Hi Strings' Folk,
Excuse me barging in here please. I bought my daughter (7) a 1/2 size violin for Christmas and she had a little try today, but it is hopelessly out of tune. They did set it up in the shop, but it is now out again. How do I tune it please?? I have a piano and a tuner. She starts lessons in Jan.
Thanks. Beverley.

The strings are tuned in 5ths, GDAE. I usually start with the A. If the violin has got fine tuners fitted you can use these to make minor adjustments - turn clockwise to sharpen and anti-clockwise to flatten (I *think*, my mind's gone blank suddenly...). However, if it's very out of tune you might need to use the tuning pegs - turn away from the instrument to tighten and towards to loosen. Before tightening, always loosen the string a little to help prevent the string snapping. Hope this helps a bit.

Which GDAE in comparison with middle C please??? xx

The G is the one below middle C, going up to the E a 10th above middle C.

Another thing - if you need to use the pegs, as well as loosening them before tightening, make sure you turn them slowly so the strings don't snap! Good luck.

The lowest string, that is the one on the left as you look at the face of the violin is the G below middle C. The next string is D one step above middle C, then A a perfect fifth above that and last of all E is the top space of the treble stave. There is a useful thread in th Students Forum about tuning violins.

Thank you both. xx

The advice about care when tightening the strings is good - I managed to break the G string on my new violin while trying to tune it. I get the impression this is a hard thing to do! But maybe not if you've ever only tuned a guitar before (and I broke a string doing that!). You only need to turn the pegs a little at a time. I expect this is even more critical on a half-size violin than a full-size.

Also, push the pegs in as you turn them, otherwise they come loose and don't hold the setting.

You wouldn't believe how long it took me to tentatively tune my brither's new guitar on Christmas Day (having only tuned violins before)!

A clip-on, digital tuner made tuning my violin a breeze the first time through. Found it at an on-line auction house.