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If you’re going to move beyond being a novice player, you need to know how to tune a guitar. If you’re not in tune, you’ll never sound good. There are many ways to do this, you’ll just need to find which way works the best for you. You can use an online guitar tuner (click on the link to use a tuner right here on our site) an electronic guitar tuner, a pitch pipe, a tuning fork, a keyboard or intervals and harmonics.

You should try several of these methods to see which you can hear the best. You might find that you are unable to hear the electronic tuners (that give little electronic tones) as well as a pitch pipe, for example. I’ve been playing for 25 years and I’m going to tell you a little about each of these tuning methods to help you find what might work best for you.

Online Guitar Tuners

These are the newest and the neatest things since sliced bread. Seriously, if you have a little home studio set up with a computer connected to the internet, find a great online tuner (like the one right here) and put it in your favorites. You’ll have a tuner at your fingertips, and the best thing is that this tuner is free!

Electronic Guitar Tuners

Electronic tuners give you each of the individual pitches that you will need for all six strings. I wouldn’t even mess with the old ones that have to plug into an electrical outlet unless you have one already and it’s “free”. For about $15-$25 you can pick up a small, lightweight clip-on digital tuner. These guys are really cool and my favorite way of tuning when I’m not at home. If you’re gearing up for a concert, you can clip one of these bad boys to your guitar and it will show you how flat or sharp each string is. The only downside to them is making sure you have an extra set of batteries in your case. You don’t want to be caught with dead batteries!

A good standard electronic tuner that I recommend is the Korg GA-40 Electronic Guitar and Bass Tuner. For around 20 bucks, it’s indispensable! You can check it out here at Guitar Center, or here at Musician’s Friend.

Standard Pitch Pipe

While these guys might be lacking the ‘cool’ factor of a digital tuner, there is something to be said for the simplicity of blowing in a pipe and having a correct pitch come out every time. Though I have to say, I’ve yet to see one that actually looks like a pipe. Most of them are circular in shape and are technically a ‘circular free reed aerophone’, which is probably too much information. Pitch pipes run about $5-$15 and if nothing else, are a great backup to any other method of tuning you might use.

You can grab a pitch pipe for around three bucks here at Guitar Center.

Tuning Fork

Tuning forks don’t do much for me personally; they are however, a legitimate way to tune your guitar so I’ll give it a quick mention. Tuning forks typically sound the note “A” (which you can use to tune the fifth string) or “E”. They are pretty inexpensive and can also be a great backup to anything electronic or digital. Probably the biggest “plus” to tuning forks is that you can touch it to the sounding board of your acoustic and get a tone that is similar in thickness to the sound of your guitar (in comparison to the thin electronic tuners). Learning to use the fork can be cumbersome and takes a little practice. That is why I prefer a quicker, easier method.

Keyboard

There’s not too much to say about using a keyboard, except that it’s easy if there is one around. Pianos and keyboards have a nice, clear, loud pitch and can be a great option if you’re going to be playing along with a keyboard player. If you are able to tune using intervals (see next paragraph) you’ll only need the keyboard player to give you an “E” (on the keyboard this is the 2nd E below middle C) to get started.

Intervals

To be an experienced guitar player, you really should learn interval tuning. The only issue with interval tuning is that you need to get that first bottom “E” from another source, maybe a pitch pipe or a tuning fork.

Once you have that low “E” in tune (the 6th string), hold the 6th string down at the 5th fret and play the open A (5th string) string. You should tune the 5th string to this pitch. You then hold the 5th string down at the 5th fret to get the “D” pitch. Play and tune the open 4th string to this “D” pitch. Then hold the fourth string down at the 5th fret to get the pitch “G”. Play the open 3rd string and tune it to this “D” pitch. Then, hold the 3rd string down at the 4th fret (this is different!) to produce the “B” pitch. Play the open 2nd string and tune it to that “B” pitch. Finally, play the 2nd string at the 5th fret to get the “E” pitch. Play and tune the open 1st string to that “E”.

Once you’ve done this a few times you’ll pick up on the pattern and be able to do it in a flash. When you are able to do it without looking at the directions, it’ll go quickly for you, and you’ll be able to whip your guitar into tune quickly after securing the first “E” on the 6th string.

Harmonics

Tuning using harmonics is the last and ultimate way to tune your guitar. This is a method usually reserved for advanced players because it can be difficult to learn. It’s preferred because it produces very clear and accurate tuning.

Harmonics are played by touching the string very lightly at the fret, rather than holding it down just below the fret. This takes a lot of practice and really shouldn’t be attempted by beginners or people without patience.

1. You start by getting your low E string in tune using a pitch pipe or keyboard, etc.

2. Then you match the harmonic at the 5th fret of the 6th string to the harmonic at the 7th fret of the 5th string, to get your finely tuned “A”.

You then tune the “D” string to the “A” string and the G string to the D string the exact same way (matching the 7th fret harmonic of the higher string to the 5th fret harmonic of the lower string.)

Match the open B string to the harmonic at the 7th fret of the 6th string to tune the B string.

Tune the top E string to the B string using the 5th fret/7th harmonics.

Like I said before, harmonics are difficult to learn how to do and should be attempted once the guitar player’s fingers are strong and you have passed ‘beginner’ stage.

Personally, I like to use a digital tuner that I can clip on and quickly tune my “E” string, then I use intervals to tune up the rest of the guitar. But all of the methods work and you should try several of them to see which one will be the best method for you.

Happy Playing!

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