Tune any instrument with your microphone. This free online instrument tuner has presets for guitar, bass, ukulele, violin, viola, cello, double bass, mandolin and banjo, and a chromatic mode for flute, recorder, trumpet, saxophone, clarinet, horn, voice and piano. Pick your instrument, press Start and play one note: the needle, the strobe band and the cents readout show whether you are flat, sharp or in tune.
Instrument Tuner
–
Press Start, then play one note
- Frequency
- – Hz
- Cents
- – ¢
- Target
- –
Strings
Microphone off. Nothing is recorded or uploaded: sound is analysed in your browser.
Settings: A4 calibration, tolerance, noise
Related Tools
- Chromatic Tuner
A simple tuner that names any note you play.
- Guitar Tuner
Tune the six strings of a guitar by ear or with the microphone.
- Ukulele Tuner
GCEA tuning for soprano, concert and tenor ukulele.
- Violin Tuner
Tune G, D, A and E on the violin.
- Pitch Detector
See the exact pitch of your voice or instrument over time.
- Online Metronome
Keep steady time once your instrument is in tune.
How to Use the Online Instrument Tuner
- Choose your instrument. For strings, also choose the tuning, such as Standard, Drop D, DADGAD, Open G or half step down.
- Press Start tuner and allow the microphone. Stay quiet for a moment: the tuner measures the background noise so that it only reacts to your instrument.
- Play one string or one long note and let it ring. The tuner finds the nearest string (or note) automatically, or you can tap a string to lock the tuner to it.
- Turn the peg, tuning slide or head joint until the needle stops in the green zone. When the reading stays within ±3 cents for half a second, the display turns green and the string gets a tick.
- Tap any string to hear its reference tone if you prefer to tune by ear, like with a tuning fork.
How to Read the Tuner
| Display | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Big note | The note you are tuning to. For B♭, E♭ and F instruments it is the written note, with the concert pitch under it |
| Needle | How far you are from the note, from −50 to +50 cents. Left means flat (tune up), right means sharp (tune down) |
| Strobe band | The stripes drift left when you are flat, right when you are sharp, and stand still when you are in tune: good for very fine tuning |
| Cents and Hz | The exact difference in cents and the frequency you are playing, such as 82.41 Hz for a guitar’s low E |
| Green lock and ticks | Shows when a string has been held in tune, so you can see which strings are done |
This makes the page a quick tune checker: play a note and you know within a second whether it is in tune. A cent is one hundredth of a semitone; most players cannot hear differences below about 5 cents, and cents in music tuning are explained in detail in our guide.
Standard Tunings and String Frequencies
The tuner has these tunings built in. Strings are listed from the lowest string (or, for ukulele and banjo, in the order you name them) with their frequencies at A4 = 440 Hz.
| Instrument | Strings | Frequency (Hz) |
|---|---|---|
| Guitar (standard) | E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4 | 82.41 · 110.00 · 146.83 · 196.00 · 246.94 · 329.63 |
| Bass guitar, 4-string | E1 A1 D2 G2 | 41.20 · 55.00 · 73.42 · 98.00 |
| Bass guitar, 5-string | B0 E1 A1 D2 G2 | 30.87 · 41.20 · 55.00 · 73.42 · 98.00 |
| Ukulele (high G) | G4 C4 E4 A4 | 392.00 · 261.63 · 329.63 · 440.00 |
| Baritone ukulele | D3 G3 B3 E4 | 146.83 · 196.00 · 246.94 · 329.63 |
| Violin and mandolin | G3 D4 A4 E5 | 196.00 · 293.66 · 440.00 · 659.26 |
| Viola | C3 G3 D4 A4 | 130.81 · 196.00 · 293.66 · 440.00 |
| Cello | C2 G2 D3 A3 | 65.41 · 98.00 · 146.83 · 220.00 |
| Double bass | E1 A1 D2 G2 | 41.20 · 55.00 · 73.42 · 98.00 |
| Banjo, 5-string (open G) | G4 D3 G3 B3 D4 | 392.00 · 146.83 · 196.00 · 246.94 · 293.66 |
Alternate tunings for every instrument, with their notes and frequencies, are in our instrument tuning reference. Guitarists will find Drop D, open tunings and how to switch between them in the guitar tuning guide, and bass players can check all bass tunings in the bass guitar tuning chart.
