Playing the cello requires tuning, which should be mastered early in your learning. Turning your instrument properly ensures that your sound is correct, giving you smoother playing to play more confidently.
However, tuning your cello can be tricky, and you need the appropriate knowledge and equipment for the whole process. When you attend your cello lessons, it can be easy to lean on your teacher for assistance with tuning. But doing it independently gives you the ability to practice freely, enhancing your skills and helping you pick up the music faster.
In this guide, you’ll learn how to tune your cell like a pro, which will help aid in your progress as a player and ensure the notes are correct every time.
What are the Strings on a Cello Tuned To?
Stringing the cello is similar, although not quite the same as stringing a guitar. It’s more in line with a ukulele with four strings, like the cello. But the cello is a heavier, bass-clef-tuned instrument. The cello has the same tuning configuration as the viola, except another octave lower.
The notes you tune to are C, G, D, and A, and ascend with low C as the bottom note and A as the highest. Cellos are tuned by turning the cello pegs so that your strings are wrapped around to create the correct pitch.
Looking at a cello, the four tuning pegs are on the peg box, with the tension of the strings on the bridge aiding in securing it more in place. The tuners at the tailpiece are used to help you tighten and loosen the corresponding strings.
Essential Cello Tuning Supplies and Equipment
Beginners who are progressing and learning how to tune their cellos can utilize different tuning equipment that is helpful. Some essential supplies include tuning pegs and fine tuners, but you can also find help with equipment, including the use of:
- Pitch pipe
- Digital tuner (or tuner app)
- Tuning fork – gives an accurate “A” note
- Another instrument (such as the piano
You can find free apps to help you when tuning your cello strings. Students typically like to utilize these when tuning to ensure the correct pitch. You might also invest in an electronic tuner to carry with you to keep your instrument in tune.
While it’s not necessary, certain pieces of cello equipment can assist in tuning. For example, the Korg Humidi-Beat is a metronome with a built-in thermometer and hygrometer that can help you detect if your strings are out of tune. This could be an excellent tool if you live in a place where a lot of people or climate change is more dramatic.
How to Tune a Cello for Beginners
Your approach can vary when tuning your cello for the first time because it depends on how many strings need tuning. You may only need to start with minor adjustments to the strings to get them in tune, but if you notice your strings going further out of pitch, you’ll need to utilize the pegs.
The tuning pegs are your four wooden parts at the top of the cello, and the strings are wound on them. It’s essential that when you tune, you rotate the pegs slowly and gradually for a couple of reasons – you don’t want to break the string, and you don’t want to get too far away from the pitch or frequency you need.
If it’s more than one string needing tuning, follow these steps:
- Use the tuning sequence going notes: C, G, D, A.
- Begin with the open C string and tighten it until you get it close to the pitch.
- Pluck the string to hear the note, then use your digital tuner, fork, piano, or tuning app to observe the note as you carefully and slowly turn the peg to the correct pitch.
- You likely will return to the string after getting it in tune as you adjust to other strings, so don’t worry about getting it perfectly aligned the first time.
- After you’ve gone through and adjusted all strings, check your bridge alignment, and it’s still at a 90-degree angle to the belly of the instrument.
- Use fine tuners to make the last adjustments on each string.
Beginners new to the cello should rely on a pitch pipe to help train the ear. You can also try tuning with a piano, another way to aid in teaching good intonation and listening more carefully.
Choosing a suitable digital tuner is an easy way for beginners to start learning audio skills. There are plenty of digital tuners to choose from, so it might be best to converse with your cello instructor or a fellow cellist to get some ideas on what tuners can help you develop your ear and learn how to identify the correct notes on your cello.
Advanced Cello Tuning Methods
More advanced cellists often rely on a simple tuning fork for the A note, with other strings being tuned by ear. Beginner cellists should only use the tuning fork method once they have developed their sense of the correct notes.
Harmonics is another advanced tuning method, which is achieved when you lightly touch certain parts of the string to produce a higher frequency tone, fairly similar to an open string. If you were to press the string down, you would reach a different frequency.
An example of this is playing a harmonic A by lightly touching the position of the third finger in the extended fourth position. You get the same pitch if you feel the D string with the first finger in the fourth position. The cello is a unique instrument with this quality.
Perfect fifths is a common way for more experienced cellists to tune. It requires equalized frequencies when two strings are played at the same time. You can immediately tell if your strings are out of town because when you play the strings you’ll hear multiple oscillations in the frequencies, and the sound won’t be uniform.
Cello Tuning Pegs Maintenance
The goal when tuning your cello is that the less maintenance you have to do, the better for your cello’s shelf life. Smoothness in your turning ensures that you’ll get the most out of your cello-playing experience and spend more time focusing on playing rather than your tuning.
Performing minor tuning usually begins at the highest note string (A). But, if your instrument is far out of tune, you must start from the lowest C string. You also should not release the strings at once if you need to tune or replace strings, since it can lead to movement of the bridge.
How to Avoid Broken Strings When Tuning Your Cello
You can break your strings when tuning the cello by overtightening. Too sharp of an angle with your string can also put pressure on the nut slot and the string and cause it to break.
You can do a couple of things to reduce the likelihood of your cello strings breaking. The first is to ensure that removing a string ensures alignment with the grooves. It helps keep your strings lubricated and protects each string from the wood.
The other thing to do is, when tuning the cello pegs, loosen the string slightly, then gently pull or pluck to unstick the string so that it’s safer to tighten and less likely to break.
It may sound challenging and even time-consuming. But, it is a quick process and ensures you’ll tune without issue.
Tips for Tuning a Cello Like a Pro
To learn properly, tuning any stringed instrument takes effort, time, and patience. Some other essential things to remember and tips to help in learning to tune your cello as a pro include:
- If it’s too hot or too cold when you are playing or practicing, you may notice the strings going sharp or flat in pitch. Keep this in mind when you tune in if you’re in any specific climate.
- Take time to utilize different tuners or tuning apps and see which works better for you. Eventually, the goal is to be able to use a more advanced tuning method with your cello as you become more masterful.
- Don’t remove or release strings on your cello at the same time. Removing or releasing one string at a time is far more beneficial. You risk your bridge and soundpost falling off, and you would then need it fixed by a professional.
- Keep your cello strings clean and shiny using a string cleaner. Rosin that becomes impacted on your bow or strings can end up having your strings lose tone.
- If you play the guitar or piano, you’ll notice that tuning is very different, even though the cello is a string instrument. Guitar strings can be removed and replaced simultaneously. And, unlike the cello, you can pluck or pull them harder when playing riffs without the risk of breaking. If you play another instrument, you should be more careful when learning the cello.
- You’re never too old to learn a new instrument! If you love the cello but have felt you needed to be young enough to take it on, keep your age from stopping you. There’s never a better time to jump in and learn.
- Be patient! It takes time for you to have a trained ear, and things like atmospheric pressure in the weather and humidity can cause your strings to be more out of tune – but these things aren’t in your control. If it causes your cello to become slightly out of tune, you may not recognize it immediately.
Utilize your cello teacher or consult with string instrument professionals if you’re having a problem tuning your cello. There is a lot of information to cover throughout the whole process, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll be able to pick out a cello needing tuning when you listen to string quartets playing chamber music!
Take your time, research and reference all you can while learning to tune your cello. You’ll be surprised at how quickly the process gets. Good luck and happy tuning!
