How to Tune a Cello

My name is Diana, and we're here at the International School of Music in Bethesda, Maryland. In this clip, we will be covering tuning the cello. So in the beginning, if you're unfamiliar with pitch and tuning instruments, it's probably wisest to start tuning with a tuner. You can buy them at most any music store.

Another thing that you can do, if you have a piano at home or familiar with the instrument is tune with the piano. The top string on a cello is an A, so after turning the tuner on, most of them will have green light in the center and red lights on either side. So -- [Music]Taking the top string, which again, is an A, you want it so that the green light is showing on the top. If the note is too sharp or too high, you want to turn this small peg, these are the small refined tuners. So if the note is too sharp, you can turn the peg to your right. If the note is too flat, here is an instance. [Music]Too low, you want to turn the fine-tuner to your left. [Music]And adjust it until the light in the middle is green. [Music]Another option if the string is very slack or very sharp or flat, is adjusting the big pegs or big tuners. In order to do this, it's best first of all to loosen the peg before tightening it, so that it doesn't snap and then turning it away from you to make the string tighter. [Music]Then you can play around with an adjustment of either the fine pegs or the large pegs. [Music]And so you will want to go through this with each of the strings, the strings on the cello from the top to the bottom, the highest string to the lowest string is A, D, G, and C. And each of these corresponding on the piano, it's the A below middle C and going down D, then G, and C. So in the next clip, we will be covering left hand basics.