Online Bouzouki Tuner

How to tune your bouzouki, step by step

1. Pick your tuning: Irish GDAD, Greek trichordo or Greek tetrachordo.
2. Place your phone near the soundhole and start with the highest course, which is the easiest to pick up.
3. For each course, mute one string with a finger and pluck the other on its own. The tuner shows the exact note it should reach: the low note or the octave note.
4. Tune the first string, then the second, locking the course if a neighbouring string keeps ringing.
5. Play both strings together: whether in unison or in octaves, the sound should be steady, with no wavering.
6. Move on to the next course, then do a full check from top to bottom.

Notes and frequencies

The Irish bouzouki in GDAD

The Irish bouzouki, which appeared in traditional music in the 1960s and 1970s, has four courses. The most common tuning is GDAD: G2 (98.00 Hz), D3 (146.83 Hz), A3 (220.00 Hz) and D4 (293.66 Hz).

In the tuning provided, the two low courses are doubled at the octave: G2 is paired with a G3 at 196.00 Hz, and D3 with a D4 at 293.66 Hz. The two high courses are in unison. This setup is common but not universal: some players string every course in unison, others use GDAE, ADAD or other variants. If that is your case, create a custom tuning and share it with a link.

The low G at 98 Hz sits close to the range where phone microphones start losing sensitivity. Bring the phone closer and, if the reading wavers, tune the octave string first, then tune the low string to it by ear.

Greek bouzouki: trichordo and tetrachordo

The trichordo, the traditional three-course bouzouki, is tuned DAD: D3 (146.83 Hz) doubled at the octave by a D4, then A3 (220.00 Hz) and D4 (293.66 Hz) in unison.

The tetrachordo, popularised in the mid-20th century, adds a course and is tuned CFAD: C3 (130.81 Hz) with its octave C4 (261.63 Hz), F3 (174.61 Hz) with its octave F4 (349.23 Hz), then A3 and D4 in unison. The intervals between courses match those of the top four strings of a guitar, a whole step lower.

The app knows these pairs: for each course it shows the exact note of the thick string and of the octave string, so you never tune the thin string an octave too low.

Getting octave courses right

In an octave course, the thin string sounds at exactly twice the frequency of the thick one. The classic mistake is tuning the thin string to the same note as the low one: it ends up slack and lifeless, or worse, a low string gets cranked up an octave too high and snaps. The tuner shows the expected note and octave for each string, and the string-break warning flags any string that goes well above its target.

By ear, an in-tune octave sounds like a single, brighter note. If you hear slow beats, one of the two strings is slightly off. The app’s drone, set to the note of the course, helps you fine-tune.

Tuning machines, bridge and intonation

With eight strings, the total tension is considerable: bring the strings up gradually, course by course, rather than taking one string all the way at once. After a string change, expect to retune several times while the strings settle.

To check the bridge position, compare the open string with the 12th fret in chromatic mode. Through a phone microphone, expect a real-world accuracy of about ±2 to 3 cents.