Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Peg Tuning Tips

Through the years, both as a violinist and teacher, one daily task seems scary for many - tuning with the pegs. I have personally never approached the task with fear, only as a challenge and necessity. One admission is that tuning with the pegs regularly presented one issue or another prior to knowledge of the following basic tips.

Peg Tuning Tips
  • If fine tuners are turned completely down or are loose, turn them to a middle range.
  • Inspect how the string is wound onto the peg. The string should be through the peg hole, then be wound evenly towards the edge of the pegbox; be sure not to cram the string against the pegbox or leave space, either of these errors will result in difficult peg tuning.
  • As turning the peg, apply inward pressure (push towards pegbox). Monitor the string, that it winds evenly towards the edge of the pegbox.
  • Turn the peg slowly, avoiding quick alterations in pitch, as this can cause a string to break.
Properly wound pegs will appear as follows.


There is no getting around tuning with the pegs, it simply takes time and patience to hone the skill. Hopefully these tips will make this daily task a bit less daunting.

-Cassandra General Manager

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