Tuning

Tuning your own instruments:

Stringed instruments often go out of tune due to weather, especially when exposed to changes in heat, cold and humidity. Tuning your instrument can be a real challenge, but the effort to learn will pay high dividends. It’s a great skill to know, and you can always get your instruments in tune, and you will save your teachers time when starting each class.

Facts: It takes a good musical ear, and quite a bit of delicate strength to tune using the pegs on violin, viola, and cello. Bass tuning (due to the gears) and tuning using the fine tuners (on violin, viola and cello) is easier, start there.

Mr. Muise and Mrs. Beacham only begin teaching tactile tuning at the end of the grade 6 orchestra year, so if you’re not ready, make sure you still get your instrument tuned by your teacher when possible.

Caution: Mr. Muise and Mrs. Beacham also teach that when tuning strings with pegs, it's kind of an optical illusion. It most often only takes a 1/8 or 1/4 turn of the peg to go up a surprising amount of pitch. Please exercise care when tuning, we want you to avoid breaking strings (and breaking strings can fly away and cause harm). If you would like assistance, please reach out to your teacher. (It’s not like guitar or ukulele pegs where you may have to turn multiple times).

Your teachers will be happy to help you and your parents learn this great skill.

Please enjoy the below pdf files with a lot of helpful information ~ good luck!

March 2020: I'm also adding this list of tuning resources (via the fine folks that have made YouTube videos)

Here are links to tuning notes and videos for tuning your instrument. (Compiled March 2020 from YouTube)

(The mechanics for tuning violin/viola/cello are similar, bass is different, and a bit physically easier because of the geared pegs). No matter what, go slowly, and if in doubt, go lower, and then try again.

Here's an overall very good violin/viola tuning video. (The theory can be also applied to cello and bass).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnuALwN_mm8&fbclid=IwAR0te6lIHvZwMofIXKmF3j0wIME7MtWr24iTP5dCMr_CbRKCYWXjvkPqEYo

Violin

E string (highest) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBI9Vl6CzrA

A string https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJQ_nmv4AAg

D string https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wqx0jEEvIc

G string https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5neh0CKtVU

All Strings pitches (one video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWUxmSEiLpI

Violin tuning instruction video: (a bit advanced

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2GLytoxfME

Violin tuning instruction video, fine tuners explained:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6UVfSg-kcg