Tuner
TERRYTRILLA TUNER
Tuning built into music theory
A standard tuner shows one thing: a needle. Terry Trilla Tuner shows something different — where your note stands in musical space, among all 12 tones, with sub-cent precision, in real time. You are not just turning a peg. You see where your note stands in the musical universe.
tunings
temperaments
strobe
HOW IT WORKS
The astrolabe for musicians
At the center is the Scale Circle: a chromatic wheel of 12 sectors. When you play a note, a light beam grows from the center toward the corresponding sector. The length of the beam shows accuracy. Color shows the zone: green in tune, yellow close, orange off, red far off.
When you select a tuning, string numbers appear as blue badges around the relevant notes, and their star rays grow longer. The circle tells you which strings matter right now — no guessing, no counting.
The visualization updates 60 times per second. A needle teaches you to hit a point — a circle teaches you to hear musical space.
🟡 Yellow — ±5 cents
🟠 Orange — ±20 cents
🔴 Red — far off
FOR EVERYONE
Three users — one tuner
For the beginner
Guided Tuning walks you through string by string — 6 indicators light up one by one. The tuner identifies each note automatically. Blue string badges on the circle mean you always know which string is which. No confusion, no manual.
For the self-taught
33+ alternate tunings — Drop D, DADGAD, Open G, Nashville, 7- and 8-string, lefty. Switching Standard → DADGAD? The circle shows you exactly which strings changed. 10+ instruments. Smart range limiting prevents octave confusion.
For the professional
Strobe mode: ±0.1 cents. 13 historical temperaments — each signed with author and year. A-centered mathematics: A=440 Hz always at 0 ¢, other notes deviate relative to it. The reference A never drifts. Custom A4 from 415 to 466 Hz.
Not only where you are — but where you are going
Full-width pitch history graph
Smooth Catmull-Rom curve over 5 seconds. Three color zones: green (ideal ±3 ¢), yellow (close ±25 ¢), red (far ±50 ¢). Area-fill under the curve. Indicator dot with current value. Updates 10× per second.
Training tool for sound stability
A violinist sees how the hand stabilizes. A saxophonist sees how the diaphragm holds. A guitarist sees how the string drifts after the attack. Most tuners give only momentary feedback. This graph shows the life of your sound.
HISTORICAL TEMPERAMENTS
13 temperaments. Four centuries. One reference A.
The browser standard is one temperament — Equal. TerryTrilla Tuner offers 13, grouped by era, each with author and year. And the key: all temperaments are A-centered. A=440 Hz always stands at 0 ¢. Other notes deviate relative to it. The reference A never drifts.
Equal (12-TET)
Modern standard since the 19th century. All semitones equal. Used in all contemporary music.
Just & Pythagorean
Pure intonation. Just (Ptolemy, 5-limit) for a cappella and barbershop. Pythagorean for medieval monody and Gregorian chant.
Meantone — 3 variants
1/3-comma, 1/4-comma (Pietro Aaron, 1523 — Monteverdi era), 1/6-comma Silbermann (German organs 18th c.). For viols, early keyboards, Renaissance ensembles.
Well-tempered — 6 variants
Werckmeister III (1691), Kirnberger III (1779), Vallotti (1754), Young I (1799), Young II (1802), Kellner (1977). From early Bach to Schubert and Chopin — four centuries of keyboard tuning history.
After tuning — not emptiness
This is what no other tuner offers. Once the instrument is in tune, you stay on the same circle — Scale Circle. From there you can see which scales are built from the note you just tuned, build a chord and hear it, move to ear training, or open the guitar fretboard and see where the notes sit in any position.
The tuner is not the final destination. It is the entry point to a platform where music theory becomes visible.
UNDER THE HOOD
Technical specifications
YIN algorithm (de Cheveigné & Kawahara, 2002) · Detection range: 50 Hz – 2000 Hz (E1 – B6) · 13 temperaments · 33+ tunings · 10+ instruments · 6 languages · 6 color themes · Chrome 80+ · Firefox 76+ · Safari 14+ · Edge 80+
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
No. TerryTrilla Tuner works directly in your browser. Open the page, grant microphone access — and start tuning. No installation, no sign-up, no ads in basic mode.
In most tuners with historical temperaments, the reference A drifts when you switch temperament. In Terry Trilla Tuner, A=440 Hz always stands at 0 ¢. Other notes deviate relative to it. The reference A never moves — the way tuners for harpsichords and organs have always worked.
The life of the sound over the last 5 seconds — a smooth Catmull-Rom curve with three color zones (green ideal ±3 ¢, yellow close ±25 ¢, red far ±50 ¢), area-fill, and an indicator dot with the current value. Updates 10 times per second.
Select the tuning from the list of 33+ options. The tuner recalibrates automatically, and blue badges with string numbers appear on the circle around the relevant notes, with their star rays growing longer. You instantly see which strings changed.
In clean conditions, ±1–2 cents — sufficient for most situations. The built-in noise gate filters background sound; 5-frame stabilization eliminates random interference. For studio-grade accuracy, an external microphone or direct connection is recommended.
Yes. The tuner is optimized for mobile and works through your smartphone microphone. For better accuracy, an external microphone or direct connection is recommended — but the built-in mic is sufficient for everyday tuning.
Tune your instrument — then see what comes next
The tuner is at the top of this page. Scale Circle, scales, chords, and ear training are waiting on the same circle.