Online Viola Tuner

How to tune your viola, step by step

1. Open the tuner, allow microphone access and place your phone nearby, away from background noise.
2. Tune the A first (A4, 440 Hz), the highest string.
3. Continue with D (D4, 293.66 Hz), then G (G3, 196.00 Hz) and finally the low C (C3, 130.81 Hz).
4. Play each open string with a long, even bow stroke, or pizzicato. Lock the string if the tuner hesitates, for example because a neighboring string is ringing.
5. Fix small deviations with the fine tuner and large ones with the peg, pushing it into the pegbox as you turn.
6. Go around a second time to check, then make sure the bridge is still straight.

Notes and frequencies

C G D A: how a viola is tuned

The viola shares the three lower strings of the violin (G, D, A) and adds a low C a fifth below. Its four open strings are therefore the same notes as the cello's, one octave higher.

C3 at 130.81 Hz sits comfortably in the range a phone microphone picks up well. However, this thick string rings for a long time and its tone is rich in overtones: let the attack pass (the tuner ignores it anyway) and read the note once it settles. The stability indicator tells you when the reading is reliable.

Reading alto clef

Viola music is mostly written in alto clef, where middle C (C4, 261.63 Hz) sits on the middle line of the staff. The open C string, one octave lower, is therefore written below the staff, on the second ledger line.

In high passages, the music switches to treble clef. If you are a beginner, a good exercise is to play a note from the score, look at its name in the chromatic tuner, and check that you read it correctly. Chromatic mode shows any note along with its octave.

Pegs and fine tuners on a viola

On a viola, the strings are longer and thicker than on a violin: a tiny peg turn moves the pitch less on the C string than on the A string. Many violists only use a fine tuner on the A string, or none at all with synthetic strings that hold their tuning well.

Direction: on a fine tuner, turning clockwise raises the pitch. On a peg, the direction depends on which side of the pegbox it is on; the “which way to turn” helper shows it with a diagram and, by watching the note, confirms whether you are going up or down.

Turn in small steps. An anti-breakage alert appears if the string goes well above its target note, which happens quickly when you grab the wrong peg.

Pure fifths and ensemble playing

Tuning pure fifths by ear down from the A leaves the C about 6 cents lower than in equal temperament. In a string quartet this sounds natural; with a piano, the open C may sound flat. Many violists therefore narrow the lower fifths slightly.

To work on this, turn on the drone on a root or a fifth and play over it. You can also choose a temperament (equal, Pythagorean, Werckmeister III, Vallotti, quarter-comma meantone, just) so the needle targets the interval you want.

In an orchestra, set the reference A to the ensemble's pitch (often 442 Hz) or calibrate it on the note given by the oboe.

What to expect from the readings

The in-tune tolerance defaults to ±3 cents for bowed strings and can go down to ±1 cent. Vibrato is averaged on the display. With a phone microphone, expect real-world accuracy of about ±2 to 3 cents: finer than most ears can tell apart while playing.