Cello tuner – Standard (CGDA)
C-G-D-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 Cello is to Standard (CGDA) tuning (C-G-D-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 Standard (CGDA) tuning
Standard (CGDA) is the reference tuning for the Cello – 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 C-G-D-A – from C2 at the bottom to A3 at the top, a span of 1 octave and 9 semitones. Step by step across the neck the intervals are a fifth, a fifth, a fifth, and that is what decides how chord shapes fall under the hand.
The cello is tuned CGDA in fifths – the same note names as the viola, one octave lower. It is the only member of the family whose tuning spans more than two octaves across its open strings, which is why the instrument covers both bass lines and singing melodic writing.
Fifths across a long string length mean fingerings cannot be based on four fingers to four semitones as on a violin; the cello's left-hand technique, including thumb position, exists because of the interval this tuning uses.
History
Cello
The cello began in the early 16th century as the bass of the violin family, a large instrument often called basso di viola da braccio. In Bologna in the 1660s, strings overspun with metal wire made it possible to get low notes from a shorter string, the instrument shrank to its modern size, and the name violoncello (“little large viola”) appears in print in 1665.
Bach's six Cello Suites (around 1720) set the standard for its solo repertoire, and the Italian virtuosos Luigi Boccherini and later Adrien-François Servais, who popularised the endpin, built its technique. Pablo Casals' recordings of the Bach suites in the 1930s made the cello a solo instrument in the public mind.
Where the Standard (CGDA) tuning comes from
C-G-D-A, an octave below the viola, became the standard cello tuning in the 17th century. Bach's Fifth Cello Suite uses a scordatura with the A string lowered to G.
Other Cello tunings
Standard
Alternative
How do I tune my Cello to Standard (CGDA)?
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 (C-G-D-A).
Which notes are used in Standard (CGDA) tuning?
Standard (CGDA) tuning for Cello uses the notes C-G-D-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.