Balalaika tuner – Prima Standard (EEA)
E-E-A · Standard
Press “Start tuner” – the browser will ask for microphone access. Sound is analysed on this device and never uploaded.
This free online tuner listens through your microphone and shows how close each string of your Balalaika is to Prima Standard (EEA) tuning (E-E-A). Play a string, watch the needle, and turn the peg until the meter glows green. If you prefer tuning by ear, tap any string card to hear its reference tone.
About Prima Standard (EEA) tuning
Prima Standard (EEA) is the reference tuning for the Balalaika – the pitch the instrument normally ships at, and the starting point every other tuning on this page is measured from.
Played open, the strings sound E-E-A – from E4 at the bottom to A4 at the top, a span of 5 semitones.
Strummed open, the strings spell A5 – root and fifth with no third, so the tuning stays neutral between major and minor. See A5 shapes in this tuning →
The prima balalaika is tuned EEA – two strings in unison and a fourth above them. To a guitarist this looks like a mistake, and it is in fact the instrument's central design decision: the doubled E is a drone, strummed constantly, while the melody runs on the A string.
The tuning dates from the late nineteenth century, when Vasily Andreyev standardised the balalaika and built the orchestra of sizes around it. The characteristic rattling tremolo of Russian folk playing comes directly from those two unison strings sounding against each other.
History
Balalaika
The balalaika is first mentioned in Russian documents at the end of the 17th century, and for two hundred years it remained a peasant instrument of many shapes, with two or three strings and no standard tuning. Early examples often had oval bodies; the familiar triangular body came later.
Its modern form is the work of Vasily Andreyev (1861–1918), a gentleman amateur who in 1880s St Petersburg asked craftsmen to build a refined, chromatic balalaika. With the violin maker Franz Paserbsky and later Semyon Nalimov he created a whole family of sizes – piccolo, prima, secunda, alto, bass and contrabass – and in 1888 founded the ensemble that became the Great Russian Orchestra. Its tours made the balalaika a national symbol, and the orchestra's “academic” tunings became standard.
Where the Prima Standard (EEA) tuning comes from
E-E-A is the “academic” tuning of the balalaika prima, established by Vasily Andreyev's orchestra at the end of the 19th century. The two lower strings in unison give a rich, doubled tone. It became the standard for concert balalaika in the Soviet period.
Other Balalaika tunings
Standard
Chords for this tuning
How do I tune my Balalaika to Prima Standard (EEA)?
Allow microphone access, pluck a string, and the tuner will detect it automatically. The needle shows whether the string is flat or sharp – adjust until the reading is within ±5 cents (E-E-A).
Which notes are used in Prima Standard (EEA) tuning?
Prima Standard (EEA) tuning for Balalaika uses the notes E-E-A, listed from the lowest string to the highest.
Can I tune without a microphone?
Yes. Every string card plays a reference tone – tap it and match your string to the sound by ear.