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How to tune your guitar

Tuning the guitar is critical, because nothing you play will sound "right" if the guitar is not in tune. If your guitar is out of tune or tuned incorrectly it will make a perfectly constructed chord sound bad.

There are many ways to tune your guitar:

1. With an electronic tuner
2. With tuning software
3. By ear with a tuning fork
4. By ear with another guitar or reference note

The easiest and most accurate way to tune your guitar is with an electronic tuner or with tuning software. Electronic tuners typically work for both acoustic or electric guitars, although this is not always the case. An acoustic guitar tuner will have a built in mic, to pick up the sound. Electric guitar tuners usually have a 1/4" instrument cable input for the guitar. Most tuners have both a built in mic and a 1/4" instrument cable input. We highly recommend that you purchase an electronic tuner, such as the Boss TU-15 Chromatic Tuner.

There is also some great free or inexpensive software available for tuning the guitar. For example, EZTuner4U is a $16 chromatic musical instrument tuner that sees your computer sound card and microphone.

Although electronic tuners and software tuners are great tools, we suggest that you learn to tune your guitar by ear to a reference note. This will help you to train your ear, so you can quickly tune during a live performance or when you don't
have an electronic tuner nearby.

On the DVD you will find the properly tuned notes for each of the strings on the guitar. Play the "Tuning" section on the DVD now to hear the sound of each string. Try matching the pitch of your strings to these notes by adjusting the tuning keys on the
head of your guitar.

You can also try tuning with a tuning fork. A tuning fork will provide you with a reference tone. You can purchase tuning forks at any musical instrument retailer. The most common tuning fork for guitarists generates an A (440) reference tone, so you can tune the 5th string (A). In order to generate a tone with the tuning fork, you should lightly tap it against a hard surface and then press the non-forked end against the body of your guitar. This will cause the tone to resonate throughout the guitar body, so that it is louder.

How to Tune Your Guitar!

Tune your 5th string to the A tuning fork's tone by picking the "open" 5th (A) string ("open" means that you just play the string without pressing down on any frets) while listening to the tone of the tuning fork (you can also use the 5th string sound file provided above if you don't have a tuning fork). Adjust the tuning key for your 5th string by turning it in either direction until the tone of the picked string and the tuning fork are identical.

Once your 5th string is in tune, you can tune all the rest of the strings on your guitar. Start with the 6th (E) string. This is the fattest string of the six. It's also the string at the top of the guitar (See figure 3 for reference).

Press your index finger on the 5th fret, 6th string. Make sure that you press firmly and that your index finger is close to the edge of the fret, almost touching it. If your string is buzzing as you pick it, then either you are not pressing firmly enough, or your finger is not positioned close enough to the edge of the fret.

Pick the 6th string with your index finger pressing down on the 5th fret 6th string and then pick the "open" 5th (A) string. Compare the two tones. The pitch of the 5th fret, 6th string should be the same sound as the open 5th (A) string. If it is not the exact same sound then turn the 6th string's tuning key so that the sound is the same. Now your 6th and 5th string are tuned.

Repeat this step, but this time place your index finger on the 5th fret of the 5th string. Pick that string and then pick the open 4th string. They should sound the same. If they don't, then turn the tuning key for the 4th string so that the 4th string sounds like the 5th. Be careful to turn the correct tuning key.

Continue the same process from the 4th string to the third string. When you get to tuning the second string there is a slight change. To tune the 2nd (B) string, place your index finger on the 4th fret, 3rd string (instead of the 5th fret). Now pick the 3rd string and then pick the second string. If the second string does not sound like the third then turn the second string's tuning key so that the second string sounds like the 3rd.

Finally, for the 1st (E) string, move your index finger back to the 5th fret on the second string. Then pick the 2nd and 1st strings. The open 1st string should sound exactly like the 5th fret, 2nd string. If it doesn't then turn the 1st string's tuning key so that it sounds like the second string.

That is probably going to be the toughest part of learning to play guitar. We recommend you buy an electronic tuner, but knowing how to tune the guitar by ear will be extremely valuable, especially in live playing situations or at times when you don't have access to a guitar tuner