Flute, Recorder, Trumpet and Sax Tuner
Wind and brass instruments play one note at a time, so they use the chromatic mode: choose the instrument and play a long, steady note. For the flute, move the head joint out to go lower and in to go higher. A recorder is tuned by pulling the head joint out slightly; the soprano recorder sounds an octave higher than written, and the tuner shows the written note. For brass, use the main tuning slide; for saxophone, move the mouthpiece on the neck.
Transposing instruments read different note names from the piano. Choose your instrument and the big note shows what is written in your part, while the concert pitch appears underneath:
| Instrument | Key | Concert B♭ reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Trumpet, cornet, clarinet, soprano sax | B♭ | C (a major second higher) |
| Tenor sax, bass clarinet | B♭ | C (a major ninth higher) |
| Alto sax, baritone sax | E♭ | G (a major sixth higher, baritone one octave more) |
| French horn | F | F (a perfect fifth higher) |
| Flute, oboe, bassoon, trombone, tuba | C | B♭ (no change) |
So a band’s tuning note, concert B♭4 at 466.16 Hz, shows as written C5 on a B♭ trumpet. Warm up for a minute before tuning: a cold wind instrument plays flat.
Piano, Harp and Voice
Pianos and harps have too many strings for presets, so use the chromatic mode to check single notes. It shows which notes have drifted, but a piano should be tuned by a technician; see pitch detection for piano tuning for what you can check yourself. Singers can use the Voice preset to hold a note in tune.
A4 Calibration: 440, 442, 432 or 415 Hz
Most music is tuned to A4 = 440 Hz, the standard described in A440 explained. Many orchestras tune to 442 or 443 Hz, some musicians prefer 432 Hz, and Baroque ensembles use 415 Hz. Open Settings and set A4 anywhere from 410 to 460 Hz; every note, string frequency and reference tone moves with it. The history of these standards is in historical pitch standards.
Tips for an Accurate Reading
- One note at a time. Mute the other strings; chords have no single pitch.
- Pluck or bow normally and wait a moment. A hard pluck starts a little sharp; the reading settles after about half a second.
- Tune up to the note. If you are sharp, go below the note and come back up: the string holds its tuning better.
- Noisy room? Set Sensitivity to Low in Settings, move closer to the microphone or use a headset microphone.
- Low bass notes down to B0 (30.87 Hz) work. Phone speakers and microphones hear little of these notes, so the tuner reads the pitch from the overtones and checks it against the octave. Why tuners sometimes show the wrong octave is explained in harmonics explained.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this online tuner free and private?
Yes. It runs in your browser with no app, account or download. The sound is analysed on your device and nothing is recorded or uploaded.
How accurate is the instrument tuner?
With steady test tones from 30.9 Hz (B0) to 1,046.5 Hz (C6) it read within 0.1 cent in our tests, including a 441.3 Hz tone shown as +5 cents and 430 Hz shown as −40 cents. With a real instrument the microphone and the room matter more than the tuner.
Why does my trumpet or clarinet show a different note from the piano?
They are B♭ instruments: their written C sounds a B♭ on the piano. Choose Trumpet or Clarinet in the list and the tuner shows the written note.
Can I tune a flute or recorder online?
Yes. Choose Flute or Recorder, play a long note such as A or B♭, and adjust the head joint until the needle is in the green zone.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes, in current Chrome, Safari, Edge and Firefox on phones, tablets and computers. Allow the microphone when your browser asks. On most phones the screen stays on while the tuner runs.