How is the cello tuned? What are the names of the strings? This is pretty important information, since all the other notes you play are based on these strings being at the correct pitch.
The cello strings are A-D-G-C. When you’re looking at the cello, that’s going in order from right to left, or high to low, or skinniest to thickest. If you’ve already got some musical knowledge, you might have figured out that the strings are tuned in the interval of a fifth.
It’s important to tune to the correct octave for each string. If you’re using a tuner, the cello A string might be also called A3 or 220Hz. D would be D3, G is G2 and C is C2.
Ok, so HOW do I tune?
First, it’s really best if you can learn to tune from your teacher or a trusted professional at a shop. The number one mistake we see with people learning how to tune is usually Dad tries to tune it (sorry, Dads, but that’s always been our experience!) and a string breaks. So, if you can learn how to tune from a professional, that would be safest and would save you the headache of broken strings or other issues down the line.
However, to give you a general idea to get started:
- Use a tuner. There are many free apps out there or tuner machines you can buy that will help you do this.
- Bow the A string with a clear sound. If the tuner tells you the note is flat, or too low, reach down to the A string’s fine tuner and turn it about a half-turn towards the left, when the front of the cello is facing away from you. If the note is sharp or too high, turn the fine tuner towards the right. (Or a trick we use: turn the tuner in the direction you want the pitch to go. Need it to go higher because it’s too low? Turn it toward the higher string).
- Check with the tuner again to see if you went far enough. If not, repeat step 2. If so, go on to the next strings and repeat the process.
- If your string is REALLY out of tune, you will have to use the pegs up at the top of the cello to fix it. Tuning with pegs is a much trickier art and is usually where problems occur (like a broken string or slipping peg that won’t stay). This is where it would really help to ask a professional to show you how. But for all you dads out there 😉 if you must try, just move the peg a little bit at time. A cello peg is not like a guitar peg. You should only turn a cello peg about a quarter-turn at a time, otherwise you might break a string.
Good luck!