What should I look for when tuning an acoustic guitar?

If you’re new to the guitar check out our article on acoustic guitar anatomy, it goes into more detail about tuning pegs, ‘gear ratio’, and the types available. How hard you hit your strings when tuning or the attack you place on your strings should closely match the attack you would normally play with.

How do you tune a guitar?

You can also use natural harmonics to tune your guitar. If unaware, if you gently press above the 5th, 7th, 12th, or 19th fret wires on your guitar’s neck and pluck the corresponding open string you will create a harmonic. A harmonic is a multiple of the fundamental (the predominant frequency and also the lowest frequency of the waveform).

How to tune a guitar with harmonics?

Tuning by harmonics 1 Play the harmonic at the 5th fret on the 6th string (the thickest string) and then take your hand away 2 Play the 7th fret harmonic on the 5th string and compare. 3 Repeat this process for all strings on the guitar until you reach the 2nd string (The B string).

What is the difference between chromatic tuning and guitar tuning?

In our case, when tuning a guitar you can use chromatic or guitar. The difference is that when selecting guitar mode, only the notes the strings are intended to be tuned to are indicated on the tuner e.g. E, A, D, G, B, and E.

How do you tune an electric guitar to the G string?

Tune your A string by fretting the 5th fret of the E string (A) and adjusting the tuning peg of the A string until in tune. Repeat this for the 4th and 3rd strings. Play the 4th fret of the G string and turn your B (second thinnest string) clockwise or counter-clockwise until it matches the pitch of the 4th fret G string.

How do you fix a guitar that won’t stay in tune?

Stretch the strings, tune again and repeat. Restringing in this way keeps the string lower on the post at the point of contact which increases the downward pressure on the nut and provides greater tuning stability. Stretching the strings is also well worth taking the time to do. New strings tend to go out of tune very easily.