Violin
Authority: Equal Temperament Pitch Frequency Table
Standard violin tuning uses four strings in perfect fifths: G3, D4, A4, and E5. At concert pitch, A4 equals 440 Hz, these correspond to 196.00 Hz, 293.66 Hz, 440.00 Hz, and 659.25 Hz. Unlike guitar, violin strings are single courses with no doubled strings.
| String # | Note Name | Scientific Pitch | Frequency (Hz) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 (Thickest) | G | G3 | 196.00 Hz |
| 3 | D | D4 | 293.66 Hz |
| 2 | A | A4 | 440.00 Hz |
| 1 (Thinnest) | E | E5 | 659.25 Hz |
History & Origin
The violin emerged in 16th-century Italy, and its tuning in perfect fifths -- G, D, A, E -- was established alongside the instrument itself and has remained essentially unchanged since, becoming firmly entrenched during the Baroque era as composers like Vivaldi and Bach wrote extensively for the instrument. The consistency of that tuning across four centuries is unusual among string instruments and reflects how well the fifths interval suits the violin's physical design and playing technique.
Tuning in fifths rather than the fourths used by guitar is not arbitrary: adjacent strings tuned a fifth apart share closely related overtones, so the strings resonate sympathetically with each other, reinforcing the instrument's tone. This same fifths-based tuning logic, and often the exact same pitches, appears across most of the violin family -- viola and cello are both tuned in fifths as well, just transposed lower -- as well as in unrelated instruments like the mandolin, whose courses are tuned to match the violin exactly. The double bass is the notable exception within the family, conventionally tuned in fourths rather than fifths.