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Violin tuning made simple! Easy!
Do you know your violin strings? 
The usual tuning for a violin is G,D,A,E (G being the lowest and thickest string – and E the highest and thinnest!). I say "usual" because you do get different tunings for particular styles of playing or tunes. But if you are an advanced enough player to be looking at different tunings - you will already know all about tuning!!Tuners You must have a tuner. Believe it or not there actually are some lucky people who just know what an A string. They have played for years and know what it should sound like. Must be clairvoyant. Most if us aren’t so lucky. You need a violin tuner. But what type? Tuning forks You simply sound the tuning fork (I usually hit my knee with it – not always to be recommended!) Then hold it with the handle just touching the bridge of the violin and let it ring. Tune to the sound using the peg or fine tuners. Then move onto the D string. Now come the problems. With practice you can do this by ear – listening for a perfect fifth chord (i.e play the two strings together). This is techno speak for doh – soh. If you haven’t the faintest idea what I am talking about – forget the tuning fork and move onto the types of tuners below. If you can say – great I know what a perfect fifth is – congratulations! You tune the string below the A string to a perfect fifth below A. The note you are looking for is D. Next you tune the lowest string to perfect fifth below D – which is G. Then , you tune the E string (i.e top) to a perfect fifth above the A. The note is E! Easy eh? I was taught this order of tuning when I learnt. But some people do different orders and tune the E string second, or third and the G string last. Your teacher might have a preference so ask. If you have a keyboard to sound the notes to help you, well and good. You can also find midi sound files with the notes on the web if you wish. I don't like them though. If you are serious about playing you will not always have your computer with you. So go get a tuner of some sort! The widget below shows some tuners I'd recommend. There is something for all budgets. Read the rest of this page to decide which type suits you best. Then to buy one of these simply click through. For USA visitors (and lots are) the second widget goes through to Amazon.com!
These make it easy for you and – if you play each string individually - they tell you how much off your tuning is. If the indicator shows the sound is below the note you just adjust it until its dead on. I’d recommend this to start with. Once you are more familiar with violin tuning and know what you are aiming for I’d recommend tuning to A only by this method. Then try to do by ear – and go back and check it. The way to do this is, once you have you A string accurate, play both the A and D together. Tune the D as you play until it sounds just a nice perfect fifth and then check. If you haven't already done it - go back and watch the first video above which shows you how to do this. You will soon become accustomed to this and know what to listen for.Its good for your ear training. Yes really!! Having said all that – did you know that theoretically you can never get a violin completely in tune. This is because of the that the tension put on the violin by the strings. So while you may tune your A accurately, the different tensions put on the violin from tuning your D,G and E strings will make your A slightly different! Don’t worry – though – not as much for you or I would notice…. If you have trouble with violin tuning on a four string instrument – spare a thought for hardanger fiddle players. These have eight or nine strings – four on top and four or five underneath which ring while playing. I heard a story recently about a hardanger player who was giving a two hour performance and spent the whole two hours tuning! Don’t go to those lengths!! Do your best with your violin tuning and then just get on with playing!!.
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