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How to Tune a Guitar the Right Way…

Whether you've played guitar for years or you've only just recently picked one up for the first time; your instrument needs to be in tune. This is very important. If your guitar isn't in tune then it doesn't matter how good you are, or how much you practice; it will simply sound terrible.

Many experienced guitar players possess the ability to tune their guitar by ear. However, for the beginner without the experience, tuning by ear will be an almost impossible task. So how do beginners and in fact, many guitarists tune their guitars? They use an electronic tuner which in most cases picks up the sound of a note played and clearly indicates what the note is and whether the string needs to be tightened or loosened in order to reach the correct pitch.

These electronic guitar tuners are fairly cheap, and will prove themselves to be a worthwhile investment. Many experienced players still use an electronic tuner in order to tune their guitars faster. In fact, using an electronic guitar tuner can be a very good way of learning to recognize certain pitches and tune your guitar by ear.

How do you do this? Well, first; use the tuner to tune the bottom "E" string of your guitar. This is the thickest string and the lowest in pitch, and is also referred to as the 6^th string. Place your finger at the 5^th fret on the "E" string and pluck the note, which is "A". Then, pluck the next string over, the "A" string. Afterwards alternate between playing these two notes.

Depending on whether the pitch of the "A" string is higher or lower than that of the 5^th fret on the "E" string; you need to loosen or tighten the "A" string using the correct tuning peg at the head of the guitar until these two notes sound the same. Your "A" string should now be in tune.

Now put your finger on the 5^th fret of the "A" string and play the next string up, the "D" string. Use the same method as above until these two notes sound the same. When you get to tuning the "B" string or 2^nd string; instead of playing at the 5^th fret on the string below, you need to play at the 4^th fret. However, when tuning the top "E" string, the string with the highest pitch, use the 5^th fret on the string below once more.

Use the tablature below to help you when tuning by ear.

e|--------------0--|
B|-----------0--5--|
G|--------0--4-----|
D|-----0--5--------|
A|--0--5-----------|
E|--5--------------|