It's pretty easy to rely
on a chromatic tuner to tune your guitar but all
guitarists should know how to tune their guitar by
ear. You don't need perfect pitch just the
ability to hear the out of tune audible wobble when
comparing two different note sources, we will get to
that in a bit.
First some science...
The guitar is
impossible to exactly tune due to the compromise
needed to allow the guitar to play all the notes and
in all the keys. This method is called
tempered tuning, each note is slightly out of tune
allowing good tuning but not perfect. So this
being said a guitar's frets are placed at set
intervals to produce the best compromise in tuning
while still sounding good.
The Wobble
Hearing two notes
slightly out of tune will cause the notes to sound
out of phase or wobble. By sounding two notes
and tuning one the wobble will either get faster or
slower. Getting slower means the tuning phase
is getting closer. Continue to tune the one
string until the wobble stops or both notes sound
like one.
Floating Tremelo
Issues
Floating tremelos can
be problematic when tuning a guitar especially if
the guitar is way out of tune. Tightening on
string can cause another to go flat. It takes
some time and sometimes smaller tuning intervals.
Tuning methods
Good - Harmonics
A harmonic is sounded
by slightly touching the guitar string just above a
fret. Only certain frets will sound a harmonic
most commonly the 5th, 7th, and 12th. Harmonic
tuning is not the best method of tuning due to
variations in harmonic pitch, the 7th fret is a
Pythagorean 5th and the 5th is a tempered so this
method will tune the guitar slightly out.
Harmonic How-To
-Using a reference
note or an identifiable note from a song tune the
low E.
-Strike a harmonic on the E 5th fret and a harmonic
on the A 7th fret, tune the A, mute the strings.
-Strike a harmonic on the A 5th fret and a harmonic
on the D 7th fret, tune the D, mute the strings.
-Strike a harmonic on the D 5th fret and a harmonic
on the G 7th fret, tune the G, mute the strings.
-Now the harmonic method has to stop for the next
string and the sounding of a note is needed.
Fret the B on the 5th fret on the G string, sound
the open B, tune the B, mute the strings.
-Strike a harmonic on the B 5th fret and a harmonic
on the E 7th fret, tune the E, mute the strings.
Play the guitar,
listen for proper tuning, make any adjustments
needed.
Better - One
String to Another
Similar to the
harmonic method, better, but not best. Usually
starting at the low E and moving to the high E is
typical but the draw back to this method is a little
tuning mistake in the beginning makes a larger
mistake at the end.
One String to Another
How-To
-Using a reference
note or an identifiable note from a song tune the
low E.
-Sound an A on the 5th fret of the low E and sound
the open A, tune the A, mute the strings.
-Sound a D on the 5th fret of the A and sound the
open D, tune the D, mute the strings.
-Sound a G on the 5th fret of the D and sound the
open G, tune the G, mute the strings.
-Sound a B on the 4th fret of the G and sound the
open B, tune the B, mute the strings.
-Sound a E on the 5th fret of the B and sound the
open E, tune the E, mute the strings.
Play the guitar,
listen for proper tuning, make any adjustments
needed.
Best - All to One
This method is
sometimes more difficult for inexperienced players
but will avoid the small mistake turned big.
All to One How-To
-Using a reference
note or an identifiable note from a song tune the
low E.
-Sound an A on the 5th fret of the low E and sound
the open A, tune the A, mute the strings.
-Sound a D on the 10th fret of the low E and sound
the open D, tune the D, mute the strings.
-Sound a G on the 3rd fret of the low E and sound
the open G, tune the G, mute the strings.
-Sound a B on the 7th fret of the low E and sound
the open B, tune the B, mute the strings.
-Sound a E on the 12th fret of the low E and sound
the open high E, tune the high E, mute the strings.
It may take some practice listening and
experimenting, try tuning the guitar by ear and
double check with a tuner. Knowing these
techniques are essential if you are ever going to
play along with a song and especially if you are
going to play with others.
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