How to play the first note in tune?

September 23, 2025, 11:20 PM · When I play from a dead start, I find that I am not always in tune. I am usually not that far off and can quickly correct my intonation, but I am wondering: is there a way to know or check if your note will be in tune before you begin playing it?

Also, there are some songs that have a rest section followed by a shift. How do you make sure your shifted note following a period of silence will be in tune?

Replies (2)

Christian Lesniak

September 24, 2025, 1:01 AM · For the long term, you want to develop your audiation as much as possible, so you are always trying to hear the pitch in your mind's ear as you go. You'll start to find that your fingers increasingly magically get it right.

For the short term, practice making that shift from where your hand was (unless it truly is such a long rest that you aren't prepping), and try and remember the sound and feeling along the way, so that you can start to create a link between the sound and the feeling of the position of the hand. You can also practice finding the note from nowhere and seeing how close you get, and then trying it a number of times and seeing if you are getting closer and more consistent.

Another trick is to use certain notes as guideposts. Most violinists should have a pretty good feel for 3rd position or the octave harmonic, so you can start climbing from there, and you can silently shift up and use the frame of your hand to measure, and it should get you pretty close.

Lastly, you can do a press-on and listen for the note. It's quiet and unobtrusive to the audience, generally. You mostly don't want to test with your bow.

Richard Pairaudeau

September 24, 2025, 3:25 AM · Excellent answer from Christian. The only thing I can add is that you have probably tuned or checked your tuning just before starting, which should help you to get the first note in tune.

How to play the first note in tune?

Replies (2)

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