Acoustic guitar tuning in 5 easy steps

Posted by Shane Fenham

You should be sure to do your acoustic guitar tuning each time you sit down to play, whether you are practicing or performing. Its pretty unpleasant to try to make beautiful music on an untuned guitar. Lots of guitar students think their inexperience is ruining the sound, not understanding the importance of doing their tuning regularly. You will be much more successful in your music making if you set aside that small amount of time it takes to tune your instrument properly.

Pluck the string you want to tune. If you use an electronic tuner, the tuner’s built-in microphone will pick up the sound. Look at the indicator. It could be a flashing light and/or a meter. It will tell you how close your are to the right pitch and whether you are sharp or flat. Adjust your acoustic guitar tuning accordingly by tuning the string’s tuning key.

Taking your strings from looser to tighter will tune your guitar, also called tuning down. If the string is too tight, you will need to get it in tune by loosening the strings slightly and then tightening it again until it is in tune. Tuning up will give you a more true tone than tuning down.

If you dont purchase an electronic tuner, you still need to have a reference for pitch when playing acoustic guitar. You can use another guitar, a piano, tuning fork or an MP3 that you are certain is already in tune. Acoustic guitar tuning with an electronic tuner will consistently provide reliable tuning. But if you choose to tune the traditional way then use an electronic tuner to test your results. This is a great way to learn to develop your ear.

Begin acoustic guitar tuning with the sixth string (low E), which should be tuned to match the reference pitch. After you’ve done that, the other strings must be tuned to that note. Simply work on them one by one. Theres a scientific explanation for this procedure, but you don’t have to learn it any more than you have to learn to build an engine in order to drive an auto mobile.

Then proceed with your acoustic guitar tuning as follows:

(1) Once the low E string (sixth string) is in tune, play it on the fifth fret, and then pluck the open fifth string. Adjust the the tone of the fifth string as necessary until the two notes match. (2) Move up to the fifth string. Playing it on the fifth fret, tune the open forth string. (3) Similarly, adjust the tone of the third string while playing the fifth fret of the fourth string. (4) For the next note, play the third string on the fourth fret (not the fifth) and tune the second string. (5) Tune the open high E string, comparing it to the tone of the second string, fifth fret.

If you’re just starting out with acoustic guitar tuning, you may want to ask someone at the music store when you purchased your guitar to show you how to do acoustic guitar tuning the proper way. Then just keep practicing until you’re comfortable with the process. It takes time and practice to learn to do acoustic guitar tuning, especially by ear. For the novice, the simplest way to perform acoustic guitar tuning is with the use of an electronic tuner. You can find one for around $20 and you will definitely get your moneys worth. An electronic tuner that is made specifically for tuning guitars has the ability to recognize which string is being played.

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