Tuning a guitar is a simple process. If you’re new to tuning a guitar ive put together a beginners tutorial with everything you’d need to know here Tuning a Guitar. For those looking at tuning a guitar with a tuner ive supplied one below.
Tuning a Guitar With a Tuner – Walkthrough
There are a few different types of tuners you can use. The one above will play you the correct note and then you have to match it by ear. The most popular types of guitar tuners are chromatic tuners. Usually they will have LED lights or a strobe style display.
1 – Strum the string that you need to tune. Don’t hit it overly hard or overly soft, give it the same type of strum you would when playing. You’ll now see the tuner jump to life. Usually chromatic tuners will have the lights in the middle of the tuner signal when the string is in tune. They’ll either light up a different color or maybe activate more lights to turn on. However its done it should be easy to notice how the tuner signals when a string is in tune.
2 – If the note is flat the tuner will have lights or a meter to the left of center. If the note is sharp the tuner will have lights or the meter to the right of center. What you’re looking for is to have the meter or lights be in the center. It will never be perfect but do you’re best to have it as close center as possible.
3- I usually like to strum the string at a consistent pace every 3-4 seconds. You’ll notice the initial pluck of the string usually has the tuner reading the string as sharper then it really is. Let the string settle for a second and that will be a more accurate reading.
4 – Adjust the tuning peg of the specified string until the tuner reads the string as in-tune. As stated above this will usually be signified by a reading in the center of the tuner.
5 – Do this for each string and make sure you are tuning the strings to the correct notes. I can’t tell you how many times ive seen people think they’ve tuned the guitar perfectly only to find out that the tuner was giving them a reading of the wrong note.
Congratulations you’ve learned the art of tuning a guitar with a tuner!
