A free online tuner for band instruments
This tuner listens through your microphone and shows the closest note, plus how many cents sharp or flat you are. A cent is one hundredth of a half step. Within 5 cents reads as in tune, which is closer than most ears can hear. It works in your browser on a phone, tablet, Chromebook, or computer, with nothing to install, and the sound never leaves your device.
Tuning B♭, E♭, and F instruments
Most tuners only show concert pitch, so a clarinet player who plays a written C sees B♭ and has to do the math. Pick your instrument under "Show notes for" and the tuner shows the note as it's written in your part instead. If you're not sure why your C is the piano's B♭, read concert pitch and transposing instruments.
Most bands tune to concert B♭. Here's what to choose and which note to play:
| Instrument | Show notes for | For concert B♭, play |
|---|---|---|
| Flute, oboe, bassoon | Concert pitch | B♭ |
| B♭ clarinet, bass clarinet | B♭ clarinet / Bass clarinet | C |
| Alto and bari sax | Alto sax / Bari sax | G |
| Tenor sax | Tenor sax | C |
| Trumpet, cornet | Trumpet | C |
| Horn, mellophone | Horn / mello | F |
| Trombone, euphonium, tuba | Concert pitch | B♭ |
| Baritone (treble clef) | Baritone T.C. | C |
Sharp or flat: which way to adjust
If the needle is right of center you're sharp, so make the instrument longer. If it's left of center you're flat, so make it shorter. Move a little at a time and check again.
- Flute and piccolo: pull the head joint out to go down, push it in to go up.
- Clarinet: pull the barrel out a little to go down. For bigger changes, adjust at the middle joint too.
- Saxophone: pull the mouthpiece out on the cork to go down, push it on to go up.
- Oboe and bassoon: pitch depends mostly on the reed and your embouchure. Bassoonists can also change bocals.
- Brass: pull the main tuning slide out to go down, push it in to go up. On trombone, use the tuning slide, not the hand slide.
Getting a steady reading
- Warm up for a few minutes first. A cold instrument plays flat, so tuning before you warm up sets you up to be sharp later.
- Play a long note at a comfortable mezzo forte. Very loud or very soft notes pull the pitch.
- Keep your phone a few feet away and point the bell or tone holes past it, not straight into it.
- Low brass: tuba and bass trombone notes take a moment longer to read. Hold the note steady for a second or two.
Use your ears too
A tuner tells you where one note is. In band, what matters is matching the players around you, and a few notes on every instrument naturally run sharp or flat. Use the tuner to check, then listen. For practice hearing it, hold long tones against the drone and read playing in tune: hearing beats.