How do I tune a cello?

The strings are C, G, D, A, lowest to highest. For everyday touch-ups, use the fine tuners on the tailpiece with a tuner app, and leave the pegs alone. Beyond that, the most useful thing we can tell you is what our founder, a concert cellist, tells parents at the counter: tuning is a skill that belongs to intermediate players, and that is by design. A beginner cannot tune a cello because they do not yet know what the notes should sound like. Learning to hear that is part of learning the instrument, and it is the teacher’s job to hand it over at the right pace. Even the members of our own staff who are not string players use a tuner app for this; ClearTune is the house favorite.

Student cellos usually carry all four fine tuners, which handle everything a parent should touch. Cellos also drift more than violins as temperature and humidity swing, so expect to touch things up more often in winter; that is the instrument reacting to dry air, not something going wrong.

If a peg has slipped entirely and a string has gone loose and floppy, stop there. Do not crank an unfamiliar peg on a cello. The string tension involved is considerable and there is a bridge and soundpost depending on it. Bring it in, and any of us will have it tuned and checked in a couple of minutes. If you are in a jam before a concert, that is what your shop is for.