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Tuning Your Violin
Perfect 5ths
Video Tips

Tuning Your Violin

Copyright ©2000-2004 Mickey Cochran

It takes a long time to get really great at tuning your violin. Just the way you need to practice to improve your playing skills, you also need to practice tuning. You have to teach yourself to listen very carefully. If you have trouble deciding if your string is too high or too low, try doing the following:

Play the correct pitch. Use a pitch pipe, a piano, or the slide bar below.
Listen and wait about 5 seconds. Let your brain process that pitch.
Sing that pitch.
Play your open string.
Sing that pitch.
Think about which way your voice moved. Did you sing higher or lower?
Now, adjust your string just the way "your body" knew how to adjust your voice to match the pitches you sang.

Follow these steps when you tune:

Hold the violin so that you can see how the strings move into the pegbox. Be certain you turn the correct peg!

Always pluck or bow the string as you are turning the peg. Do not just turn without listening to what you are doing to that string.

If you cannot decide if your open string is too high or too low, always lower the pitch. You can then slide into pitch without worrying about breaking a string.

Always make small adjustments to your strings.

Here you go!

Start tuning with the A string.
Click on the slide bar below to hear the correct pitch of the string.
Do one string at a time.
Play your open string softly with a steady bow.
Listen carefully!

Use the fine tuner to make small adjustments in pitch.

If your open string is a little sharp, or higher than the correct pitch, turn the fine tuner to the left, (counter-clockwise).

If your open string sounds a little flat, or lower than the correct pitch, gently turn the fine tuner to the right (clockwise).

If your open string sounds really bad (!!!) and you need to make a large correction, use the pegs.

If your open string is sharp, turn the peg downward.
If your open string is flat, turn the peg upward.
Make sure you turn the correct peg.
Always loosen the peg a little bit first to get it moving. Do this by turning the peg downward. While turning the peg, also pull it out a little. This will make it easy to move.
Turn slowly and always make small adjustments.
When you believe your string is close to the correct pitch, push the peg into the pegbox until you are sure it will stay.

Remember:

Soft and Slow are Best!

Play each open string softly with a smooth, steady bow stroke.

Listen carefully. Your brain needs 5 seconds to process that pitch before you play the open string.

Click on the Slide Bar under each String. Remember: LISTEN!
A String

D String

G String

E String

Perfect 5ths

The four strings on your violin are tuned in "Perfect 5ths." The distance between each pair of neighboring strings on your violin is made up of 7 half steps or 3 1/2 whole steps. Next to the unison (the same note) and the octave (the same note only the next higher or lower), this interval is the most consonant and stable harmony. We like this sound. It is very comfortable and easy on our ears.

Click and LISTEN to the Perfect 5ths below.
xyz
A and D Click Here

D and G Click Here

A and E Click Here

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Once you can d recognize this interval, you will be able to tune your violin by simply matching your A string to a given pitch (A440). You can then tune your D so that the interval of D to A is a Perfect 5th.

Video Tips

CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO!

HELPFUL HINTS on Playing Posture and Proper Care and Storage of Your Violin!

Click

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