1.10 How do I tune my guitar?
Description
This article is from the Classical Guitar FAQ, by Joshua Weage (jpweage@mtu.edu) with numerous contributions by others.
1.10 How do I tune my guitar?
6th (fattest string) = E, 5th=A, 4th=D, 3rd=G, 2nd=B, 1st=E.
(1st string is E above middle C.)
There are several ways of doing this but all can be put into two classes.
The first is to tune a single string and then tune all the other strings
relative to this one, or otherwise to tune each string to another
instrument.
It is important to remember that guitar scoring is written an octave
higher than it actually sounds. Middle C is at 256Hz. The 1st fret on
the 2nd string also this frequency. This makes 5th fret 1st string (A)
440Hz, and the open 5th string 110Hz.
Many guitarists now rely upon widely available electronic tuners.
In my humble opinion I think it is important to learn to tune a guitar
without the aid of electronics - one day you be caught with your
battery flat. However, I started with such a tuner, but to my
delight found that I developed a sense of pitch that enabled me to
tune my guitar adequately and easily. But back to the electronics...
Many of these incorporate a small microphone for tuning acoustic instruments,
with excellent models available from Korg, Seiko, Sabine, Matrix, etc.
Models for guitar usually include auto note selection, so the guitarist only
strikes each string and either a meter or range of LEDs lights to show how
far from tune the string is, flat or sharp, etc. A reliable example is the
Korg GT-3, ($29.98 from Musician's Friend. see: Sources). Chromatic tuners,
which offer all notes (guitar specific tuners provide for the six strings
only) are also available, handy for those who explore alternate tunings or
pieces that require a specific string be tuned down a step, etc.), such as
the Matrix Automatic Chromatic Tuner ($54.95, Guitar Solo).
Instead of electronics, you can use pitch pipes. These are cheap and provide
a reference for each string. Just blow into the right pipe and tune the
string until they are in tune (you know when your reaching the right pitch
because you'll hear a kind of wavering, or beating, or the note. When you
fine tune the string so that the beating goes away - your exactly in tune!)
Instead of pipes, you can use another instrument, such as a piano or another
guitar. If you plan to play with someone else, this is often the
best way as long as the first instrument is known to be tuned correctly.
OR, the other class, is to get a single reference point and tune your
guitar from that. Ideal for this is an A=440Hz tuning fork. Tune
the 5th string to this by striking the fork on a hard object like
your knee and placing it on the sound board of your guitar to amplify it.
Once the 5th string is in tune by this method, or in fact any other, follow
these instructions:
Tune the 6th string by fretting it at the 5th fret and comparing
it with the open 5th string.
Tune the 4th string 7th fret with either the open 5th or 5th string
12th fret harmonic.
tune the 3rd string 2nd fret in the same way.
tune the 2nd string 10th fret in the same way.
tune the 1st string 5th fret in the same way.
What you shouldn't do is tune the guitar by comparing the open string with
the adjacent and lower pitched string fretted at the 5th position all the way
through the strings (except of course for the 3rd and 2nd strings). This is
because any errors you make in the tuning will be compounded by this method.
The above described method elliminates this. Also, do not tune your
guitar by comparing the 5th and 7th fret
harmonics of adjacent strings. The reason for this is that your classical
guitar is designed and built as a tempered instrument ie. it follows the
tempered tuning, rather than the diatonic tuning. To use the 5th and 7th
harmonics to tune your guitar will mean, strictly speaking, that your
guitar will be out of tune.
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