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G3 up by a perfect fifth is D4, D4 up by P5 is A5!! A5 up by P5 is E5. It's all good except that the A string is tuned to A4, which is 440Hz. Why should not be tuned to A5?! Why is the tuning G3, D4, A4 and E5 instead of G3, D4, A5 and E5?

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    A5 is higher than E5. The lowest letter name for any octave number is C, so the perfect fifth above D4 is an A within the same octave number.
    – Pat Muchmore
    Commented Dec 8, 2015 at 11:42
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    Thanks, Pat, Aaron, User25119, Todd and Phil. . Needless to say, I am still to attend a class with a teacher. Curiosity got the better of me. I have been reading the notes are arranged from A to G and assumed the octave number changes at the G/A boundary. My mistake. Thanks.
    – Ananth Padmanabhan
    Commented Dec 9, 2015 at 4:29
  • Please don't add "thank you" as an answer. Instead, vote up the answers that you find helpful. - From Review
    – Tim H
    Commented Dec 9, 2015 at 8:02
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    Please "accept" one of the answers by clicking on the tick mark below the answer. That's equivalent to a "thank you". And you're always welcome to ask more (constructive) questions on StackExchange :-)
    – garyF
    Commented Dec 9, 2015 at 8:16

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If the comment and existing answer still don't make it clear, maybe a picture: enter image description here

As user25119 wrote, the octave numbers change when you go from B to C. So that means the D and the A highlighted below should have the same octave number.

  • The octave starting with middle C has octave number 4, so the octave from middle C up to the B above middle C is C4 D4 E4 F4 G4 A4 B4.
  • The octave above that, of course, is octave number 5, which is why the high E on the violin is E5.

Image Source

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    I love that picture. How to tune a Violin using a piano: Twiddle the knobs until they sound completely wrong. Weep. Smash the violin until the bottom half falls off. Then, with a peculiar smile, take some green string and tie the pegs to the nearest piano and walk slowly away. There, I tuned the violin, and it's with the piano.
    – Phil H
    Commented Dec 8, 2015 at 18:07
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D4 up by a perfect fifth is A4. The octave number in the scientific note naming system only advances when crossing the B/C boundary, so the C major scale notes available on the violin (notes on open strings marked) are

G3(open) A3 B3 C4 D4(open) E4 F4 G4 A4(open) B4 C5 D5 E5(open) F5 ...

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