Online tuner
Chromatic, through your microphone. Prefer your ears? The reference tones for all six strings are right there.
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Reference tones
Press a string and tune by ear.
How to use it
- Press «Turn on the microphone» and allow access: the audio stays inside your browser and never leaves your computer.
- Pluck one string at a time, firmly and cleanly, and let it ring.
- The needle centres and the panel turns green when you are in tune, within five cents.
- No microphone? Use the six reference tones and tune by ear.
Standard tuning is E-A-D-G-B-E, from the thickest string to the thinnest: E2 at 82.41 Hz, A2 at 110 Hz, D3 at 146.83 Hz, G3 at 196 Hz, B3 at 246.94 Hz, E4 at 329.63 Hz. Everything is referenced to A at 440 Hz, exactly like the tuner you would buy in a shop.
A cent is one hundredth of a semitone: a hundred cents separate two adjacent frets. Below five cents the ear stops hearing the difference, which is why green starts there. If the needle wobbles, nothing is broken: a freshly plucked string always runs sharp and settles in the first couple of seconds. Wait for it, then read.
One piece of advice worth more than any tuner: always arrive at the note from below. If you are sharp, go under and come back up. Tuning machines have play in them, and a string pulled down drifts back after two chords.
If the microphone hears nothing, move the guitar closer and kill the background music: the tuner looks for a single note, and other strings or a drum track will confuse it.
Questions people ask
Does it work with an electric guitar?
Yes, as long as the microphone can hear the string — the acoustic sound of the instrument is enough, no amp needed. If you are plugged into an audio interface, pick that input as your microphone in the browser settings.
Is my microphone being recorded? Where does the audio go?
Nowhere. The analysis happens inside the page, the audio is never stored or sent to any server. Close the tab and it is gone.
Can I use it for bass or ukulele?
Yes: the tuner is chromatic, it recognises any note rather than just the six guitar strings. Bass tunes to E1-A1-D2-G2, ukulele to G4-C4-E4-A4.
Why does it not start on my phone?
Microphone access in a browser only works over a secure connection (https) and only after a tap: press the button and accept the prompt. If you denied it once, re-enable it in the site settings.
The other tools
Online metronome
40 to 240 BPM, with an accent on the downbeat and subdivisions. Actually keep time.
Find the BPM
Tap along with a track and read its BPM. Delay and reverb times come out already worked out.
Find the note on the neck
Sixty seconds to find as many notes on the neck as you can. Your best score stays on your machine.
What guitarist are you?
Eight questions and you find out what kind of player you are. With a result image to post.
Want the theory behind it?
Ten free guitar courses, one day at a time: scales, chords, rhythm and improvisation.