The lowest string on the violin is the G. When you go up a fifth, the second string is the D, the third is the A, and the fourth is the E. If you remember this by memorising the acronym "Good Dogs Always Eat", you can easily tune your violin with the help of a tuner. Instead of a violin tuner, you can also use a pitch pipe to tune your violin. When you blow on this pipe, you'll hear a tone that should sound exactly the same as the lowest string on your violin. If you want more information about violins, check out our selection of violin songbooks.
If you use a clip-on tuner, clamp it on to the violin and play the G string. The display will show if the tone is higher or lower than G. Turn the corresponding tuning peg on the scroll to adjust the tone. If the violin is out of tune, and the key of F shows up in the display, then you need to turn the peg to tighten the string until it displays G. If the string is too tight, the display will show the key of A, in which case it needs to be loosened. Keep tightening or loosening all the strings in this manner until they are in tune.
