Guitar Lessons: How to Tune Your Guitar

I’ve just recently added a new tuning section to the site on tuning and to (celebrate?) this I’ve also recorded a YouTube Video on tuning your guitar.

NOTE: this is an updated video. Click here for the original video.

In this video I take you through two methods for tuning your guitar, both of which come under the heading “relative tuning” as you are tuning each string off of the other strings (almost “tuning the guitar to itself”). Both methods do require that you fix some kind of note as a reference point; You can either tune the low E string exactly to an E, or start from a rough guess.

If you would prefer to be more “exact” when you tune, you’ll need to tune each string against a set pitch. You’ll want to head over to the tuning section of the website where there are sound files of the exact pitches you should tune to.

As you’ll be tuning each string relative to this starting point it doesn’t matter how accurate it is (unless, of course, you’re trying to play with other instruments- in which case you should tune to them). Lots of metronomes will give you 440 Hertz, which is an A note. If you have something like this then you should tune your A string to 440 Hertz as a starting point.

Open String Tuning

The first method I take you through in the video can be called “open string tuning”, as you are tuning the open strings. Once you have the E string tuned, you can play the fifth fret and produce an A note (which is the same as the A string). This will allow you to tune the A string. Alternatively, if you have used an A as a reference point, just do the same thing in reverse- play the 5th fret E string again, but instead tune the E string to match the A string.

Next, tune the D string to the fifth fret on the A string and the G string to the fifth fret on the D string. Next you’ll need to play the fourth fret on the G string- this is a B note so that you can tune your B string. Lastly, you want to play the fifth fret on the B string and tune the E string to this note.

Your guitar should now be in tune…at least with itself- which means you can play chords and scales and it wont sound “out of tune”.

Tuning to a Note

The second method I go through in the video allows you to start from any note as your reference point. I use an E in the video. Starting with the low E string, the idea is to tune all the “E notes” on the guitar compared to this. Obviously each note will be in a different octave (i.e. the E on the second fret D string is going to be higher than the open low E string), but it’s still possible to tune them.

The “E notes” I use are: the E on the open low E string, tune it to (but an octave lower than) the second fret on the D string. Then tune that to the fifth fret on the B string (also an E, but an octave higher). Tune that note to the open high E string (just as in the previous method). You can then tune the open low E to the seventh fret A string and the ninth fret G string.

Again, your guitar should now be in tune to itself. The advantage of this method is that you can use any note as your starting point, provided you know where the notes are on the fretboard. There is, in fact, a pattern to the notes and octaves that you will probably discover, and this should eventually help you learn where all the notes are.

So, don’t forget to look at the tuning section, and if you would like to stay updated, please don’t forget to subscribe.

Rob,

Staying in tune

March 16, 2010 at 11:00 pm | Developing Your Ears, Equipment and Maintenance, How to | 2 comments

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