Guitar/Tuning the Guitar

Advances in guitar manufacturing have solved many of the problems associated with tuning the guitar though guitars are still extremely sensitive to their environment. If you tune your guitar in a room with a certain temperature and humidity and then take the guitar into another room that is hotter or colder with a different humidity, your guitar may go out of tune. When the guitar experiences a change in humidity or temperature, it causes the wood and strings to expand or contract. It is best to let a guitar acclimatise itself in the room in which it will be played and then make adjustments and tune it. Extreme changes in humidity or temperature can damage your guitar with warping, especially in the neck area. If you have a guitar neck that is warped then some structural aspects of the guitar can be adjusted. The neck, fretboard or truss rod can be adjusted and this may solve some warping problems. See the Adjusting the Guitar appendix.

When new strings have been put on a guitar they will often fall out of tune very easily. New strings will stretch until they reach a point where their elasticity diminishes and then they will remain at the correct tension and frequency; strings need to be broken in. It will take time to work all the slack out of the strings but the process can be sped up. Put on new strings and tune to just below concert pitch using an electronic guitar tuner. Then pull each string an inch away from the fretboard and this will instantly put them out of tune. Use your electronic guitar tuner to re-tune the strings to just below concert pitch and repeat the process. After a while the slack should be gone from the strings and the guitar can be tuned to concert pitch and should stay in tune.

Modern instruments use equal temperament tuning and the guitar is no exception. Equal temperament tuning was first proposed in the Baroque period because of the problem of certain intervals sounding out of tune. Using equal temperament means that the effect of the Pythagorean Comma is reduced.

Tuning the Guitar

Sound is created by the disturbance of particles in the air. The vibrations of a struck string causes the air particles to moves in waves which the ear receives and reproduces. When a string is attached to two points, as the strings on a guitar are, then striking it causes a sound to be produced at a certain frequency. The length, thickness and tension of the string determines the pitch of the note it produces. If you had a string of a certain length and tension stretched across a wooden board which produced a known frequency (sound) and you wished to double the frequency or put another way: produce the note an octave above; then you simply halve the distance that it is stretched across and keep the same tension. This is exactly what happens on a guitar when you fret any of the open strings at the twelfth fret.

There are many different tunings for the open strings of the guitar but the most common is known as "standard tuning" or E tuning. In standard tuning the open strings should be tuned to the notes E A D G B e.

Standard tuning is often represented in a method similar to the diagram below. Note that the upper case E represents the thickest string and the lower case e represents the thinnest string. This represents how the guitar looks when a player looks down on it. For further information, please see the Tablature section.

e|-----------------------|
B|-----------------------|
G|-----------------------|
D|-----------------------|
A|-----------------------|
E|-----------------------|

To adjust the pitch of a string you turn the tuning peg. The tighter the string the higher the pitch. If a string is manufactured to sound a note at 440Hz and you turn the tuning peg until the string reaches its maximum tension; it is likely that you have put your string far above the tension it was manufactured to withstand and the chance of string breakage increases. For this reason it is important to make sure you are turning the correct peg for the string you are trying to tune and the use of an Electronic guitar tuner is recommended since it shows the frequency of the string.

Until you have developed your musical ability, it may be difficult to know exactly what a particular note should sound like. Any music store will sell tuning aids, such as tuning forks, pitch pipes and electronic tuners. These allow you to precisely tune each string to the appropriate pitch. Every guitar player should own some sort of tuning aid and new players are encouraged to purchase one as soon as they buy a guitar. Tuning aids are important because they give you the reference notes for tuning each string.

Each fret on the guitar is a half-tone. In an octave there are twelve half-tones. To find the octave of any note on the same string, move up 12 frets. Two notes are called an interval and we use intervals to tune the guitar. The first tuning method most guitarists learn is Regular Tuning.

Regular Tuning

Regular tuning is sometimes called the fifth-fret method or 4-5 method. It involves getting a single string at the correct pitch and using that as a reference point for tuning the other strings. Because of this, a tuning aid is useful to ensure that the first string is properly tuned. It is best to use the open A string as the reference string . This is also the note that the Oboe sounds as a reference note (A = 440Hz) for the rest of the orchestra and it has become an international standard.

If you don't have a tuning aid then you will have to tune by ear without a reference note. This is perfectly acceptable but there is a good chance that you will not be tuned to concert pitch. Concert pitch is an internationally agreed standard that all tuning aids follow and the majority of artists use. This means that tuning to concert pitch will allow you to jam along with your favorite artist.

The diagram below is to give you a quick reference to where the fretted notes are.

e|-------------------0---|
B|---------------0---5---|
G|-----------0---4-------|
D|-------0---5-----------|
A|---0---5---------------|
E|---5-------------------|

Follow these six steps to tune your guitar using the 4-5 Method:

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6

It is recommended when tuning to bring the string up to its correct pitch. By tuning down to a pitch, you introduce slack into the string and it goes out of tune much faster. If the string is too high, it is best to tune it very low and then bring it back up to the correct pitch. The 4-5 Method of tuning has the disadvantage of increasing inaccuracies by the accumulation of mistakes.

Harmonic tuning

Another more advanced method of tuning is called harmonic tuning. In this method one uses particular harmonics produced by the strings in order to tune. The harmonic note lacks the fundamental and this produces a series of overtones which are more defined. It is easier to tune using harmonics because even minor changes in pitch are noticeable. To play a harmonic lightly touch a string directly above the location of a node without depressing the string. Then pluck the string and quickly remove your finger. This should produce a high pitched silvery tone known as the harmonic. For more information, please see the Harmonics chapter of this book.

The fretboard diagram below shows the pairs of harmonics that are used. You start by tuning the harmonic on the 7th fret of the A string to the harmonic on the low E string. Then the harmonic on the 7th fret of the D string is tuned with the harmonic on the 5th fret of the A string. Tuning the G string to the D string is done in the same manner. Tune the harmonic on the B string to the harmonic on the 4th fret of the G string. Tune the harmonic on the e string to the harmonic on the B string.

e|-------------7*------------|
B|--------5*-----------------|
G|------4*-----7*------------|  * = Play a harmonic at this fret
D|--------5*---7*------------|
A|--------5*---7*------------|
E|--------5*-----------------|

It is also to be noted that this method will not provide a perfect equal temperament tuning. It is extremely similar but many guitar players prefer the previous technique.

Alternative Tuning

This method uses the open high e string as the reference note. You tune the unison and octave E notes that are found on the other strings to the open high e. This method is recommended because it applies the concept of equal temperament. Hold the fretted note down as you turn the tuning peg; you will feel the string move under your fingertip. This involves striking the strings with your right hand and then using the right hand to turn the tuning pegs. If may feel awkward at first but with practice it should become second nature. Some guitarists and luthiers recommend that the fretted note on the 5th fret of the B string should be tuned wide by the amount of two beats per second in relation to the high e string. Experiment with tuning the B string wide.

Problems with Tuning

If your guitar absolutely will not go in tune, be patient and remember that even the best guitarists sometimes have trouble tuning. If the guitar has trouble staying in tune ask an experienced guitarist to take a look at it or take it to a luthier.