Viola 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 Viola 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 Viola – 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 C3 at the bottom to A4 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 viola is tuned CGDA, a fifth below the violin, and it reads from the alto clef – the two facts that make it a genuinely separate instrument rather than a large violin. The low C string gives it a register no violin can reach.
Because the tuning is a strict transposition of the violin's, fingerings transfer directly; the adjustment is physical, since the larger body demands wider spacing and a different bow weight.
History
Viola
The viola is as old as the violin and came from the same Cremonese workshops of the 16th century; its Italian name viola da braccio (“arm viola”) is also where the German Bratsche comes from. Early violin-family ensembles had several viola parts, which is why old violas vary so much in size.
For a long time the viola filled in the harmony. Its rise as a solo instrument came with Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola (1779), Berlioz's Harold in Italy (1834) and, in the 20th century, the English violist Lionel Tertis and the composer-violist Paul Hindemith, who commissioned and wrote much of its modern repertoire.
Where the Standard (CGDA) tuning comes from
C-G-D-A, a fifth below the violin, has been the viola's tuning since the 16th century. Mozart used a scordatura in his Sinfonia Concertante (1779), with the viola tuned a semitone higher to sound brighter.
Other Viola tunings
Standard
How do I tune my Viola 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 Viola 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.