| Is your guitar out of tune? There are many | | | | and so forth. This method lets you tune at |
| ways to fix that. Here are four methods to | | | | the same time you hear the strings ringing. |
| tune your guitar. | | | | Harmonics are played by fretting lightly |
| | | | (barely touching) the space on the string |
| | | | immediately above the fret (the metal bar). |
| | | | It should be a bright ringing sound. To tune |
| Use An Electronic Tuner | | | | with this method, you're using harmonics on |
| | | | the seventh and fifth frets. |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| This is the easiest way to tune a guitar. | | | | |
| Electronic tuners come in various styles and | | | | The fifth harmonic (the harmonic on the |
| qualities. Some use a microphone to hear the | | | | fifth fret) on the low E string is a higher |
| pitches, and some you can plug directly into | | | | E, and the seventh harmonic on the A string |
| (if you have an electric guitar). They show | | | | is the same E. So the fifth harmonic on E |
| the note with either a needle indicating how | | | | and the seventh on A should be exactly the |
| close to the pitch you are, or a simple | | | | same. You can tune the strings to match. |
| digital readout. It can be with a digital | | | | |
| meter, or it can be a set of lights with | | | | |
| different colors to indicate when you're | | | | |
| tuned to the proper note. The best tuners | | | | e-------- |
| can tune any string to any note. Be cautious | | | | |
| about buying a cheap tuner, as it may not | | | | B-------- |
| pick up the sound of your guitar accurately. | | | | |
| | | | G-------- |
| | | | |
| | | | D-------- |
| Use Another Instrument | | | | |
| | | | A---- |
| | | | |
| | | | E---- |
| This method means you're tuning by ear to | | | | |
| another instrument that can play the notes | | | | |
| for you. This can be another guitar, a | | | | |
| piano, a handheld pitch pipe, or even your | | | | Same with most of the rest of the strings: |
| computer. To tune with this method, you have | | | | the fifth on A matches the seventh on D, the |
| to play the proper note for each string, then | | | | fifth on D matches the seventh on G, and the |
| tune the string until it matches the pitch | | | | fifth on B matches the seventh on the high E. |
| played. | | | | The exception is again the G and B strings. |
| | | | The fifth harmonic on G is G, but the fifth |
| | | | on B is an F#. There are different ways to |
| | | | handle this - you can tune the fifth harmonic |
| Tune The Guitar To Itself | | | | on the low E string to the open B string |
| | | | (they're the same pitch). You can also just |
| | | | tune the B with the "normal" method, by |
| | | | playing the fourth fret normally on G to get |
| To use this method, it's assumed you're | | | | your B note. |
| doing standard tuning, and you're trying to | | | | |
| tune your strings to EADGBE (from low to | | | | |
| high). If you use this method, it's a good | | | | |
| idea to have at least one of the strings in | | | | Additional Info |
| proper tune, although it's not necessary. If | | | | |
| you don't have another instrument or an | | | | |
| electronic tuner, you can tune your guitar by | | | | |
| playing the right note for the next string. | | | | Those are the four methods to tune your |
| | | | guitar. Here's some extra info you might |
| | | | find useful: |
| | | | |
| This means that if you want to tune your A | | | | |
| string, you play the fifth fret on the low E | | | | |
| string. | | | | Make sure to tune UP into your pitches. |
| | | | Drop the note low, then tune up into it. The |
| | | | reason you want to do this is because it |
| | | | keeps the tension on the string when you tune |
| e-------- | | | | up, so the string won't go out of tune as |
| | | | easily. If you tune down to the note, |
| B-------- | | | | playing the string will often pull the string |
| | | | farther out, tuning it down more. Tuning up |
| G-------- | | | | makes sure your tension is tight enough that |
| | | | this won't happen. |
| D-------- | | | | |
| | | | Drop D Tuning. To get your guitar into drop |
| A---0---- | | | | D tuning, you simply need to tune your low E |
| | | | string to an open D. This is dropping it a |
| E---5---- | | | | full step. To tune it relative to the A |
| | | | string, you should match the seventh fret |
| | | | with the open A string, instead of the fifth |
| | | | fret. You can also play the twelfth fret and |
| The fifth fret is an A note, and it should | | | | match it with the open D string, since they |
| be exactly the same pitch as your open A | | | | should be the same note. |
| string. You do this for every other string. | | | | |
| The fifth fret of the A string is a D, the | | | | |
| fifth fret of the D string is a G, the fourth | | | | |
| fret of the G string is a B, and the fifth | | | | |
| fret of the B string is an E. So when you | | | | |
| play the fifth fret of every string (except | | | | Conclusion |
| for G), it should sound exactly the same as | | | | |
| playing the next string open (without | | | | |
| fretting it). | | | | |
| | | | Keeping your guitar in pitch is a good idea |
| | | | to do every time you play. Make sure you |
| | | | keep good fresh strings on for the best |
| Tune The Guitar To Itself (using harmonics) | | | | results. If your guitar goes out of tune |
| | | | after playing it once, even after tuning it - |
| | | | it's probably time for new strings. If it |
| | | | happens even with new strings - it might be |
| You can also tune the guitar to itself in a | | | | time for a new guitar. At any rate, playing |
| similar way to the above method by using | | | | guitar while it's in tune is polite for you, |
| harmonics instead of fretting the guitar. | | | | your guitar, and anyone listening. Now that |
| The big advantage to this is that you can | | | | you know how to do it properly, you don't |
| actually tune the guitar while two strings | | | | ever have to play an out of tune guitar |
| are ringing from harmonics, and still hear | | | | again!Alan Marquez is a guitarist with over |
| the pitches. If you do the "normal" method | | | | 10 years of experience. He plays on a weekly |
| above, you can only play both strings once, | | | | basis and has taught guitar for over five |
| then you have to tune, stop, play them again, | | | | years. |