Three strings, two notes
A prima balalaika has three strings and only two pitches: two strings at E4 (329.63 Hz) and one at A4 (440.00 Hz, concert A itself). The interval between them is a perfect fourth, and that is the whole tuning.
Two full strings on the identical note, with nothing between them, is close to unique among commonly played instruments. Mandolins and twelve-strings double their notes too, but they do it in courses— pairs sitting together, struck as one. A balalaika’s two E strings are separate strings with separate pegs, played individually as well as together.
The purpose is volume and body under strumming. The doubled E fills out the sound of the rapid strum that defines the instrument, while the A on top carries the melody. It is a design decision, not a quirk — but it does mean the hardest part of tuning a balalaika is something a tuner cannot do for you.
The first tab plays the same E twice, because that is genuinely what the instrument has. The second is the fourth between the doubled note and the melody string.
The unison is the whole job
Setting two strings to E4 with a tuner takes about fifteen seconds. Making them agree takes longer, and it is the difference between a balalaika that rings and one that sounds sour.
A tuner’s tolerance is a few cents wide. Two strings sitting a few cents apart will both read centred and still produce an audible pulse when played together — the beating between them. On a guitar a discrepancy that size hides inside a six-note chord. On a balalaika there is nothing to hide behind: the two strings are the same note, and any disagreement is the most audible thing in the room.
- Set both E strings with the dial first, one at a time, damping the other with a fingertip so the detector hears one string.
- Then play them together and listen for the pulse. A slow wobble means you are close; a fast one means you are not.
- Turn one peg slowly and note which direction slows the beating. If it speeds up, go the other way.
- Stop when the wavering disappears and the two strings sound like one thicker string. That is the finish line, and the needle has no opinion about it.
Which string is which
Sources number balalaika strings in both directions — some make the A the first string, others the third — so an instruction like “tune the third string” is ambiguous. The pitches are not:
| String | Note | Frequency | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| The melody string | A4 | 440.00 Hz | Carries the tune; the highest pitch |
| Both other strings | E4 | 329.63 Hz | Doubled for volume and body under the strum |
A4 is concert A itself, which makes it the easiest note on the instrument to verify against anything else — a piano, another tuner, a phone app that only knows one note.
What the needle can and cannot settle
For an instrument with two pitches, a tuner does remarkably little of the work. It puts both E strings in the right neighbourhood and confirms the A — useful, quick, and about a third of the job.
The rest is the unison, and unisons are judged by beating rather than by numbers. This is worth internalising because it generalises: a needle measures one string against an abstract standard, while your ear measures two strings against each other, and the second question is the one that decides whether an instrument sounds good. On a balalaika those two questions are unusually far apart. Our guide to cents explains how small a difference the ear can hear between two simultaneous notes. For instruments with the same problem in courses, see the mandolin and the 12-string guitar.
Frequently asked questions
Why are two of the three strings tuned to the same note?
Because the balalaika is built around strumming rather than picking single lines. A prima has two strings at E4 and one at A4, and the doubled E gives the instrument a fuller, louder sound under the rapid strumming that defines the style, while the A on top carries melody. It is the same idea as a doubled course on a mandolin, except that these two strings are not a course — they sit apart, are played individually as well as together, and each has its own tuning peg. Three strings, two notes, entirely on purpose.
Which string is the first — the A or one of the Es?
It depends on the source, so name notes rather than positions. Some references number from the highest-pitched string, which makes the A first; others count from the other side and put the A third. Both describe the same instrument. What is never ambiguous is the pitch: the melody string is A4 at 440 Hz — concert A itself — and the other two are both E4 at 329.63 Hz. If an instruction says “tune the third string” and you cannot tell which is meant, work from those numbers.
My two E strings sound rough even though both read centred. What now?
Trust your ears and keep adjusting. A tuner’s tolerance is a few cents wide, and two strings a few cents apart will both read centred while producing an audible pulse — that pulse is the beating between them. On most instruments a small amount hides inside a chord; on a balalaika there is nothing to hide behind, because the two strings are the same note with no third voice between them. Play the pair together and turn one peg slowly until the wavering slows down and stops. That, not the needle, is when the unison is finished.
Do the larger balalaikas use the same tuning?
No, and this preset covers the prima only. The balalaika is a family — prima, secunda, alto, bass and contrabass — and the larger members are tuned differently, generally in fourths and fifths rather than repeating the prima’s doubled-note arrangement. If you are tuning something noticeably bigger than a prima, check what the instrument is before applying E–E–A to it. The dial itself is chromatic, so it will read any of them correctly once you know what you are aiming for.
What strings should a prima have?
Traditionally nylon for the two E strings and steel for the A, though all-nylon and other combinations are common on modern instruments. What matters for tuning is that the two E strings should be the same material and gauge as each other — if one is nylon and the other steel, they will respond differently to temperature and to playing, so a unison you set carefully in the morning will have drifted apart by the evening. Matching the pair is worth more than which material you choose.