Dulcimer tuner

Mountain dulcimer tuning: D A D in Hz

Other dulcimer tunings

At A4 = 440 Hz; the reference switch above moves them all. D A D and the first three here are on the tuning switch; for D A G, D A C, D F♯ A and A E A, the any-note tuner on the tuner page names any note.

How to tune a dulcimer with this tuner

Set the switch to your tuning, D A D unless your tab says otherwise. With the dulcimer on your lap, tap start and pluck the bass string, the one farthest from you, over the strum hollow. Let it ring: the needle shows how far off it is and the tuner says tighten or loosen. Turn the peg in small steps and pluck again; when the needle has stayed in the middle for a moment (about 0.4 s), the tick comes (five cents or closer) and the tuner asks for the middle string, then the melody string. Come up to each note from below, so the string holds.

Check the octave by ear. The tuner reads the note's name and folds octaves, so it can't warn you about a string an octave high: in D A D a bass string pulled up to D4 sounds like the melody string, and the tuner jumps to that string; in D A A it simply reads as an in-tune D. A dulcimer string tuned an octave too high snaps. The bass string's D3 is the D below middle C, 146.83 Hz: with the microphone off, tap its button above to hear it and match that low D before you trust the needle. A doubled melody string is one note: tune each string of the pair to it, then play both and turn until the wobble between them stops.

D A D or D A A: which dulcimer tuning?

D A D is the tuning most dulcimer tab is written for today: bass, a fifth up, an octave up, the 1-5-8 pattern. From the open melody string the frets play D mixolydian, with C natural at the 6th fret; the 6½ fret that most modern dulcimers have adds the C♯ for D major. D A A is the older tuning, often called the original one: the melody string on A and the D major scale starting at its 3rd fret, popular for old-time fiddle tunes. C G C is D A D a whole step lower, for singers who sit lower; D A D tab plays unchanged, it just comes out in C. D G D puts the tune in G, the scale again from the 3rd fret of the melody string.

The older modal tunings keep the bass on D and the middle on A and move only the melody string: A for Ionian (major), D for Mixolydian, G below the A for Dorian, C above it for Aeolian (minor). A baritone dulcimer, longer and strung heavier, sits a fourth lower in A E A. D F♯ A is an open tuning: the open strings make a D chord and a barre at any fret makes another chord; tune it with the any-note tuner.

Tuning a dulcimer without a tuner

Get the bass string to D from a reference: a piano's D below middle C, or the tone generator at 146.83 Hz. Then tune the others against it. In D A D, the bass string at the 4th fret is A, the open middle string; the middle string at the 3rd fret is D, the open melody string. In D A A the melody string matches the open middle string. Play the fretted note and the open string together and turn until the beating stops.

4-string and 5-string dulcimers

Most four-string dulcimers are three-strings with a doubled melody string, tuned D A DD: both melody strings on one note, played as one. An equidistant four-string, with all four strings evenly spaced and played separately, is often tuned D A D D. A five-string doubles two courses. Tune each pair in unison, unless the builder strung a pair an octave apart; then the thin string goes an octave above its partner, D4 over D3.

Hammered dulcimer tuner

The hammered dulcimer is a different instrument: a trapezoid box with dozens of courses, two to four strings per note, struck with hammers and tuned with a wrench on zither pins. Its notes are not on this page's switch; the any-note tuner on the tuner page names whatever you strike, with the Hz and the cents. Tune one string of a course at a time with its partners muted under a cloth or a finger, then bring each partner onto it until the beating stops. Strike or pluck again every couple of seconds while you turn: a string dying away reads poorly, and turning while the sound fades is how a pin goes too far. On the treble bridge each course sounds a fifth higher on the left side than on the right, so tune the right side and check the left.

Why a dulcimer won't stay in tune

New strings stretch for a day or two: tune, play, and tune again until they hold. The wood moves with the humidity, so tune each time you sit down to play. Friction pegs with a small screw in the end hold better with the screw tightened, a fraction of a turn at a time. Wooden pegs hold when you push them in as you turn. Strings you can't remember putting on go dull and drift; change them. Strings are made for one tuning: a few notes lower they go floppy and buzz, so C G C may want a slightly heavier set, and A E A a baritone's strings.

Clip-on, app or online dulcimer tuner?

A dulcimer needs a chromatic tuner, one that names any note, because its tunings aren't guitar notes. Buy a tuner that says chromatic, whatever its label: one sold as a guitar or "dulcimer" tuner may only know a few preset notes. On a tuner with modes, set it to chromatic (C). A clip-on reads the vibration through the wood, so it works at a jam where a microphone hears everyone; about $10 to $25 as of 2026. Clip it to the headstock; on a scroll head, clip it across the fretboard just past the nut, where a capo would sit. Most clip-ons also have a microphone setting; at a jam, keep them on vibration. At home, in a quiet room, a phone's microphone is enough, and this page needs no app: it runs in the browser and records nothing.

Is the dulcimer easy to play?

The mountain dulcimer is one of the easier string instruments to start on. Its frets give a scale rather than every semitone, so a melody on the melody string stays in key while the other two strings drone, and tab is written as fret numbers. The hammered dulcimer takes longer: its notes are laid out in a pattern across the bridges that the eye has to learn.

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