Turn on the tambura drone, tune your violin to it, and play every swara — all from one quiet, steady home note.
1
Choose your Sa (shruti)
First, pick the pitch your Sa will sit at. Slide it, or tap a common shruti. This is the home note everything else is tuned to.
240 Hz
around B below middle C
lowerhigher
💡The drone holds Sa – Pa – Sa together, just like a real tambura. Leave it playing softly in the background for your whole practice — your ear slowly learns to rest on Sa.
2
Tune your violin strings
A Carnatic violin is tuned Sa – Pa – Sa – Pa from the thickest string to the thinnest. Tap a string to hear its reference tone, then turn the peg until your string matches.
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Bow one long, steady note…
🎯The mic check works best on the live academy website (it needs a secure https page). Bow one string slowly and steadily — the needle shows whether you are a little low (↓) or high (↑).
3
Play the swaras
With your Sa set, tap any swara to hear it on the violin voice — a perfect pitch to copy on your own instrument.
🎶Try it with the drone on: play Sa, then Pa, then Sa again, and hear how each swara settles against the home note.