Tune up
Tune your fiddle right here
Jam Trainer's chromatic tuner listens through your mic and shows how sharp or flat each string is — or play the built-in drone and tune by ear. A fiddle tunes to the same G D A E as a mandolin, so pick that preset and you're set.
Open the free tuner → Opens the tuner at the G D A E preset · no loginStandard fiddle tuning (G D A E)
Low to high: G, D, A, E — each string a perfect fifth above the last. A fiddle is a violin, so the tuning is identical.
How to tune a fiddle
A fiddle is tuned in perfect fifths — from the lowest string to the highest, G D A E. It's the exact same tuning as a violin (a fiddle is a violin — "fiddle" just describes the old-time and bluegrass playing style) and the same four notes as a mandolin.
- Open the tuner and choose the G D A E (Mandolin) preset.
- Play one string at a time. The tuner hears the pitch and shows whether you're sharp or flat.
- Use the pegs for big adjustments, then the fine tuners on the tailpiece for the last little bit — that's what they're there for.
- Work from the G string up to the E, then re-check — tuning one string can nudge the others as the bridge settles.
Tune by ear with the drone
Old-time and bluegrass fiddlers live and die by their ear, so it's worth learning to tune without staring at a needle. Play the drone on a string's target note and match the string to it — when the two stop "beating" against each other, you're in tune. Because a jam won't pause for you to plug in a tuner, that skill pays off fast.
Check your tuning against the band
Once you're close, the real test is playing along. Pull up a tune in Jam Trainer and you'll hear immediately whether your fiddle sits right on top of the guitar and mandolin, or whether a string has drifted. So tune first with the needle, then let your ear confirm it against a full band.