Guitar Tuning Is like Radio Tuning. Important!

What guitar tuning to use.

Tuning with an electronic tuner.

Tuning to another guitar.

Tuning your guitar to itself.

Tune your guitar online.

Some golden tips before you start stretching your strings.
There is more than one method to tune a guitar but before I explain them to you it's good to know, it can go wrong!
So especially if guitar tuning is new to you, you should pay attention. Ask an experienced guitar player to help you if needed.

New strings
Be patient with new strings. They can make strange sounds at first and will lose their pitch very fast. You have to tune them again and again but be gently! New strings are vulnerable. They will break if pulled too tight, too quickly.
When a new string is put on the guitar, it needs to be worked in. Hold it with the thumb and first finger of your right hand and pull it away from the fretboard, just a little. This will help it stretch and keep its pitch.

Silence and good acoustics.
If you can't hear your string clearly than why bother tuning it. A tip you could have come up with yourself, never the less very important. Find a room that is very quiet with good acoustics. Some say the bathroom is ideal....

Temperature & tuning
Temperature has a shrinking or stretching affect on strings. As a result the strings will lose their pitch. Moving between places with a different temperature will affect the way your strings behave. Keep this in mind when tuning or playing!

Pay attention
With the right tools guitar tuning really isn't that hard to learn, however you should stay focused for there are several guitar tunings possible. Make sure that you are always tuning the correct pitch for every string or you may end up quite confused.

What guitar tuning to use.
The most common guitar tuning is 'Standard Open E' tuning. We'll use this one to learn you how to tune your guitar. A short list wit other possibilities:

• Standard 6 string in Eb: Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Bb, Eb.
• Drop D: DADGBE
• DADGAD
• Open G: DGDGBD
• Several for the 7 string guitar.
• For the 12 string guitar.
• For the Bass guitar.
• ...

The tuning diagram below shows you the standard guitar tuning for a six string guitar. Also called the open E tuning.

Notes on the open strings:

     	E|--------- 1 (Thinnest string)
  	B|--------- 2
  	G|--------- 3
  	D|--------- 4
  	A|--------- 5
  	E|--------- 6 (Thickest string)
    Open Note     String

Explanation: Plucking the thickest string without fretting produces an E note. Pluck the fifth string and you ought to hear an A note. Etc... But how would you know how an E note sounds....

Getting started with guitar tuning.
Finally we're getting there. You have your guitar. You know what guitar tuning to go for but how do you know what an E note sounds like? Exactly!
Let's talk about three different methods to tune your guitar.

1. Tuning with an electronic tuner.



2. Tuning to another guitar.



3. Tuning your guitar to itself.

IMPORTANT: I strongly recommend that you buy an electronic tuner first and learn to tune by ear later. This way your guitar will always be tuned properly.

Tuning with an electronic tuner.
An electronic tuner will not only make it a lot easier for you to get your strings in the right pitch but it's also the most effective way to do so. The electronics actually measure the sound wave frequency of your strings. Try to beat that by ear!

An analog or digital needle or a set of lights indicates whether the string pitch is above or below the desired pitch. This can be done for every string individually.

Put the tuner device next to your acoustic guitar. Pluck the thickest string and look at the tuner. According to the tuning diagram above it should sound like an 'E'. Mine shows a needle flashing on the 'E' and a green light if correctly pitched. If not, adjust the pitch turning the pegs and pluck the string again.

Use the same procedure for your electric guitar just remember to plug your guitar lead into the input jack of your tuner. If your tuner isn't reacting turn up the volume!

Don't forget: Use good/proper batteries. Low power = false or no readings. Duh!

Tuning to another guitar.
For this method you need another guitar (and a friend to play it). Very straight forward method: Your friend plucks a string on his guitar and you tune the same string ON YOUR GUITAR by what you hear.

Important detail!!! Make sure your friend's guitar is properly tuned.

Repeat this for all strings.

Tuning your guitar to itself.
This method is tricky! It's the ideal way to wreck your guitar's sound if you start doing this without the backup of method 1 or 2 as described above.

With this method you tune each string to another string on your guitar. So if the string you start with (6th)isn't properly tuned none of them will be at the end.

To get this first string properly 'E' tuned you could use an electronic tuner or another guitar (method 1 or 2) but why not tune them all with the tuner than???
No no, you'll have to develop a good 'guitar ear' to pull this off. And tune string six until you 'think' or 'feel' the pith is OK. So.....

1. String 6 is 'E' tuned.



2. Tune string 5 to string 6: put one finger on fret 5 of the sixth string and keep it there. Pluck string 6 and than immediately string 5 but NOT TOGETHER in one strum. Separately! 5 should have the same pitch as 6. If not tune it and repeat the above.
   Fret 5 on string 6 = open string 5 = 'A'



3. Tune string 4 to string 5: put one finger on fret 5 of the fifth string and keep it there. Now tune 4 to 5 as you did 5 to six.
   Fret 5 on string 5 = open string 4 = 'D'



4. Tune string 3 to string 4: put one finger on fret 5 of the fourth string and keep it there. Now tune 3 to 4 as you did 4 to 5.
   Fret 5 on string 4 = open string 3 = 'G'



5. Tune string 2 to string 3: put one finger on fret 4 of the third string and keep it there. Now tune 2 to 3 as you did the rest.
   Fret 4 on string 3 = open string 2 = 'B'



6. Tune string 1 to string 2: put one finger on fret 5 of the second string and keep it there. Now tune 1 to 2.
   Fret 5 on string 2 = open string 1 = 'E'

So now you know the basics. There's certainly more to be said about guitar tuning but hey this is EASY-guitar-site.com!

Have questions? Comments? Feel free to use the feedback page.