How to Tune your Guitar
You want your guitar to sound good to enjoy playing it. So it must be periodically tuned. It is not necessary to pay someone to tune your guitar; you simply need to learn how. Once you know how, it's easy! You will now learn the basics of how to tune your guitar like a pro.
Learning by Example
Try watching someone else tune a guitar before trying it on your own guitar. (There are videos on the Internet showing how this is done.) Even though we will explain how to tune a guitar, watching someone do it will give you a clearer picture of how it's done.
What Does Guitar Tuning Mean?
Guitar tuning means adjusting the pitch on each and every string. Your guitar strings have to play the correct notes, or you won't like what you hear when you play it.
Each tuning peg on the headstock has to be tightened or loosened until the right pitch is found. When you tighten a peg, the pitch of a string will increase. When you loosen the peg, the pitch on that string is lowered.
Although this can be a tedious and time-consuming activity, it will be very rewarding. If you fine-tune regularly, the process will be much easier each time.
Identifying the Strings and Frets
Most guitars have six strings. They are all of different thicknesses and cover a different range of notes.
The strings are as follows: low E, A, D, G, B, and high E. The interval (distance) between them is called a perfect 4th (a distance of 5 frets) except for the B string, which is a major 3rd (a distance of 4 frets)away from the G.
The low E is thickest, and the high E is thinnest. Note: The high E and B strings differ from the other strings in that they are a single string of silver, not wrapped with copper.
You will also need to identify the metal strips that divide the guitar into sections from top to bottom; the space between each strip is called a fret. Placing a finger on a fret determines the note being played by that string.
Types of Tuning
There are two types of tuning. One involves a tuner, and this method is called absolute tuning or perfect tuning. The other method involves adjusting each string in comparison to the one next to it; this method is called relative tuning.
Absolute Tuning or Perfect Tuning
For perfect tuning, you can get an electronic tuner from any local music store (or online music store) or compare the notes to a piano, keyboard, organ, or other instrument that has a fixed pitch.
There are even new Gibson Robot guitars that perform tuning automatically at the press of a button! Regardless of how you achieve it, perfect tuning is the best kind of tuning.
Absolute tuning is easy. Simply play the note, and the tuner detects it and tells whether it is sharp or flat. If you are tuning to a fixed-pitched instrument, play the note you need on the other instrument loud enough to compare its pitch to the one you are tuning on your guitar. If another musician is present, ask him or her to play the appropriate pitch (low E, A, D, G, B, or high E) one at a time. Turn the tuning peg for the given string until it matches.
Relative Tuning
If you do not have access to an electronic tuner or an instrument with a fixed pitch, you can choose relative tuning. This is done by making each note match its lower-pitched neighboring note.
To begin, place a finger on the fifth fret of the low E string. Play the note. Next, play the A string without holding any fret down (which is called playing it "open"). If the two do not sound exactly the same, adjust the tuning peg for the open A string until it sounds like the fretted low E string. When they are perfectly in tune with each other, you should hear no wavering; the sound is completely pure.
Repeat this process to tune the A, D, and G strings.
When you reach the B string (second thinnest), put your finger on the fourth fret of the third G string and adjust the B string played open. Go back to the previous method to tune the high E; press the fifth fret on the B string to tune the high E string.
