How to tune a guitar

How to tune a guitar

How to tune a guitar is something that guitar players need to get to grips with if they are to play with backing tracks or other musicians. The skill of learning to tell when two musical notes are exactly the same is the one that must be learnt to tune well.

The basics

• If your guitar has tuners 6 in a line (like on a Fender Strat), turning the key clockwise will tighten the string, and anticlockwise will loosen it. If your guitar has tuners 3 a side, strings 1-3 will work the same way, but strings 4-6 will work the opposite way!

• Always tune UP . So if your string sounds too high, always first loosen it to lower the note first, and then tune back up to the right pitch. Never “tune down” by loosening a string to the correct pitch, it won\'t stay in tune this way.

using a guitar tuner

Using a tuner is certainly the easiest method for tuning a guitar. These are instruments you can buy.

• Chromatic tuners automatically identify and show you the name of the string you\'re trying to tune, and tell you whether or not it is in pitch (in tune). Just adjust the string until the tuner shows the correct string and pitch. They\'re more expensive than the second kind.

• Non-chromatic tuners have to be told which string you\'re tuning, by means of a switch or button. They\'re slightly harder to use and because you have to change them between strings, they take a little longer to get tuned with. But they are cheaper!

Tuning manually (i.e. without a tuner)

You need something to give you a note that you know to be the correct pitch of one of your strings, usually the E (1 st string). You can use another instrument you know to be in tune (e.g. a piano, keyboard, another guitar or any other instrument), a pitch pipe or tuning fork. Use this to play a note that is called the “comparison”.

Tune the E string to the E note. Play the comparison, let it ring, then play your E string, and let it ring. Listen to any difference, and tune the E string if necessary by adjusting the string – looser to lower the pitch, tighter to raise the pitch, and always remembering to tune up (so lower the pitch then come back up if your string sounds too high).

When you are confident you have the right pitch, tune the 2 nd string. All you do is to compare the 2nd string 5 th fret with the 1 st string. Tune the 2 nd string to match.

Simply repeat with the other strings, remembering which fret to use:

Comparison note (E) against 1 st string open

1 st string open (E) against 2 nd string, fret 5

2 nd string open (B) against 3 rd string, fret 4

3 rd string open (G) against 4 th string, fret 5

4 th string open (D) against 5 th string, fret 5

5 th string open (A) against 6 th string, fret 5

More guitar tips at http://www.learn-how-to-play-guitar.com