0c.2 Tuning to your sruti: sa, pa, sa, pa
Retune the violin from the Western fifths to the Carnatic sa-pa-sa-pa, at the sruti you have chosen.
A violin leaves the shop tuned in fifths, G D A E. A Carnatic violin is tuned to sa and pa in two octaves instead, so the four strings sound lower sa, lower pa, middle sa, middle pa. Every string comes down in pitch, which means less tension and a different feel under the fingers.
Work through these
Choose your sruti and set a drone at it before touching a peg.
The violin has no fixed sa, so the pitch you pick decides all four strings. Many players work at a sruti near D, which puts the strings at D, A, D and A.
Tune the two outer strings to sa, one octave apart, against the drone.
The lowest string takes the lower-octave sa and the third string takes the middle-octave sa. Setting the two sa strings first gives you a frame that the two pa strings are then fitted into.
Tune the two remaining strings to pa, each a fifth above the sa below it.
Pa is the note that agrees with sa most completely, which is why it is the other string and why an out-of-tune pa is so audible. Tune it against the drone rather than by counting frets you do not have.
Play each string in turn against the drone and confirm that nothing has drifted.
Bringing four strings down in pitch relaxes the whole instrument, so the first two or three tunings after a change will not hold. Expect to repeat this a few times in the first week.
Sign in to keep your progress.
Free resources
Links last checked 30 Aug 2026.
Stuck here?
Ask a mentor. A real person answers, and they can see exactly which topic you're on. Usually within a couple of working days.
Checking your session…
Topics shown in module order.