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Free online cavaquinho tuner
A tuner with the Brazilian and Portuguese cavaquinho tunings, right in your browser.
The Jam Jam cavaquinho tuner listens through your microphone and tells you, in real time, which note is sounding and how far sharp or flat you are. Three presets: the Brazilian standard D4, G4, B4, D5, the same a half step down, and the Portuguese high tuning E4, A4, C#5, E5. In-tune zone at ±5 cents, cents to the unit, frequency to a tenth of a hertz.
How to tune a cavaquinho
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Allow the microphone
Open the tuner, pick Cavaquinho and grant mic access: the audio is analysed on your device, nothing is uploaded.
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Pick your tuning
D-G-B-D for Brazilian samba and choro, half step down if your strings prefer it, the high tuning for Portuguese playing.
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Tune from the low string up
Pluck the lowest string open, centre the needle, then move up. The tuner locks onto the nearest string.
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Check the open chord
In D-G-B-D the open strings sound a G major chord: strum them to double-check by ear.
A tuner that knows both cavaquinhos
Brazilian D-G-B-D
The standard for samba and choro, declared as the default, plus the same a half step down.
Portuguese high tuning
E4, A4, C#5, E5 as its own preset, so a Portuguese cavaquinho is not forced through Brazilian targets.
Reference note in a cavaquinho voice
Every string plays its target note with a real cavaquinho timbre, so you can check a string by ear before touching the peg.
Auto, manual or chromatic
It locks the nearest string by itself; one tap freezes a string, another returns to auto. Chromatic mode covers anything outside the presets.
Why this cavaquinho tuner
- D-G-B-D, half step down, and Portuguese E-A-C#-E
- ±5 cents to be in tune, cents to the unit and hertz to a tenth
- 100% free, in your browser, no sign-up and no ads
- Everything is computed on your side: nothing is uploaded
A single-purpose tuner site stops the moment you are in tune. Here the tuner is one tab among others in the Jam Jam notebook: import a song, transpose it, export it to PDF. Offline in the mobile app.
Open the tuner →More Jam Jam tools
Cavaquinho tuner FAQ
Is this cavaquinho tuner free?
Completely: no account, no ads, nothing to install. It all runs in your browser, and the microphone audio is analysed on the spot. It is never sent to a server.
Is a cavaquinho tuned like a ukulele?
No: the Brazilian standard is D4, G4, B4, D5, an open G chord, and the strings are steel. A ukulele is G, C, E, A. Jam Jam has separate presets for each instrument.
Why tune a half step down?
To ease string tension or match a singer. The preset keeps the same intervals, one semitone lower: Db4, Gb4, Bb4, Db5.