Venezuelan Cuatro tuner – Standard (A-D-F#-B)
A-D-F#-B · Standard
Also known as ADF#B
This free online tuner listens through your microphone and shows how close each string of your Venezuelan Cuatro is to Standard (A-D-F#-B) tuning (A-D-F#-B). 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 (A-D-F#-B) tuning
Standard (A-D-F#-B) is the reference tuning for the Venezuelan Cuatro – 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 A-D-F#-B – from A3 at the bottom to F#4 at the top, a span of 9 semitones.
Standard (A-D-F#-B) is re-entrant: the strings do not rise steadily in pitch, so the string nearest your thumb is not the lowest note available. That is deliberate, and it is a large part of why the instrument sounds the way it does.
Left open, the strings together spell D6. That is a by-product of how the intervals are laid out rather than the point of the tuning, but it does mean some chords need very few fingers here. See D6 shapes in this tuning →
The Venezuelan cuatro is tuned A-D-F#-B, and the B is re-entrant: the first string sits a fourth below the F# next to it rather than above it. Strummed open, the four strings spell a B minor seventh, and the close voicings that re-entrant tuning produces are the sound of joropo and of Venezuelan Christmas aguinaldos.
It is the national instrument of Venezuela and is played almost entirely as a rhythm instrument, with a right-hand technique (the rasgueo and the "chasquido" damp) that matters more than the left. Because of the re-entrant string, tune the B last and check it against the B fretted on the A string at the second fret.
History
Venezuelan Cuatro
The Venezuelan cuatro descends from the small Spanish and Portuguese guitars that reached South America in the colonial period – relatives of the Renaissance four-course guitar and the Portuguese cavaquinho. Its name simply means “four”, for its four strings.
It is the national instrument of Venezuela and the rhythmic core of joropo and gaita. In the 20th century Fredy Reyna (1917–2001) developed a solo concert technique for it, and modern players such as Jorge Glem and the ensemble C4 Trío have taken it well beyond accompaniment.
Where the Standard (A-D-F#-B) tuning comes from
A-D-F#-B is the standard tuning of the Venezuelan cuatro, with the re-entrant B string. It is the same set of notes as the old D tuning of the ukulele, reflecting their common ancestry in small Iberian guitars.
Other Venezuelan Cuatro tunings
Standard
Chords for this tuning
How do I tune my Venezuelan Cuatro to Standard (A-D-F#-B)?
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 (A-D-F#-B).
Which notes are used in Standard (A-D-F#-B) tuning?
Standard (A-D-F#-B) tuning for Venezuelan Cuatro uses the notes A-D-F#-B, 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.