Learn Violin Online with Online Violin Teacher Meghan Faw Lesson 2/15: How to Tune

Tuning the violin properly is extremely important because if it is not tuned right, none of the notes will sound right!

There are two ways to tune your violin: with the pegs and with the fine tuners. The pegs (the black knobs at the top of the instrument) change the pitch in much bigger intervals, so unless your string is extremely out of tune, I recommend using the fine tuners (the screws on the tailpiece) to tune your instrument. The fine tuners adjust the pitch in smaller increments and are generally easier to use and more precise. It’s possible that your violin could have come without fine tuners, which is fine; it is possible to tune completely with the pegs. However, tuning with the fine tuners will be easier especially at the beginning, so it could be worth taking your instrument to your local luthier or violin shop and have them put fine tuners on.

When tuning with the pegs, to make the string higher, turn the peg away from you, and to make the string lower, turn the peg towards you.

When tuning with the fine tuners, to make the string higher, turn the fine tuner clockwise or to the right, and to make the string lower, turn the fine tuner counterclockwise or to the left.

One day you might find that your fine tuner is completely screwed into the tailpiece. To adjust it, unscrew the fine tuner and then tune the string with the peg. The tuning doesn’t have to be exact, just close enough for you to “fine tune” it with the fine tuner.

You can use any online, physical, or application tuner you’d like, but this is the one I used in the video below. When tuning, always start with the A string first. Pluck or play the string and see what letter name your tuner says. If the letter name is before your desired pitch in the alphabet, the string is too low, and if the letter name is after your desired pitch in the alphabet, your string is too high. Additionally, the red light to the left means the pitch is too low, and the red light to the right means the pitch is too high. Adjust your pegs and/or fine tuners according to the instructions above until your violin is tuned to these pitches, from lowest to highest: G, D, A, E.

Watch the video below for a full demonstration of how to tune your violin.