4 METHODS TO TUNE A GUITAR

 

 

how to Tune a guitar- 4 methods to tune a guitar

oh my god - hand me the gun!!

I asked a non-musical friend today how he thought someone could tune a guitar. He said that you get one of those units, turn it on and wait till the pointy thing is in the right place!!??

Guitar tuning is used to correct the pitch of the open strings of a guitar. In western music the tuning of the guitar strings are ordered from the thickest to the thinnest. Guitars are normally tuned (called Standard Tuning), with string pitches – E,A,D,G,B,E. One way to remember this is by using the mnemonic -Eddy Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddy



So how do you tune your guitar

There are several ways of tuning a guitar. here are a few of the common methods. You can use a tuner, a pitch pipe/tuning fork, another musician, or the 5th fret method.


Tuner

A tuner is a electronic device to help tune guitar strings to the correct pitch by using a display. The pitch detected and measured in Hertz.









   

Above are various tuners, a chromatic tuner, a ‘stompbox’, and a ‘clip-on’ tuner. All these tuners are from Korg.

Since the early 2010’s many apps have become available through Android and iOS smartphones.


Pitchpipe/Tuning Fork

A pitch pipe is a small device, like a harmonica that produces a note at perfect pitch when you blow into the chosen ‘pipe’.



The problems with a pitchpipe are that the internal brass reed will work harden over time and produce a different pitch to that intended. Also, debris may be introduced into the open end of the pipe, creating problems when blown.

 

A tuning fork is two-pronged metal implement that produces a constant pitch when it is vibrating after being struck against a surface



 

Another Musician

If you are playing in a group with other musicians and there may be an instrument that is not exactly in tune, let us say, a piano. Because it is easier to tune a guitar than to retune a piano, it will be beneficial to tune to the piano, even if it is not at perfect pitch.

5th Fret Method

If you are playing by yourself and do not require absolute accuracy, then you may use the 5th fret method. To do this you should play the 6th string (low E string) at the 5th fret. At the same time play the 5th string (A string). Both these notes should sound the same. Next play the 5th string at the 5th fret and play the 4th string (D string) at the same time. Again, both these notes should sound the same. Next, strike the 4th string at the 5th fret and strike the 3rd string (G string). Again, these should sound the same. On the next string, things change slightly. Because of the way the guitar is tuned, the ‘interval’ between G and B is different, so on the 3rd  string you tune the 2nd string from the 4th fret on the G string. When tuning the top E string – the 1st string, it is back to tuning from the 5th fret of the 2nd string (B string). Just to reiterate, all strings are tuned from the 5th fret except the 2nd string – the B string, which is tuned from the 4th fret of the 3rd string – the G string. I would also say that if you are having difficulties locating the pitch, tune deliberately down and bring the pitch back up by tightening the string.

Here is a diagram to help you.


Please subscribe and comment/share. Kind regards, Guitareviews4


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Modes - Scale Shapes you should know

Image
 FIRST THINGS FIRST.. If you find this article useful, please subscribe, it really helps my blog. There are certain patterns that appear on the guitar fretboard and it is worth looking at these and memorising them to make things easy for yourself when learning any sort of scale or modes. These patterns are great to across the fretboard but by changing the starting point, you may also move up the fretboard. There are three main patterns to consider when looking at the guitar, and they will always follow each other. These are those patterns:-   I have put notes on these diagrams for context, it is the shape we are concerned with here, not the actual note..yet. Just look at how the notes relate to the others in each individual pattern. The next thing we shall look at is the root note for each shape. We will consider the Major Scale - or Ionian Mode first. MAJOR SCALE So let us look at pattern 1 above and see what we can make of it.  You can firstly see it is a block of three notes stacked
Read more

Guitar Modes - Chord Progressions

Image
 Guitar Modes  If you find this article useful, please subscribe, it really helps my blog. A melodic scale is a progression of notes a particular order.  The idea of "mode" in Western music theory has three progressive stages: in Gregorian chant theory, in Renaissance polyphonic theory, and in apparent symphonious music of the common practice period. In each of the three settings, "mode" joins the possibility of the diatonic scale, however contrasts from it by additionally including a component of song type. This means that repertories of short melodic figures or gatherings of tones inside a specific scale, so that, contingent upon the perspective, mode assumes the significance of one or the other a "particularized scale" or a "generalized tune". Present day musicological practice has stretched out the idea of mode to prior melodic frameworks, like those of Ancient Greek music, Jewish cantillation, and the Byzantine arrangement of octoechoi (the
Read more

Modes from the Pentatonic Scale

Image
 I would suggest reading other posts in this series that explain Scales and Modes before going further with this post. If you find this article useful, please subscribe, it really helps my blog. This is taken from a previous post:- Learning Modes from the Pentatonic Scale As the name suggests the Pentatonic Scale is made up of 5 notes. Depending on whether you are looking at the Major or Minor Pentatonic Scale, will depend on the scale degrees used in that scale.    The Major Pentatonic scale is made up of the 1st - Major 2nd- Major 3rd- Perfect 5th - Major 6th,    The Minor Pentatonic scale constitutes the 1st - minor 3rd - Perfect 4th - Perfect 5th - minor 7th, and you can see a comparison between both scales below.       The obvious thing to say about this is that shape 1 is followed by shape 2, etc. Also, if you look closely, you can see how the shapes match each other as they move along the fretboard, i.e. shape 1 of the Minor Pentatonic is the same as shape 5 of the Major Pentato
Read more