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Tuning your Guitar

Tuning your Guitar

HOW   |   OTHER TUNING AIDS   |   ACOUSTIC GUITAR TUNERS   |   ACOUSTIC GUITAR STRINGS


Before you can play anything you need to have a tuned Guitar.

The standard tuning for a guitar is:

STRING NOTE
6th string(the fat one)
E
5th string
A
4th string
D
3rd string
G
2nd string
B
1st string(the thin one)
e


I suggest buying a tuner that does all the work for you. A good tuner can go
for 10-50 bucks at any guitar retailer. But if you’re too lazy or too poor
to get one, there are alternatives.

1. First thing you need to do is get one string in
tune(preferably E).

2. Then all you’ve got to do is this:

-Put your finger on the 5th fret on the E string.
That should match
the tone on the open A string. Turn the A tuning key until they
match.
-Put your finger on the 5th fret on the A string.
That should
match
the tone on the open D string. Turn the D tuning key until they
match.
-Put your finger on the 5th fret on the D string.
That should
match
the tone on the open G string. Turn the G tuning key until they
match.
-Put your finger on the 4th fret on the G string.
That should
match
the tone on the open B string. Turn the B tuning key until they
match.
-Put your finger on the 5th fret on the B string.
That should
match
the tone on the open e string. Turn the e tuning key until they
match.

Maybe not so easy for some of us. Be Patient, it
just takes a little time before our ears learn the tones and their relations to each other.

Alternate Tunings
– Dropped D tuning:

All the strings except the low E (fat string) have the same tuning.
You tune the low E DOWN to a low D. To do this you just tune down until
the tone matches the tone of the high D string.(of course these tones are
an “octave” apart, which means they’re both D’s, but one’s higher than the
other.)



e|----------------------------------------------------------------|
B|----------------------------------------------------------------|
G|----------------------------------------------------------------|
D|-----------0----------------------------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------------------------------------|
D|-------0--------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| |
|___|___ These two notes will share the same tone. The low D
will be an octave below the high D.


Staying in tune consists of a few key elements:

  1. Properly stretched strings–basically this means that when putting on a new

    set of strings, you need to tug on the strings to stretch them out. you cannot simply tune

    the new set up to pitch and expect it to hold–you have to yank on the string and then

    keep retuning until it no longer goes flat after you yank. i prefer to use an electronic

    tuner for this–not because my ears stink, but because more often than not i find myself

    doing the stretching in a very noisy environment, such as a club or during soundcheck when

    the drummer is whacking the hell out of his snare drum.

  2. A well-cut nut–this means a nut that is just perfect for the string gauge

    that you use. if it’s too tight, when you use the tuner, the string will get pinched in

    the nut, and then when you bend or play, this pinching will give, causing the string to go

    flat.

  3. Stable tuners–this is not as big of a deal, since most tuners–even the

    really bad ones don’t slip.

  4. Proper tuning technique–this sounds really STUPID, but it’s EXTREMELY

    important. when you tune, always tune in the SHARP direction. let me give an example:

    suppose you are trying to tune the fifth string to A. currently the string is flat. In

    order to tune properly you need to turn the tuning gear until you hit A. If you go SHARP,

    the WRONG thing to do is to turn the gear down until you hit A. The reason this is

    incorrect is because there is still a minute amount of slack in the tuner–no matter how

    good the tuner is, there is ALWAYS some slack.

    for those of you who would doubt this, try overshooting your target note and then

    tuning DOWN toward the note. once you hit the note, take your finger and give the string a

    big yank. now check your tuning again–i GUARANTEE it’s going to be flat, if only a few

    cents or so.

    If you go too far sharp, the PROPER way to tune is to turn the gear so that the

    resulting note is DELIBERATELY flat. In other words, going back to our example, if you

    overshoot your A note, then turn the tuner so you are FLATTER than A. now give the string

    a tug as you would do when you are stretching. the slack in the tuner will give. now tune

    towards the A, being careful not to overshoot. if you overshoot, repeat the process. The

    key is to tune in the SHARP direction only!

If you fail to observe any of these points above, you’re going to be in a mess, because

stable tuning requires all of the above elements to be in place. Likely you’re going to

find that your tuning problem is the result of a combination of the above factors–after

following all of the above guidelines, I usually find that even the worst and cheapest

guitars stay in tune just fine.


How do I tune my guitar?

Standard tuning for a guitar is from low to high (thickest to thinnest string): E-A-D-G-B-E.

You can tune your guitar a number of different ways. Probably the fastest and easiest is to purchase one of the many
electronic tuners available. These cost between $15 and $40 for an inexpensive model. Although not necessary,
for a little more money you can get a chromatic tuner, which will allow you to tune to any note in the
chromatic scale which is useful if you get into alternate tuning later. Most of these tuner come with built in
mics, as well as a standard guitar cable jack so that you can tune an electric or acoustic. Just turn the tuner
on, strum the 6th string, and continue to periodically strum while adjusting the tuner knob until the string
is tuned properly. Then move onto the next string. Follow the directions with the tuner.


Here’s a tip from the Play It Again Sam Newsletter, Nov 3, 1998

Ever been stuck without an electronic tuner, pitchpipe, or any
method of getting your instrument in tune, when you’d do just about anything to get a reference tone? No problem, just pick up the phone, and listen to the dialtone! It’s very close to an “F” note, anywhere in the United States, and maybe in some other countries, too. Guitar players can use this “F” note to tune the first string at the first fret, then just tune the rest of your guitar to that string. Call it a Teletuner!

