| It really makes no difference how good a | | | | tuning fork, a piano or an electronic tuner. |
| guitar player you are, if your instrument is | | | | Turn the peg of your low E string slowly |
| not tuned up correctly you will never produce | | | | until it sounds exactly the same as this |
| a good sound. It is, therefore, important | | | | remembering the "tune up" rule as you go. |
| that your learn how to tune your guitar | | | | |
| properly very early on in your musical | | | | Then move along to the fifth or A string and, |
| experience. | | | | holding down the fifth fret of the E string |
| | | | and pluck and the open A string. Listen out |
| Those in the know will suggest you buy an | | | | for a pulsating or beating sound and adjust |
| electronic tuner and they are inexpensive and | | | | the A string until this disappears. Then |
| can save you lots of effort. They are | | | | hold down the fifth fret of the A string |
| particularly helpful when you are trying to | | | | while you pluck it and the D string. |
| tune your guitar and have lots of other | | | | Continue with this method and do the same |
| background noise going on. However, it is | | | | with the G, B and E strings. |
| still useful to know how to tune your guitar | | | | |
| by hand. | | | | You can use a pitch pipe to tune your guitar |
| | | | if you wish and this takes very little |
| Ideally your guitar should be tuned each time | | | | effort. You simply need to blow through the |
| you use it and experts say it is important to | | | | relevant holes in the pitch pipe and adjust |
| "tune up" when tuning your guitar. This means | | | | the strings of your guitar until they match |
| increasing the tension of the string to the | | | | up with the notes. You should start with the |
| point where it reaches the desired tone. If | | | | sixth E string and do the top E string before |
| you tighten it up to far you can easily | | | | moving on to the others. |
| loosen the tension off and begin the | | | | |
| procedure again which is an easier method | | | | What could be simpler than an electronic |
| than trying to locate the correct tone from a | | | | tuner? This has a display screen which tells |
| string which is already too tight. | | | | you whether the notes are in tune or not. You |
| | | | strum one string at a time, the tuner |
| First of all eliminate any distractions and | | | | assesses the tone and lets you know whether |
| background noise and then start with the low | | | | it is correct or needs adjusting higher or |
| E or sixth string. Obtain a starting point | | | | lower to get it just right. |
| pitch from another already tuned guitar, a | | | | |