Erhu Tuner — D4/A4 with the Qianjin and Pegs

The erhu is a Chinese two-stringed bowed spike fiddle. Its two strings are tuned a perfect fifth apart, almost always D4 and A4, and a small loop of string called the qianjin acts as the nut. Because the instrument has no fingerboard, every stopped pitch is placed by the player’s hand.

How to use it

1. Start the tuner. Press Start Tuner (Microphone) and allow microphone access. The audio is analysed in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
2. Play one string at a time. The erhu’s two strings sit very close together with the bow hair between them, so sounding one cleanly takes a deliberate bow stroke. Let the note ring and read the display before moving to the other string.
3. Read the display as concert pitch. There are no cards on this page; the display names whatever note it hears. The inside string should read D4 and the outside string A4.
4. Tune with the pegs, gently. The strings run from the pegs at the top of the neck. Wooden pegs are held by friction, while some instruments use metal machine pegs that turn more easily; either way, small movements are enough.
5. Check the fifth by sounding both strings. Because they are tuned a fifth apart, the pair should sound clean and still when both are right, with no slow beating between them.
6. Re-check after a few minutes. Steel strings and a wooden instrument move as they warm and settle; a second pass is quicker than the first.
7. Check the qianjin and the bridge before blaming the tuning. The qianjin holds the strings against the neck and keeps the bridge in place; if it has slipped or the bridge has moved, the instrument will not play in tune no matter what the pegs say.
8. Match the ensemble’s reference. A4 = 440 Hz is the default; the chips cover A415 to A444. If you play with a group tuned to 442, select it before you start.

Tuning chart: D4 and A4

The targets below come from Wikipedia’s erhu article, which gives the inside string as “generally tuned to D4 and the outside string to A4”, notes that this is a perfect fifth, and adds that the pitches are the same as the two middle strings of a violin. Britannica corroborates the interval, describing the strings as “commonly tuned a fifth apart”. Every frequency assumes A4 = 440 Hz.

String	Chinese name	Note	Frequency (A4 = 440 Hz)
Inside (nearest the player)	内弦 nèi xián	D4	293.66 Hz
Outside	外弦 wài xián	A4	440.00 Hz

The strings are tuned in perfect fifths, so the interval between them is the check: if the display reads D4 and A4, the fifth is there. If one string is a whole tone out, do not adjust the other to follow it — go back to the chart.

Other tunings you may meet

D4/A4 is the modern standard, but the instrument is not locked to it:

• The older tuo-yin tuning is g–d′. Wikipedia’s Chinese-language erhu article contrasts the zhu-yin (main-note) huqin, tuned d′–a′, with the tuo-yin (supporting-note) huqin, tuned g–d′, and notes that Abing’s three surviving erhu pieces use the lower tuning.
• Some contemporary works call for other tunings. The same article names c′–g′ for one well-known concerto and g–g′ for a movement of another cycle — check the score before setting the instrument.
• Whatever the tuning, the relationship is a fifth. Both named variants are fifths (or, in the g–g′ case, an octave), so the same method applies: set the low string against the display, then the high string a fifth above it.

Why there are no string cards on this page

This page uses the chromatic tuner rather than a preset. The site’s presets are mounted only where the tuning has been verified with a citable source recorded against the preset data, and the erhu’s preset was not part of that verification pass. Rather than ship an unverified card set, the page gives you the documented targets above and reads the concert pitch of whatever you play.

That is a workable arrangement for this instrument in particular, because the erhu has only two strings and a fixed interval between them. Tune the inside string, tune the outside string a fifth above it, and check the pair.

The instrument: strings, qianjin and bow

• Two strings, one fifth apart. Wikipedia: the inside string (nèi xián) is generally D4 and the outside string (wài xián) A4, and the erhu is “almost always tuned to the interval of a fifth”.
• The qianjin is the nut. A small loop of string is placed around the neck and the two strings; Wikipedia describes it as acting as a nut, pulling the strings towards the python-skin face and holding the minute wooden bridge in place. Chinese-language references call it the instrument’s upper stopping point.
• There is no fingerboard. Wikipedia notes that the player stops the strings by pressing their fingertips onto the strings without the strings touching the neck. Every stopped note is placed by the hand, which is why the open-string tuning is only the starting point.
• The bow hair runs between the strings. The horsehair bow is never separated from the strings — it passes between them rather than over them, and both sides of the hair are used. The strings are very close together, and the left hand effectively plays as if on one string.
• The strings are usually metal today. Wikipedia notes the strings were formerly twisted silk and are usually metal now. That matters for tuning: steel strings come up to pitch quickly and hold it, and they are less forgiving of being pulled far above pitch.
• The resonator is a small skin-faced drum. Britannica describes the strings as stretched over a “wooden drumlike resonator covered by a snakeskin membrane”, and Wikipedia notes the python skin produces the instrument’s characteristic sound. The skin is sensitive to its environment, which is part of why the instrument drifts between rooms.

Accuracy and limits

• Both strings can sound at once. The bow sits between them, and a careless stroke can catch the neighbour. That is why the reading jumps; draw the bow deliberately and let one string ring.
• The display reads concert pitch, so check the octave. D4 is the D above middle C and A4 is the A above it. The violin’s open D and A strings are the same notes, so if you also play violin the numbers will look familiar.
• Open strings and stopped notes are different jobs. With no fingerboard, intonation on stopped notes is a left-hand skill; if the open fifth is clean but the instrument sounds out of tune, the hand rather than the tuning is the place to look.
• Vibrato and slides read as movement. Rou xian vibrato and hua yin slides deliberately raise the pitch; a display that moves during them is reporting the technique, not a tuning error.
• Humidity and temperature move the whole instrument. The wooden body and skin face respond to their environment; an erhu brought into a cold, dry room will arrive flat and need time to settle.
• A slipped qianjin or moved bridge is a mechanical issue. If the strings sit differently against the neck, or the bridge is leaning, stop tuning and put them right — the pegs cannot compensate for either.
• The configured range is 25 Hz to 2200 Hz. D4 and A4 sit comfortably inside it.

Safety

• Turn wooden pegs gently. Wooden erhu pegs are held by friction; forcing a stiff peg can crack the pegbox or the neck. Ease it free rather than pushing harder.
• Do not take a string far above pitch. Steel erhu strings are thin and sound at high tension; approach each target from below and stop when the display reaches it.
• Handle the skin with care. The python-skin face is what makes the sound and is easily damaged by sharp objects, heat or dryness. Keep the instrument in its case and away from radiators and direct sun.
• Rosin the bow sensibly. Too little rosin gives a thin, noisy tone; too much gathers on the strings and skin. Wipe the strings and the instrument’s face after playing.
• Protect the bow hair. The hair sits between the strings even in storage; do not force the bow through the strings, and loosen the hair when the instrument is put away.
• Take breaks in long practice. Erhu playing is quiet enough that players hold the instrument close and play for long stretches; check your posture and rest your hands.