Lesson 3: Tuning
Knowing how to tune a guitar (making strings the right tension to create the right notes) is important to understanding the guitar.
There are many standard ways of tuning a guitar. For ease, most people (which I also recommend) use an electronic tuner, but that's not the only way... Here are common ways to tune a guitar:
Tuning
- Relative Tuning
- Natural Tuning
- Harmonic Tuning
Tuners
- Strobe (Stroboscopic) Tuner
- Microphone Tuner
- Vibration (Piezo) Tuner
Piezo (left) and Microphone (right) tuners
This may not be the most accurate, meaning the notes may not match another instrument, but the guitar will be "tuned to itself" and sound good played by itself
• Guitar strings already hold certain notes
• (starting from the lowest string) Compare proper frets to the next highest string
• Tune by ear - tighten or loosen strings to change string note until it sounds like it matches
• hear notes - usually on piano
• match guitar string notes by ear (see Relative Tuning) with piano]
• match the piano's E note with guitar's E string, A note with the A string, and etc.
This is pretty complicated, and most guitarists don't use (or even know how) to do it
• Very similar to relative tuning (see Relative Tuning above)
• Use harmonics instead of holding frets to compare notes
NOTE: A Chromatic Tuner is a tuner with a display that has a needle swiveling left and right... When the needle is pointing straight up the note (or string) being played is pitch perfect -- often tuners also have a green light or other indicator to show how close it is. Most tuners are chromatic.
This explains and reviews the Stroboscopic, Microphone, and Piezo tuners
Most tuners come with instructions but work basically the same, like the one in this video
