Online cimbalom tuner
The concert cimbalom is the large hammered dulcimer of Hungary, Romania (țambal mare), Moldova, Slovakia and Moravia: a trapezoidal box on four legs with a damper pedal, played with two beaters. V. József Schunda developed it in Budapest in the 1870s and the Bohák family refined it. It has about 125 strings grouped in unison courses and is tuned chromatically in equal temperament, so every note has to be exactly in tune.
Cimbalom: what the sources confirm
Documented landmarks of the concert cimbalom at A4 = 440 Hz in equal temperament. Which side and bridge each note sits on depends on your instrument.
| What | Note | Frequency (Hz) |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest standard course (1 wound string) | C2 | 65.41 |
| Last wound course (3 strings) | F♯3 | 185.00 |
| First plain steel course (4 strings) | G3 | 196.00 |
| Central double bridge | C4 – E5 | 261.63 – 659.26 |
| Top of the classic range | E6 | 1318.51 |
| Top on modern Bohák and Kosmosz instruments | G6 | 1567.98 |
| Recent extended builds | A1 · A6 | 55.00 · 1760.00 |
Richard Lee Moore — The Hungarian Cimbalom: History and Evolution (PhD, York University, 2018)
How to use it
- Keep the Free chromatic profile, set A4 if your ensemble needs it (440 Hz by default) and turn on the microphone.
- Press the pedal to lift the dampers, mute the other strings of the course and the neighbouring courses, then strike one string lightly.
- Compare note and octave with your instrument's map. To hear a target, pick it under Chosen note and press Hear target.
- Tune that string, then bring the other strings of the course to the same note one by one. Finally strike the whole course and remove any beating.
Help and explanations
No published course-by-course chart fits every instrument, so this page works as a chromatic tuner: you check each string against the note map of your own cimbalom. The classic range is C2 (65.41 Hz) to E6 (1318.51 Hz); modern Bohák-type instruments reach G6, and recent Hungarian builds go up to A6 (1760 Hz). A second profile lists these documented landmarks.
Wound basses, steel courses and divided strings
The bass strings, wound over a steel core, run up to F♯3 (185.00 Hz): C2 has a single string, C♯2 and D2 have two, and from D♯2 to F♯3 each course has three. Plain steel strings start at G3 (196.00 Hz) and come in courses of four. In the bass the notes alternate from one side to the other, forming two whole-tone scales a semitone apart.
From C4 upwards the bridges divide most courses (C♯4 and D♯4 keep a course of their own). On the central double bridge, from C4 to E5, one course sounds two notes, usually a perfect fifth apart (C4 and G4, D4 and A4, E4 and B4) and sometimes a tritone; from F5 up, triple and double bridges give two or three notes per course. Turning the pin moves all of them at once. Tune the main note and check the other: a small difference is normal, while a large one calls for adjusting the bridge, not the pin.
The range varies from one cimbalom to another
The sources document several ranges: C2–E6 as the classic standard; D2–E6 with D♯2 often missing (Hungarian Ethnographic Lexicon); C2–G6 without F♯6 on modern Bohák and Kosmosz instruments (Richard Moore, 2018); C2–A6 in the Hungarikum dossier; and A1–A6 on recent extended builds. Old Schunda instruments may have only E, D and C in the lowest bass, so do not look for C♯2 or D♯2 there.
Layouts differ too: the common Hungarian arrangement and the rare Jewish one swap sides below F. The Romanian țambal mare is the same concert instrument, often made in Hungary or Moldova, while the portable țambal mic uses regional folk tunings with no single standard. Do not apply American hammered dulcimer or Ukrainian tsymbaly maps to a Hungarian cimbalom. Playing with a tárogató? Agree on the reference A first: the 2026 Carpathian Basin tárogató competition sets 442–443 Hz with cimbalom accompaniment.
Tips
- Tune one string at a time: if you strike the whole course, a single string out of tune hides in the combined sound and the tuner shows an average.
- Wound basses have strong overtones, so check the octave on screen (C2, not C3) and bring the microphone close below 70 Hz. The dampers do not reach the treble strings in the central area: mute those by hand.
- Check the turning direction before you start: on most Hungarian instruments (Bohák, Kosmosz) tension rises anticlockwise, but on Toth cimbaloms from North America it rises clockwise. Make a second pass once every course is done.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a standard course-by-course cimbalom tuning?
Not one that fits every instrument. The cimbalom is chromatic in equal temperament, but the range, the number of courses and the side layout vary. Use your instrument's map with the chromatic mode.
What is the range of a concert cimbalom?
The classic standard is C2 (65.41 Hz) to E6 (1318.51 Hz). Modern Bohák-type instruments reach G6 (1567.98 Hz), recent Hungarian builds go to A6 (1760 Hz) and some experimental models go down to A1 (55 Hz).
How many strings does a cimbalom have?
About 125; sources give roughly 123 to 136. The lowest courses have one or two strings, the other wound basses three and the steel courses four.
Why does one string give two different notes?
From C4 upwards the bridges divide most courses: struck on one side it sounds, for example, C4, and on the other G4. Both come from the same strings, so tune the main note and then check the other one.