Tune your instrument before you sit down in a bluegrass jam. Use a clip-on tuner set to A=440. Check your pitch again between songs. An instrument that sits even a little flat pulls against every other player in the circle, so tuning is the first job of the jam.
Tune before you sit down
Tune in your car, at your campsite, or in the hall before the jam starts. A circle that has started playing has no quiet gap for tuning. Players who tune in the middle of a song, or while someone is singing, break the sound for everyone nearby.
Arrive with the instrument close to pitch. Then a quick check in the circle is all you need.
Standard tunings for the jam
Most bluegrass instruments use these tunings. Notes run from the lowest string to the highest.
Guitar: E A D G B E.
Mandolin: G D A E. Each note is a pair of strings tuned to the same pitch.
Fiddle: G D A E. This is the same as the mandolin, one octave lower.
Bass: E A D G.
Banjo (five-string): open G tuning, g D G B D. The first note is the short fifth string, which is the highest pitch. The other four strings run low to high from the fourth string to the first.
Dobro: open G tuning, most often G B D G B D from lowest to highest.
If you play a different tuning on a banjo or Dobro, such as a tuning for a particular tune, tell the circle. Tune back to standard when the tune is done.
Use a clip-on tuner
A clip-on tuner attaches to the headstock. It reads the vibration of the wood, not the sound in the air. Jam noise does not confuse it. This makes it the best tool for a loud circle.
Set the tuner to A=440. That is the standard concert pitch, and most tuners use it as the default. If your tuner reads A on your A string and the circle still sounds off, check the tuner’s pitch setting. A tuner set to a different reference pitch will put you out of tune with everyone else.
Tune up to the note. Start a little below the pitch and turn the peg slowly until the tuner reads in tune. This holds the string steadier than tuning down to the note.
Tune with a capo on and off
Tune with no capo first. Then clamp the capo on and check each string. A capo can pull strings slightly sharp, and it can do this unevenly. If one string drifts, move the capo a bit or press the string gently at the nut side until it settles. Read how to use a capo in a bluegrass jam for where the capo goes and how it changes the key.
Tuning manners in the circle
Turn away from the circle to tune. Pluck each string softly. A clip-on tuner needs only a light touch.
Do not tune while someone kicks off a song. A kick-off is the opening phrase that tells the band the key and the speed. It needs quiet.
Do not play licks or runs while you check your strings. Players call this noodling, and it fills the space the group needs to talk about the next tune.
If the song just ended and the next player is choosing a tune, tune quickly and quietly. Then put your hands down so the leader can start.
For more on the unwritten rules of the circle, read bluegrass jam etiquette.
Check your pitch between songs
Strings stretch and go flat. New strings go flat fastest. Temperature changes pitch too. An instrument that moves from a cold car to a warm room will drift, and so will one that sits in the sun at a festival campground.
Check one or two strings between songs. If one string has moved, the others probably have too, so run through all of them.
What to do with no tuner
Sometimes a tuner dies or a battery runs out. Ask another player for an A. A fiddle or mandolin can give the note, or another player can play it from a tuner of their own. Tune your A string to that note. Then tune the other strings from the A.
Do not tune to a player whose own instrument sounds off. If two players disagree, check both against a tuner.
A neighbor with a tuner is usually glad to help. Ask quietly between songs: “Can you check me on the A?”
A note for classical violinists
A violinist tunes in fifths from the A. That works for a quartet, and it works for a fiddle in a jam too. In a loud circle, though, the ear has a harder time hearing a fifth, and the instrument can drift without notice. A clip-on tuner settles the question. Read how a classical violinist can join a bluegrass jam for the rest of what changes.
For the clip-on tuner and the other gear to carry, read what to bring to a bluegrass jam.