How to tune a violin and rosin the bow: pegs, fine tuners and GDAE

TUREFF• •0

A violin goes out of tune constantly: the strings stretch, the wood responds to temperature and humidity, and travelling from a warm house to a cold car is enough to shift it. Tuning before every practice is normal. So is looking after the bow, which only makes a sound because of rosin.

The four strings: G, D, A, E

From the lowest (thickest) string to the highest, the violin is tuned G, D, A, E, each string a perfect fifth above the one before. The A string is usually tuned to A = 440 Hz, although some orchestras and groups tune slightly higher; your teacher or ensemble will tell you if they do.

Pegs and fine tuners

Pegs are the wooden pins in the pegbox at the top. They make large changes and are used when a string is badly out of tune or after fitting a new string.
Fine tuners are small screws on the tailpiece. They make small adjustments. Many violins have one on the E string only; beginner instruments often have four.

Use the fine tuners for everyday tuning. Turn them clockwise to raise the pitch and anticlockwise to lower it. If a fine tuner is screwed nearly all the way in, unscrew it to the middle of its range and make the change with the peg instead.

Using the pegs safely

Hold the violin upright on your knee or under your chin.
Turn the peg slightly towards you to raise the pitch, or away to lower it, while pushing it gently into the pegbox so it grips as you turn.
Make small movements. It is easy to overshoot, and overtightening an E string is the quickest way to snap it.
Tune slightly below the note and come up to it; a string tuned upwards tends to hold its pitch better.

If a peg slips or sticks, a teacher or luthier can treat it with peg compound. Do not force a stuck peg.

How to tune

Tune the A string first, with an electronic tuner, an app or a reference note.
Tune D, G and E in turn, using a tuner or by ear against the A.
Check all four again, because changing the tension on one string slightly affects the others.

Tuning by ear means playing two neighbouring strings together and adjusting until the sound is smooth, with no beating or wobble. It takes practice, but it trains your ear, and many teachers encourage it alongside a tuner.

Keep an eye on the bridge

Tuning pulls the top of the bridge gently towards the fingerboard over time. After tuning, look at the bridge from the side: it should stand roughly upright. If it is leaning noticeably, ask a teacher or luthier to show you how to ease it back; a bridge left leaning can warp or fall.

Rosin: what it does

Bow hair on its own slides over a string without making much sound. Rosin, a hardened tree resin, gives the hair grip, so it catches the string and sets it vibrating.

How much rosin to use

New bow hair has no rosin and needs a lot before it sounds. Your shop may have already applied it.
Day to day, a few smooth strokes along the length of the hair before playing is usually enough.
Too little and the sound is thin, glassy or barely there.
Too much and the tone becomes scratchy, and you will see a cloud of white dust over the strings and the top of the violin.

Draw the hair along the cake of rosin from frog to tip in long, even strokes. A brand-new cake can be shiny and slow to take; lightly scuffing the surface helps.

Bow hair care

Tighten the hair before playing until there is a small gap between the hair and the stick at its middle; do not tighten until the stick is straight.
Loosen the hair after every session. Leaving it tight can warp the stick.
Do not touch the hair with your fingers; skin oils stop rosin from sticking.
Wipe rosin dust off the strings and the violin with a soft, dry cloth after playing.
Rehairing: hair wears out and breaks. When it is thin, stretched or will not hold rosin, a luthier can rehair the bow.

What is your trick for keeping the violin in tune? Ask your questions or share your experience in the comments.