Tools
Online Tuner
Tune your instrument with the microphone of your computer or phone. The tuner detects the note you play and shows how many cents you are sharp or flat. Choose a preset for guitar, bass or ukulele, or use chromatic mode for any instrument. You can also play reference tones and tune by ear. Audio is processed locally; nothing is recorded or uploaded.
How to use it
- Click Start and allow microphone access in your browser.
- Choose your instrument and tuning, or chromatic mode.
- Play one string at a time and let it ring.
- Turn the tuning peg until the needle is centred and turns green.
- Optionally switch to reference tones and tune by ear.
Tips for accurate tuning
- One string at a time, plucked firmly. Let the note ring; the reading is most stable a moment after the attack.
- Tune up to the note. If a string is sharp, loosen it below the target and then tighten up to pitch. The string holds its tuning better because the gear has no slack.
- Quiet room, close mic. Hold the instrument near the microphone. Background noise and other ringing strings confuse any tuner, so mute the strings you are not tuning.
- Check twice. On guitar, tuning one string changes the neck tension slightly. After a full pass, check all strings again.
- New strings stretch. Fresh strings go flat for a day or two. Retune often or gently stretch them by hand.
Standard tunings
| Instrument | Strings (low to high) |
|---|---|
| Guitar | E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4 |
| Bass (4-string) | E1 A1 D2 G2 |
| Ukulele (standard) | G4 C4 E4 A4 |
The tuner also includes common alternatives such as drop D, DADGAD, open G and half-step down. The reference pitch is A4 = 440 Hz by default; you can change it if you play with a piano or recording tuned differently.
Train your ear too
Using reference tones helps your ear: play the tone, then your string, and listen for the slow "beating" that disappears when both are in tune. Read the guitar tuning lesson for tuning by ear with the 5th-fret method and harmonics. After tuning, keep your hearing sharp with the ear trainer, and if you play in a different key with a capo, the transposer and capo calculator helps.