How To Tune A Guitar
How To Tune A Guitar
Why is Tuning Important?
The first thing you should do every time you pick up your guitar is tune your instrument. Your guitar will fall out of tune very time you play it; it's a natural result of a variety of things such as regular use of your guitar and various environmental factors. You can do everything perfectly with your hands when you're playing a song but if your guitar is out of tune, it's likely to sound a bit unpleasant. You want your strings to be in tune with each other so there isn't any unwanted dissonance. To put it most simply, dissonance is when a chord doesn't sound quite right. You may not notice dissonance all that much when you start playing, but as you practice more your ear will pick up on more details and you'll start hearing it more. You may find that you start to enjoy it when it's used in certain ways, but for now it's largely something to be avoided because it can be difficult to control.
Different Types of Tuners
The musicians who have a lot of gear likely have a pedal that they use to tune their guitar, while more minimalist or casual musicians often have a clip-on tuner that they attach to and detach from the head of their guitar as needed. Either of these should be available at a local guitar store, or you can order them online if you'd prefer. Tuning pedals are typically going to be more expensive than clip-on tuners which perform the same function, although clip-on tuners can be difficult to work with when you're in a room with other musicians who are playing because their sounds will vibrate your guitar and alter the frequency being read by your clip-on tuner. I wouldn't recommend getting a tuning pedal until you have a pedal board and some other effects pedals, because setting up a single tuning pedal will be much more effort than just attaching and detaching the clip-on tuner. There's also a third type of tuner you might find that isn't quite a pedal where you plug your guitar into it but I find that these aren't very well-designed because you don't want to constantly plug and unplug your cable from your tuner to your amp.
Tuning Without a Tuner
If you don't have any of the above, you can tune your strings relative to each other so they're in tune as a single instrument, but you shouldn't rely on this method if you're playing with a group because there's a variety of factors that make this method inconsistent and you'll end up being out-of-tune with the rest of the band.
Standard Tuning
When we're talking about the strings on a guitar, the "lowest string" refers to the string with the lowest pitch, not the lowest string on the guitar. This means the "lowest string" is the string closest to you when you have your guitar in your hands, and the "highest" string is the string furthest from you when your guitar is in your hands. The lowest string is also the "6th" string while the highest string is the "1st" string. I've included a diagram that shows exactly which strings are which. Sometimes they're referred to by note name and sometimes they're referred to by string number, so it's good to become familiar with both names. Something to note is that the low E is represented by a capital 'E' while the high E is represented by a lowercase 'e'.
To tune your strings relative to each other, use the lowest string (the low E string) as your reference pitch. Place your finger on the 5th fret of the low E string and pluck it to produce an A note. Tune the A string (the next thickest string) until it matches the pitch of the 5th fret on the low E string.
Next, place your finger on the 5th fret of the A string and pluck it to produce a D note. Tune the D string (the next thinnest string) until it matches the pitch of the fifth fret on the A string.
Place your finger on the 5th fret of the D string and pluck it to produce a G note. Tune the G string (the next thinnest string) until it matches the pitch of the 5th fret on the D string.
The B string is a little different from the rest because we use a different-numbered fret to tune it. Place your finger on the 4th fret of the G string and pluck it to produce a B note. Tune the B string (the next thinnest string) until it matches the pitch of the 4th fret on the G string.
Finally, place your finger on the 5th fret of the B string and pluck it to produce an E note. Tune the high E string (the thinnest string) until it matches the pitch of the fifth fret on the B string.
Once you've tuned all the strings, play a few chords and check if they sound in tune. Make any necessary adjustments by going back over the previous steps or by checking with a tuning app on your smartphone—there are also YouTube videos which will play the reference pitches for you to tune to.
Alternate Tunings
Alternate tunings are simply different ways to tune your guitar. Alternate tunings open you up to new moods, sounds, and timbres by enabling you to play things you could never play in standard tuning, allowing you to explore different musical ideas, styles, and genres. Some alternate tunings are traditionally related to certain genres of music, and writing in these tunings is an easy way to get your music sounding like your favorite artists! You can also get creative and make your own tunings to suit your own needs—if there's a stretch or jump you're struggling to play in one tuning, alter the tuning to make it easier; however, don't forget that this changes every other note on that string as well, so make sure your alterations don't make the rest of the passage more difficult.
The American Football Tuning - FACGCE
FACGCE is also an open alternate tuning which is popular in folk music and more niche subgenres like math rock and Midwest emo, recently popularized by bands like American Football who sit in the intersection of Midwest emo and math rock--two closely intertwined genres. To tune your guitar to FACGCE, you will need to tune your 6th and 2nd strings up by a half step (one fret), while tuning the 4th string down a whole step (two frets.)
Drop D - DADGBE
Drop D tuning is a popular alternate guitar tuning where the pitch of the 6th string is lowered by one whole step from E to D.
The primary benefit of Drop D tuning is that it allows guitarists to easily play power chords with one finger on the lowest three strings, which can create a heavier and more aggressive sound than standard tuning. Drop D tuning is used in a variety of genres but it's primarily associated with rock and metal.
To tune down to Drop D, simply tune the 6th string down a whole step—you can do this by matching the pitch of the 7th fret on the 6th string to the pitch of the open 5th string.
Open D - DADGAD
Open D tuning (also called DADGAD) is an alternate guitar tuning that has become popular in folk music. It's an open tuning, which means that when you strum all of the strings without fretting any notes, it produces a pleasant chord. This tuning has a bright, beautiful sound.
To tune your guitar to DADGAD, you will need to lower your 1st, 2nd, and 6th strings by a whole step (two frets), while keeping the 3rd, 4th, and 5th strings in their standard tuning.
D Standard - DGCFAD
D Standard tuning has the same intervals between the strings as E Standard so it sounds the same as normal standard tuning except it's tuned one whole step lower. This tuning can give you a darker, heavier timbre and sound.