Learn To Tune Your Guitar By Ear Early On
May 21, 2011Most newcomers are so eager to get started they pass on learning guitar tuning skills. Of course you should become proficient in this skill, and in fact you should probably learn to tune your guitar by ear. After all, there are times when tuners are not available. In practice, the process is much faster than with a tuning device, and there are times when adjustments by ear are necessary. The question is how. The answer is a simple one.
Most players become quite accomplished at hearing certain notes by ear or detecting an out of pitch string after they have been playing for a while. This is not to say tuning each string without a reference is easy. Still, basing all the other strings off the low E string is fairly simple, and even beginners can get pretty close to finding the right pitch for low E, even without a tuner.
Once the low E is tuned, each of the other strings can be tuned, one at a time, based on the sound of the string above it. Once the low E is tuned, placing a finger on that string in the fifth fret produces an A. This is what the fifth string should be tuned to. Make certain the fifth string, when played open, sounds like the sixth string when played on the fifth fret.
Follow this same procedure for the fourth string. Its pitch is the D note, and it should sound the same as the fifth string played in the fifth fret when strummed open. Moving down again, the third string, when played open, is G. This is the note the fourth string produces when played on the fifth fret.
The second string is a bit different. When played open it is a B note. To produce the B note on the third string, move back one fret and strum in the fourth fret. Both the third and second strings will should match when the third one is fretted and strummed at fret number four.
Return to the fifth fret on the second string to produce the high E note. Tune the first string to this pitch. Next, check the first string and the sixth string to confirm they each produce E. These are the same notes, only they are separated by a single octave. If they don’t ring true, make adjustments, beginning again with the sixth string and working down to the first.
In time this process will become second nature, and tuning will be quite simple. It certainly pays to learn to tune your guitar by ear for lots of reasons, however the most important is quick tuning on the go. If everything is based off the sixth string played open, the guitar will sound correct even though the guitar itself may not be perfectly in tune.
Check out our top tips and advice on how to learn to tune your guitar by ear now in our insider’s review on the best online musical instrument store and everything you need to know about where to find guitar tuners