High E Tip replace your “g” string with a high “e” and then tune it up to “g”. This is a variation of Nashville tuning which uses all octave strings for the wound strings, i.e. a twelve string tuning without the bass strings. This set-up produces a novel rhythm guitar sound with or without a second normal rhythm guitar

from Guitar Newsletter #15

The Kink in the Tuning – article by Kirk Lorange, from Guitar Newsletter #12

“I had a friend in England who decided one day to tune all his strings to the fifth fret of the next one down, in other words E A D G C F. He did this to see if it would make soloing easier, which of course it did… Then he started to realize his folly: he had robbed himself of the richness of possibilities that normal tuning offers…”



Other Tuning Aids





Best Guitar Tuner
A discussion on the guitasite forum about finding the best guiter tuner for under $50


Crash course in Drop D slide guitar
“I then tried a drop D tuning, but only tuning the 6th string down: D A D G B E. I settled on this tuning, and now I always
play in this tuning, whether I’m playing slide or not, and no matter what key I’m in. This gives me the best of both worlds:
The bass strings ( D A D ) wind up being 2 tonics and a V. Neither minor nor major. I can grab those three strings with the
slide and I have a nice low, thick open-tuned sound, which I can play against either minor or major chords”

Digital guitar tuner design guide.

Dansm’s Acoustic Guitar Basics: Tuning

Tuning may be the most important thing for a beginning guitarist to learn. If you aren’t in tune, you will never sound
good, no matter how incredible a player you are. These pages are designed to teach you how to tune your guitar.
Follow them step-by-step and you will be able to tune quickly and easily, without the need for an expensive
electronic tuner.

The Internet Guitar Tuner Tune your guitar, quick, accurately and free here! Java Applet that allows you to tune up and go! plus a growing selection of quality quitar links

Because the chromatic scale has twelve notes and each fret on the guitar moves up one
half-step, every note appears on all six strings somewhere before the twelfth fret. In other
words, there is an ‘E’ on every string, an ‘A’ on every string, a ‘Gb’ on every string, etc.

Really neat tuning method from the Guild of American Luthiers – many guitarists are frustrated because of their attempts to tune the guitar to pure chords (free of beats). These particular
players have very sensitive ears that prefer pure intervals and reject the mandatory equal temperament. They tune their guitar
beautifully pure on one chord only to discover that the next chord form is unacceptable. In too many instances they assume that
there must be a flaw in the workmanship on the fingerboard. Their problem is not in the construction of the guitar. It is one of
pure tuning verses equal temperament.

How to correctly tune your Guitar

There are several ways to tune a guitar. One is to use a set of pipes for all six strings. I do not recommend this since a single pipe can have the same result, and moreover alternate tunings are not covered by the 6pipes-set. The second way is to use a single pipe as already mentioned. Tuning with harmonics—other than the 1st harmonic on the 12 fret which is an octave above the open string—are not correct equal-tempered tunings. The frequencies of natural harmonics (notes as found in the nature) which are based on the length of vibrating strings (1/2, 2/3, 3/4, …) do not match the frequencies of the artificial equal-tempered tuning which is used in the western music.

A tuning is called octave based tuning when we are comparing unisons or octave intervals while tuning all the strings. Every
octave based tuning tunes a guitar correctly, if it is correctly done.

You may play like Eric Clapton or Steve Howe, but if your guitar is out of tune you’ll sound like fingernails on a blackboard. Learn how to tune your guitar. I BEG you!!!!

Guitar Tuning By Harmonics by Jim Campbell

The usual method of tuning a guitar involves tuning each high string by matching the pitch played at the fifth or forth fret of the next lower string. Another method uses harmonics produced between the fifth fret of the lower string and the seventh fret of the next higher. I have seen this method used by tuning the harmonics until the beats disappear, but I found when I tried to do this, the tuning never came out quite right. It turns out, that as a consequence of the equal tempered scale, these harmonics must be mistuned very slightly for this to work out. I have found that I can get a suitable tuning by this method, but that the beat rates required are not always the same

Guitar FAQs – “I am having problems tuning my guitar that has a floyd on it. I have managed to get it tuned, but the bridge is not level with the surface of the guitar, it has therefore lowered my string height”. You are not alone with Floyd Rose tuning problems. I believe this is one of the greatest innovations for electric guitar in the last
20 years. When they are set-up properly, they are a phenomenal tool. This system is incredibly sensitive to changes in string tension thus using the same gauge/brand of strings will save you a lot of headaches each time you change them.

Teaching the Folk Guitar Because the 6th string is the largest string on the guitar
it will not go out of tune as easily as the others. We
can, therefore, “assume “that it is in tune.
When you are playing by yourself the 6th string does
not have to be exactly in tune with any other instrument.
However, when we play with other musicians we must
tune our E string with an E note of another instrument.

Guitarology: Tuning the Guitar

If you have an electronic tuner, your ear won’t be
involved. If you have a piano, harmonica or a pitch pipe and have an idea of where some of the notes are, you
can tune your guitar by matching the pitch of each string to the pitch of the other instrument. Or, you can tune
your guitar strings in relation to one of the strings on your guitar


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