How to tune a guitar, violin, ukulele, cello or any instrument

What is standard tuning for guitar, bass, ukulele and violin?

Each instrument has a standard tuning: the notes its open strings are tuned to. The table shows each note with its octave number, where C4 is middle C.

The usual ukulele tuning is re-entrant: the G string is higher than the C string next to it. A low G string makes the instrument sound lower and fuller, and the chord shapes stay the same. The violin, viola and cello are tuned in fifths. The viola is a fifth below the violin, and the cello an octave below the viola.

How do I use a tuner?

A chromatic tuner listens to one note and tells you how far it is from the nearest pitch. It works for any instrument. Clip-on tuners feel the vibration of the instrument, and microphone tuners, including apps, listen to the air. Either way, the steps are the same.

1. Find a quiet spot and check the reference. A = 440 Hz is the usual setting.
2. Play one open string, once, firmly. Let it ring while you read the tuner.
3. If the tuner reads flat, tighten the string with the peg. If it reads sharp, loosen it.
4. Stop when it reads in tune, and the needle or display sits at the center.
5. Move to the next string. Go through all of them, then check the first one again, because tightening one string moves the neck and shifts the others a little.

Always come up to the note from below. If a string is sharp, loosen it past the note and tighten it back up. A string tuned up from below is less likely to slip back flat.

New strings stretch for the first days and need to be tuned again and again. If an old string will not hold, the cause is often a slipping peg or a string that has lost its life, not your ear.

How do I tune a guitar without a tuner?

You need one reference note, from a piano, a tuning fork, a recording or another instrument. Tune the low E string to it. If you have no reference, tune the low E to a pitch that sounds comfortable. The guitar will be in tune with itself, though not with other instruments.

Then use the fifth-fret method. Press a string at the fifth fret and play it with the next open string. The two should match.

1. Press the low E string at the fifth fret. That note is A. Tune the open A string to match it.
2. Press the A string at the fifth fret. That note is D. Tune the open D string to match.
3. Press the D string at the fifth fret. That note is G. Tune the open G string to match.
4. Press the G string at the fourth fret, not the fifth. That note is B. Tune the open B string to match.
5. Press the B string at the fifth fret. That note is E. Tune the open high E string to match.

Listen for beats, a slow wobble in the sound when two notes are close but not the same. The wobble slows as the notes come together and stops when they match.

A bass guitar tunes the same way on its four strings: the fifth fret of E gives A, of A gives D, and of D gives G. A ukulele is tuned from the C string. Press C at the fourth fret to get E, press E at the fifth fret to get A, and press E at the third fret to get G. The old mnemonic for the open strings, G C E A, is "My dog has fleas".

To check by harmonics, touch a string lightly over the fifth fret of the low E string, with no pressure, and over the seventh fret of the A string. Pick each in turn. Both sound the same E, and they wobble if the A string is off.

How do I tune a violin, viola or cello?

Bowed strings are tuned in perfect fifths. Start with the A string and tune it to a reference A, a tuner, a piano or a tuning fork. Then tune the string next to it by bowing both together. When the interval is a true fifth, the two notes blend and the wobble stops.

• Violin: A first, then D, G and E.
• Viola: A first, then D, G and C.
• Cello: A first, then D, G and C.
• Double bass: it is tuned in fourths, E A D G, so use a tuner or ask for help from a teacher.

Use the fine tuners on the tailpiece for small changes. Use the pegs for bigger ones, pushing the peg in gently as you turn so it holds. Pegs can slip or a string can break, so a beginner should ask a teacher or a shop to show the first few times.

How do winds and brass tune?

Warm up first. A cold instrument plays flat, and it rises in pitch as the air inside it warms. Tune after a few minutes of playing, not before.

Wind and brass instruments change pitch by changing the length of the tube. To lower the pitch, make the tube longer by pulling a part out. To raise it, push it in.

Bands usually tune to concert B♭, which B♭ trumpets, clarinets and tenor saxophones read as a written C. Alto saxophones read a G, and horns an F. Orchestras tune to A. Tune to a tuner or a reference, not only to the player next to you, or the whole section drifts together. See transposing instruments for why the written notes differ.

What is A440, and why do some orchestras use 442?

A440 means the A above middle C vibrates 440 times a second. The international standard, ISO 16, sets that pitch as the reference for tuning. Most tuners and keyboards start there.

Not every group uses it. Some orchestras tune a little higher, often to 442 or 443. Groups that play early music on period instruments often use A = 415, about a semitone lower. The difference between 440 and 442 is about eight cents, less than a tenth of a semitone. It is small, but it matters if you play with a group that tunes there. Ask what the group uses, and set your tuner to match.

A piano cannot be retuned on the spot. If you play with one, tune to the piano, whatever pitch it is at.

How often should I tune?

Tune every time you pick the instrument up. Strings drift with temperature, humidity and use, and winds change within a session as they warm up.

• Check again after a break in the middle of a long session.
• Check after a change of strings, or a move from a cold car to a warm room.
• Do not retune in the middle of a piece. Wait for a rest or the end of the piece.

Tuning in SheetScroll

Open a score, tap the page for the controls and tap Tune. Play a string or a note, and SheetScroll shows Flat, Sharp or In tune. For a string instrument it names the string, such as the D string. It uses the microphone and works offline.

Reference A offers 440, 415 and 442 Hz. Match sets it from an A played on another instrument, such as a piano in the room. For a score, the tuner also says what tuning it is written in, such as standard tuning, so you can tune to match it.

The tuner opened by hand is free. With Pro, Suggest tuning (Settings → Listening, on by default) lets SheetScroll tell you, when you pause or stop, that a string or the whole instrument sounds flat or sharp. See the tuner help for every step. The free guitar, violin and cello courses are a good first thing to play once you are in tune.

Questions

Related

• TunerUse Tune in the player to see whether a string or note is flat, sharp or in tune, set your reference A, and see what tuning a score is written in.
• Transposing instrumentsWhat concert pitch is, why clarinets, trumpets, saxophones and horns are transposing instruments, and how to convert a part, with a table of intervals.
• How to read guitar tabsRead guitar, bass and ukulele tab: what the lines and numbers mean, hammer-ons, slides and bends, why rhythm is missing, and how tab differs from notation.
• String playersA sheet music app that turns the page while you bow. It listens to strings, never turns early and shows your PDF parts as printed. Free reader.
• GuitarFifteen free, public-domain classical guitar pieces in order, from strings 1 and 2 to Sor. They listen and turn pages without Pro.
• ViolinSixteen free, public-domain violin pieces in teaching order, from the open D and A strings to Bach-era minuets. They listen and turn pages without Pro.

Sources

1. ISO 16:1975, Acoustics: Standard tuning frequency (Standard musical pitch), in the Standards Council of Canada's database, checked October 23, 2026
2. A440 (pitch standard), Wikipedia, checked October 23, 2026