Zhonghu tuner – Standard (G-D)
G-D · Standard
This free online tuner listens through your microphone and shows how close each string of your Zhonghu is to Standard (G-D) tuning (G-D). 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 (G-D) tuning
Standard (G-D) is the reference tuning for the Zhonghu – 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 G-D – from G3 at the bottom to D4 at the top, a span of 7 semitones. Step by step across the neck the intervals are a fifth, and that is what decides how chord shapes fall under the hand.
Strummed open, the strings spell G5 – root and fifth with no third, so the tuning stays neutral between major and minor.
The zhonghu is the alto of the huqin family: a larger erhu with a bigger resonator, tuned G-D, a fifth below its smaller sibling. The interval between the strings is the same, so an erhu player can pick it up and play by the same fingering logic.
It fills the middle of the Chinese orchestra's bowed section, between the erhu above and the cellos or gehu below, and it is rarely heard alone. Because its body is bigger, a tuner needs a slightly longer, steadier bow stroke to lock onto the low G than it does on an erhu.
History
Zhonghu
The zhonghu is a 20th-century creation: an alto erhu with a larger body and longer neck, developed in the 1950s for the new large Chinese orchestras, which were modelled on the sections of the Western symphony orchestra and needed a middle voice between the erhu and the cello-like gehu.
Unlike the erhu, it has no centuries-old folk repertoire of its own: its music comes from the orchestra and from arrangements, where its darker, warmer tone carries lyrical melodies and fills the harmony between the higher and lower bowed parts.
Where the Standard (G-D) tuning comes from
G-D is the standard tuning of the zhonghu, set a fifth below the erhu when the instrument was created in the 1950s for the modern Chinese orchestra.
Other Zhonghu tunings
Standard
Alternative
How do I tune my Zhonghu to Standard (G-D)?
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 (G-D).
Which notes are used in Standard (G-D) tuning?
Standard (G-D) tuning for Zhonghu uses the notes G-D, 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.