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3 Ways to Tune Your Guitar Appropriately

For guitar to produce the best music, it needs tuning. Well, there are several ways of tuning your guitar that can ensure it produces the best tunes at all times. In the section below, we shall highlight three ways a beginner or hobby guitarist can tune their guitar by ear.

But first, it is important to note that professionals don’t tune guitars by ear. They use electronic tuners or hire someone to do the tuning for them. The e-tuners are bought from music stores at a reasonable fee. On the other hand, tuning by ear is recommended for beginners because it helps them train their ears in the process. Tuning by ear can be approached in three ways.

Tuning the guitar by ear

1. Relative tuning

This is the easiest way and involved tuning each string to the string preceding it. To tune relative way, you start with fretting A note on low E string at fifth fret then adjusting the tuning till the two notes pitch match. The procedure is repeated with string D and fretting D note on fifth fret of A string while tuning open D string to same pitch and same for string G. For string B though, tuning of the string is done on the B note on G string and on fourth fret. For E string, tuning is done on L note located on B string and fifth fret.

Care should be taken to detune string downwards in pitch and thereafter tuning up the correct pitch. Also one needs to listen for wobble in sound while tuning.

2. Harmonic tuning

This method is ideal for intermediate or advanced players. It is more accurate. Here the guitar is tuned mainly on natural harmonics found on fifth and seventh frets of each string. It is assumed that low E string is tuned and so a natural harmonic above fifth fret. Then, harmonic sound is sought on the seventh fret on the A string and tuned up to harmonic of E string. The same process is repeated for strings D and G tuning on frets five and seven respectively.

Again, tuning string B is different here in that a harmonic sound at seventh fret in low E string is used to tune string B to its pitch. As for the high E string, harmonic sound at fifth fret and string B is used with seventh fret on E string so that these two pitches match.

The word of caution on harmonic tuning is that the strings are touched lightly though directly above the fret wire for natural sound. Practice is required to master this.

3. Equal temperament tuning

This method is most complicated of all although the most accurate of them all. The trick here is get into the physics of sound waves and harmonic principles so that the the tuning is across the whole fret board or the entire 12 keys.

At first a natural harmonic at fifth fret low E string is struck when E note is played and high E is tuned to harmonic so that both E strings are tuned. Then, another harmonic on twelfth fret low E string is struck and E note at second fret on D string is played and these two are harmonized.

Next, the twelfth fret D string is struck and D note played on third fret on B string played and harmonized. The same twelfth harmonic on D string is struck and fret D note on G string is played on seventh fret and tuned. Thereafter, harmonic on twelfth fret on G string is checked against tuned G note on third fret on high E string. Eventually, A string at fret A note on second fret on G string is tuned and harmonic at twelfth fret on A string is struck and then both are harmonized.