Bouzouki tuner

Bouzouki tuning in Hz

Greek tetrachordo, 8 strings: C F A D

The other bouzouki tunings

Equal temperament at A4 = 440 Hz; the reference switch above moves them all.

How to tune a bouzouki with this tuner

Pick your tuning on the switch first: Greek C F A D for an eight-string tetrachordo, Greek D A D for a six-string trichordo, Irish G D A D or G D A E. Tap start and allow the microphone. The tuner asks for the courses from the lowest up. Play one string of the pair and let it ring: the needle and the cents say how far off it is. Tighten when it reads low, loosen when it reads high, and a tick comes once it holds within five cents; then it suggests the next course. Tap a note to pick a course yourself. With the microphone off, the tap plays that note, so you can tune by ear; on a phone speaker the Irish low G sounds an octave up.

Tune a pair one string at a time, then play both together and turn the second until the slow wobble between them stops. On a Greek bouzouki the C and F courses are octave pairs, a thick wound string and a thin one an octave above; the tuner folds octaves, so both read against the same note. One exception: on D A D, and on an Irish G D A D strung with an octave D, the thin string of the low D course is the same D as the top course. Tune that one by ear against the open top course.

Greek or Irish: which bouzouki tuning is yours

Count the strings and look at the back. Eight strings in four pairs and a deep, round, staved back: a Greek tetrachordo, tuned C F A D (Do Fa La Re, as Greek players say it). Six strings in three pairs: a Greek trichordo, tuned D A D, the older instrument of rebetiko. A flat or shallow back, usually eight strings: an Irish bouzouki. Ten strings in five pairs exist too, mostly as one maker's design, with no single standard tuning: ask the maker, and tune it with the chromatic tuner, which names any note.

The four-course Greek bouzouki and its guitar-like tuning came in the 1950s, made popular by Manolis Chiotis; before that the three-course trichordo was the norm (Wikipedia, "Bouzouki", as of 2026).

Irish bouzouki tuning: G D A D or G D A E

The Irish bouzouki began in the mid-1960s, when Johnny Moynihan retuned a Greek tetrachordo to G D A D. Dónal Lunny then swapped the octave strings of the two low courses for unisons, and Peter Abnett built the first bouzouki for Irish music, for Lunny, in 1972 (Wikipedia, "Irish bouzouki", as of 2026). Most players today tune G D A D: strummed open it rings a Gsus2 and leaves a D drone under the tunes, which is why it suits accompaniment. Players who come from the mandolin or the fiddle, or who play melody, take G D A E.

Greek bouzouki tuning, 8 string and 6 string: octave and unison pairs

Courses count from the floor up: the 1st is the top D (or E), nearest the floor; the 4th is the low C or G, nearest your chin, and on a six-string trichordo the 3rd is the low D. Some guides number the eight single strings 1 to 8 the same way.

• Greek C F A D: C and F in octaves (C3 with C4, F3 with F4), A and D in unison.
• Greek D A D: the low D in octaves (D3 with D4), A and the top D in unison.
• Irish G D A D or G D A E: unison on every course on most instruments; some players keep octaves on G and D (G2 with G3, 98.00 + 196.00 Hz; D3 with D4, 146.83 + 293.66 Hz). Tune what your instrument is strung for.

The note that names an octave course is its thick string. Some charts get the octaves wrong: the Irish low G is G2, 98 Hz, the same G as a guitar's low E string at the 3rd fret, not G3. If you tune a thick string to the octave above, it will break before it gets there.

Is a bouzouki tuned the same as a mandolin?

Irish G D A E is: it is the mandolin's G D A E one octave lower, so mandolin, fiddle and tenor banjo fingerings carry straight over. It is also called octave mandolin tuning. G D A D keeps the lower three and drops the top course to D. Greek C F A D is not a mandolin tuning at all: it is the top four strings of a guitar, D G B E, a whole tone down, so guitar chord shapes work on it and sound a tone lower. Some Irish players also use A D A D or G D G D; tune those with the chromatic tuner.

Can a Greek bouzouki take Irish tuning? Yes, with new strings. G D A D drops the C course a fourth to G2 and the F course a minor third to D3: on the Greek strings those go slack and buzz, so fit a heavier set made for G D A D. G D A E also raises the top course a tone, D4 to E4, which is 26 % more tension on the thinnest strings, (2^(2/12))² = 1.26, on a scale that is already long: use the E gauge of an octave-mandolin set, and never crank Greek strings up.

How to tune a bouzouki by ear

Get one course right from a reference, the tone generator or a piano, then fret one course to match the next open one and turn until the two notes stop beating.

• C F A D: C at the 5th fret = open F; F at the 4th fret = open A; A at the 5th fret = open D.
• D A D: the low D at the 7th fret = open A; A at the 5th fret = open D.
• G D A D: G at the 7th fret = open D; D at the 7th fret = open A; A at the 5th fret = open D. In G D A E the last check is A at the 7th fret = open E.

Why a bouzouki won't stay in tune

New strings stretch for a day or two: tune, play, tune again. The bridge on most bouzoukis floats, held in place only by the strings, so taking them all off can move it. Change strings one course at a time, then check that each course at the 12th fret plays exactly an octave above the open course. If it reads sharp, the bridge has crept toward the neck: slide it a little toward the tail. Weather: the top and neck move with heat and humidity; a case and a steady room help more than retuning harder. A clip-on that jumps between two notes on one course is hearing the octave string; this tuner folds octaves and reads either.

Is the bouzouki hard to play?

The stretches are longer than on a mandolin: an Irish bouzouki's scale is usually 24 to 25 inches (60 to 65 cm), close to a guitar's. Pairs need a pick and a firm press. Guitar players get furthest fastest on C F A D; mandolin and fiddle players on G D A E.

The notes you tuned go into Brumm as a short melody over a beat.