company (which you can easily get under $500) and practice with it. Over time as you learn more and more, you’d be able to better understand your needs and then can buy a ukulele accordingly.
What Are The Different Sizes Of Ukuleles?
Ukuleles primarily come in four sizes* i.e. Soprano (the smallest), Concert (second largest), Tenor (third largest), and Baritone (largest). Each size has its own advantages and problems, let’s take a deeper look at each one of these:
*there are technically about 7 different sizes but the others are much more rare than the 4 listed above
Soprano
This is the smallest sized ukulele, although there are other sizes even smaller than this but among the four most common sizes, this is the smallest one.
Soprano ukuleles are about 20 inches long. This is the most common and popular size in ukuleles. Its sound is bright yet soft and shallow with higher pitch (the typical classic ukulele sound) as its small body gives sound less space to resonate.
Being small gives soprano ukuleles some advantages like, their small body and neck makes them light weight, easy to hold but at the same time they don’t offer much space between the frets which makes them a little hard to play.
Concert
The second size is concert ukulele, it’s a little bit bigger than a soprano, 23 inches long and because of concert ukulele’s longer body and neck it offers more room between frets and is easier to play.
Its sound is denser and has slightly lower pitch than soprano. Because of the longer and wider neck, concert ukuleles also stay in tune better when you move up the neck.
Concert ukuleles are pretty much ideal for the majority of the people as it’s big enough to provide great pitch, playability and classic ukulele tone yet small enough to easily hold and carry while travelling.
Tenor
This is the second biggest size in ukuleles and is 3 inches bigger than concert ukuleles. Its average size is 26 inches long and since it’s larger it releases denser and slightly lower pitch sound than concert.
Tenor is also a little bit louder although because of lower pitch it doesn’t seem loud and is more common among professional players. It’s also slightly easier to play than a concert as it gives more space between frets.
Baritone
This is the largest ukulele size and because of its large size it sounds more like guitar than ukulele. On average baritone ukuleles are 30 inches long.
Baritones produce the deepest sounds of all ukuleles and sounds more like nylon stringed guitars. Although its larger size makes it easier to play and provides more base it’s among the least popular ukuleles as most people choose ukuleles for their classic sound which baritone lacks.
Is a Concert Ukulele Good For Beginners?
Concert ukulele is the ideal size for beginners as they are small enough to provide typical classic ukulele sound yet big enough to play easily.
Learning and practicing on concert ukulele is easier than soprano and because of this concert ukuleles are quite popular among newbies. Although sopranos are more popular and typical ukuleles, their small size makes them challenging for beginners.
On the other hand at tenor size, ukuleles begin sounding more like guitars than ukuleles. This size does offer more space between frets than concert but concert has more ukulele kind of sound than tenor.
When you initially start learning to play ukulele, you’ll find that the more space you have between frets and the longer the neck is the easier it would be for you to hold and play ukuleles. Concert ukuleles offer the best of both worlds; ideal space and comfortability along with classic ukulele sound.
Concert Vs. Soprano Ukulele: Which One Is Better?
Both concert and soprano sized ukuleles have their own benefits and problems, we’ll just list all their pros and cons and you can decide for yourself which one you like better:
Soprano
This is the most common and popular size in ukuleles, in fact, this is what comes to most people’s mind when they think about ukuleles.
It has the most typical and original ukulele sound, the bright, rich, high pitched sound we’ve all heard. It is also the most lightweight and small size which makes it easier to hold and carry while travelling.
On the other hand, its small sized neck and fretboard offers less space for fingers which makes playing it a little challenging especially for beginners and for big sized people.
Concert
This is a slightly bigger size than soprano (around 2 or 3 inches) and therefore it’s slightly easier to play which makes it a better option for beginners.
As far as weight goes, it does weigh more than soprano but the difference is so small that it doesn’t really matter. If you can comfortably hold a soprano, you can comfortably hold a concert too.
Its sound is denser and has lower pitch. It also stays in tune for longer because of its larger size.
Which one is better depends entirely upon your needs and style.
If you just want to play for fun and only be strumming most of the time, soprano is the one for you.
If you are serious, want to increase your ukulele skills and want to learn and play complex tunes, concerts are a better option for you.
Here Are The Best Concert Ukuleles Of 2020:
- Oscar Schmidt OU5 Best Overall
- Martin C1K Concert Ukulele Best Premium/For Pros
- Fender Fullerton Telecaster Ukulele Best Acoustic-Electric
- Cordoba 15CM Best For Beginners
- Donner Concert Ukulele Best Budget
Wrap Up!
That’s all there is to the concert ukulele. We found a ton of great options for players of any skill level and a variety of needs. If you are just starting out or have been playing for years, there is something here for you. If you want something for sitting around the campfire or you are performing in front of an audience, we have you covered.
Happy playing!