Is your Guitar out of tune? There are many ways to fix that. Here are four methods to tune your Guitar.
Use An Electronic Tuner
This is the easiest way to tune a Guitar. Electronic tuners come in various styles and qualities. Some use a microphone to hear the pitches, and some you can plug directly into (if you have an electric Guitar). They show the note with either a needle indicating how close to the pitch you are, or a simple 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 can tune any string to any note. Be cautious about buying a cheap tuner, as it may not pick up the sound of your Guitar accurately.
Use Another Instrument
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 computer. To tune with this method, you have to play the proper note for each string, then tune the string until it matches the pitch played.
Tune The Guitar To Itself
To use this method, it's assumed you're 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 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.
This means that if you want to tune your A string , you play the fifth fret on the low E string.
e--------
B--------
G--------
D--------
A---0----
E---5----
The fifth fret is an A note, and it should be exactly the same pitch as your open A 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 for G), it should sound exactly the same as playing the next string open (without fretting it).
Tune The Guitar To Itself (using harmonics)
You can also tune the Guitar to itself in a similar way to the above method by using harmonics instead of fretting the Guitar. The big advantage to this is that you can actually tune the Guitar while two strings are ringing from harmonics, and still hear the pitches. If you do the normal method above, you can only play both strings once, then you have to tune, stop, play them again, and so forth. This method lets you tune at the same time you hear the strings ringing. 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 with this method, you're using harmonics on the seventh and fifth frets.
The fifth harmonic (the harmonic on the fifth fret) on the low E string is a higher E, and the seventh harmonic on the A string is the same E. So the fifth harmonic on E and the seventh on A should be exactly the same. You can tune the strings to match.
e--------
B--------
G--------
D--------
A----
E----
Same with most of the rest of the strings: the fifth on A matches the seventh on D, the fifth on D matches the seventh on G, and the fifth on B matches the seventh on the high E. 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 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 your B note.
Additional Info
Those are the four methods to tune your Guitar. Here's some extra info you might find useful:
- 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 up, so the string won't go out of tune as easily. If you tune down to the note, playing the string will often pull the string farther out, tuning it down more. Tuning up makes sure your tension is tight enough that this won't happen.
- Drop D Tuning. To get your Guitar into drop D tuning, you simply need to tune your low E string to a n open D. This is dropping it a 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 match it with the open D string, since they should be the same note.
Conclusion
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 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 time for a new Guitar. At any rate, playing Guitar while it's in tune is polite for you, your Guitar, and anyone listening. Now that you know how to do it properly, you don't ever have to play an out of tune Guitar again!
Alan Marquez is a Guitarist with over 10 years of experience. He plays on a weekly basis and has taught Guitar for over five years. See his reviews on online Guitar lesson packages at http://LearnGuitar.ReviewsOfStuff.com/
Author:: Alan Marquez
Keywords:: tune Guitar,tune a Guitar,Guitar tuning,tune your Guitar,tune my Guitar,Guitar
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