How To Tune A Guitar?
So I have a problem. I’m totally new to guitar, & the guitar came untuned. I thought it wouldn’t be much of a problem because tuning a violin is fairly simple, & I know how to do that. So I’ve tried tuning with my piano, & online tuner, & youtube videos but every time I hear a guitar on youtube it sounds different from what I had before.
The only way I found from a quick search was tuning by ear. You needed a string that was in tune to do this. It isn’t hard, I just need a string tuned correctly so i could do the rest!
How do I do this?!
Please help, without tuning I can’t practice & I want to practice as much as possible.
November 22nd, 2009 at 7:11 pm
Tuning by ear is not something most people can just pick up right away, go & buy a tuner at a local music store to get you started. Developing your ear will come with time. Here’s how to do it though…
first a list of what fret equals which open string (just in case):
E5 = A
A5 = D
D5 = G
G4 = B
B5 = e
first step is making sure you’re E string is in tune, that really requires just knowing what it’s supposed to sound like or help from a tuner (online or whatever else is handy). Then hit the E5 & open A at the same time & listen carefully. You’re trying to hear almost a wave like sound. If you hear them & there are 2 distinct ones, tighten or loosen the string until they blend together into the same wavy pattern. repeat this for all the other strings, A5 & D, D5 & G, so on so forth until you get to e. Just repeat the process to make sure nothing moved around & strum a chord because everybody I know does that after tuning anyway even if it doesn’t serve much purpose. I prefer the G chord since it uses all the strings, fun fact for you. One last thing always end by tightening the strings while tuning. So if the pitch on a string is a bit high, loosen it a bit more then needed, then tighten it to the correct pitch.
done, long i know, sorry
November 22nd, 2009 at 10:54 pm
You should just buy a guitar tuner from a local music store. The most common tuning is the Standard E tuning (EADGBe). The bottom of the guitar where the thinnest (highest) string is string #1 & that would be “e” the next one up is #2 & that would be tuned to a “B”…and so on from there. It’s basically backwards from the bottom of the guitar because you would think it was from the top down like the capital “E” would be string #1. This will help in reading tablature when you progress at guitar. Anyways when you get your tuner, tune the sixth string to E the fifth to A the fourth to D the third to G the second to B & the last one to e. Remember, it’s backwards, thinnest is the first string (e). Tuners are pretty convenient tools in tuning a guitar. It’s a lot easier than doing it by ear. As you learn more, then you’ll eventually be able to do it by ear. It’s pretty hard. But, if you want to do it by ear, then you go to the fifth fret & your finger on the sixth string, which is the thickest & pluck the fifth string below it to see if it sounds the same. Then go & put your finger on the fifth string on the fifth fret & pluck the fourth string below it to see if it sounds the same & so on. Try watching videos on youtube. Hopes this helps a lot!!!
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:49 am
if you can’t figure out which are right, i would just go out & buy a tuner.
November 23rd, 2009 at 6:49 am
on your e string the thick one hold down the 5ith fret & tune the scond string till it sounds exactly like the 1st string & repeat
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Hmmm buy a tuner maybe?
Or if you have a mic for you computer go download a copy of Guitar Pro from a torrent site, it has a built in tuner. I don’t know how to tune mine by ear so don’t feel bad lol
November 23rd, 2009 at 5:49 pm
You can always buy a tuner, this would help to see how close you get with tuning by ear too, First, you have to get the E string in tune in order to tune the rest of the strings, if you can memorize the sound of the E string, you’ll be golden. Once its tuned, hold down the A string on the 5th fret & keep tuning it until it sounds like the open E string. repeat the process all the way down til the G & hold that one on the 4th fret & tune the e string to it
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:11 pm
Okay.
The reason your guitar might sound different from YouTube videos is theirs may be tuned differently (drop D, capos, drop C, etc). Or maybe not.
Tune your lowest string to the same low E on your piano. Make sure they sound the same. Then hold down the fifth fret on the string you just tuned & play it with the next string up. They should sound the same, & if not, tune the next string up or down to match the E string’s pitch. Then hold down the fifth fret on the A string & play the next string up (the third one/D) open with it, & tune accordingly. Do the same for the D & G string. When your G string is in tune, hold down the FOURTH fret & play it with next string up open (B) & tune it accordingly. And when your B string is tuned, hold down the fifth fret again & tune your last string (e).
That’s what you do for standard tuning, anyway.