There are 3 ways to tune your guitar – one way is to use an electronic tuner. The second way is by using a keyboard & the third way is using an ear. Before even we start tuning the guitar, we must understand the best tuning in which guitar is played. Guitars are tuned in standard tuning. The thickest and thinnest strings are tuned to E, starting from thickest to the thinnest string, the sequence of tuning is – EADGBE, scientifically it’s observed that when guitars are tuned in standard tuning, the frequency produced by the strings are soothing and sounds melodic.
REFERENCE FREQUENCY
The reference frequency used to tune the guitar strings to standard tuning is 440 HZ. Now let’s see how to tune a guitar using the above three parameters. Apart from standard tuning, there are several other tunings like – Drop D, Drop C, Open G, Half step down, the Whole Step down, etc. But we will focus on standard tuning that is mostly used in many songs and artists. You can refer to the above picture to see how the strings are tuned.
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TUNE A GUITAR | USING ELECTRONIC TUNER
This is the best and easiest way to tune the guitar, you can buy the external guitar tuner from the amazon website or from the nearest dealer, the electronic tuner uses the CMOS battery and once you have mounted the tuner over the guitar head then you can use the tuning pegs of the guitar to tighten the strings and check the display accordingly. The tuner has the capability to sense the frequency of string which you are plucking and shows the frequency or tuning in the form of an Alphabet. For example, if you are plucking the 6th string which is out of tune then see the display, your goal is to ensure the strings are tuned in the order of E – A – D – G – B – E by cross verifying on the display tuner screen, as shown in “guitar tuning” image.
TUNE A GUITAR | USING KEYBOARD
In the above image, you can see the marking of notes over the keys of the keyboard, and you should use it as a reference while tuning the guitar to standard tuning. In order to do that you must press the key E2 which is referring to 6th String on the guitar, play the same on the keyboard and simultaneously match the frequency on the guitar by tightening the string using the tuning pegs of the guitar. Do this step until you heard both the note frequency of the keyboard the guitar string match. Now you perform the similar method on rest strings until you strum and satisfied with the target frequency match i.e. – E A D G B E
TUNE A GUITAR | USING EAR
This is very tricky and requires the massive experience of guitar playing, as a beginner it will be hard for you to determine the standard tuning of guitar that too just using your ears. Once you gradually spend time with the guitar for several years that will account for your solid ear development skills to identify and recognize the frequency. And that boon only comes with your massive practice, hard-work, and dedication towards this marvelous stringed instrument. So my dear friends, keep practicing and close your eyes and try to sense the sound, there will be a time when you will guess the sound by just hearing, believe me, there is no shortcut to practice, all depends on how much time you invest on learning this instrument. Also, this one post cannot clarify all your doubts, rather you must spend time reading a few topics that will for sure clarify your doubts.
ONE WHOLE STEP DOWN
I have created below YouTube lesson on tuning your guitar to one whole step down, which is D G C F A D. You will see all strings are tuned one whole scale/step down(rather EADGBE, its DGCFAD). Now I want you is to grab your guitar, use your ears and tune your guitar to this tuning :), so how much good you’re.
My dear friends, thank you for reading this article, I took 6 months to learn basic chords and strumming patterns, and I believe that you can take less time than me if you continue your focus and efforts in the right direction with constant practice.
Thank you
Happy Learning !!!
