The most typical and traditional tuning of the five-string small kantele is just intonation arrived at via five-limit tuning, often in Dmajor or Dminor. This occurs especially if a kantele is played as a solo instrument or as a part of a folk music ensemble. The major triad is then formed by D1–F1–A1. In modern variants of small kantele, there are often semitone levers for some strings. The most typical lever for a five-string kantele is a switch between F1 and F1, which allows most folk music to be played without retuning. Larger versions of the small kantele often have additional semitone levers, allowing a more varied selection of music to be played without retuning.