Guitar Tuning Methods

Guitar Tuning

Everybody knows that guitar tuning is the good adjustment of strings pitches, but not all notice that is the first and most important step for all who want to improve its performance or play in a pro level.

If newbie guitarists introduce the idea of the importance of the correct guitar tuning in their artistic lives, they can learn easily that if a guitar is not well tuned, they won´t sound good at all, so it is possible that in a short period of time, they will throw their instruments away from their lives loosing the opportunity to enjoy playing a musical instrument properly.

Guitar tuning can be done with an electronic tuner and, with some practice, it can be done only by ear. Both methods should be used combined or applied for different playing situations.

Guitar Tuning with a Guitar Tuner

In the first case, imagine that time is off and all is prepared for the concert. The special moment is coming now and you are going to play your guitar in a few minutes. All the equipment is plugged in and sound feels good in. Right in this moment, you and your electric guitar are just one. Then, the concert begins. You play your first lines and suddenly, you don´t now what happens. The beautiful guitar sound does not seems as before, so you think... What happens? It does not sounds tuned.

If you would have the power of paralyzing all audience and take a break in this moment to tune your guitar, it will be nice, but you are not a wizard, so the the only thing to do in this scenario is tuning your guitar with a guitar tuner immediately. Tuners can save your life in situations where time and precision are the main, as well as they are cheap and small.

Guitar Tuning by Ear

For many people tuning the guitar by ear turns a little difficult. If you are one of them, using an electronic tuner is the first step to train your ear for practicing because you are listening to the exact notes. They make guitar tuning really easy and effective. They must be used in concerts and in high-volumen environments.

Guitar tuning by ear methods are very useful to learn more about guitar, notes and music. The most common method is named Basic 5th Fret Guitar Tuning, which entails matching notes on adjacent strings. Guitar Tuning With Harmonics is a very easy to use method due if the guitar does not match or the harmonic does not sound good, you shall adjust the string until getting the correct sound. Other method is called Guitar Tuning Using Octaves (interval between two notes with the same name).

Guitar Tuning Testing

As tuning the guitar makes difference in performance, it is important to test them using different methods to assure optimum accuracy. It is necessary to test first the open strings and then the 3rd and 5th frets. If you use these methods and the guitar is still tuning bad, I recommend you to test the guitar. If it was not well setup, you will never hear it tuned. Learn more about guitar tuning.