Tune a Guitar by Ear

From folksy singer-songwriters to heavy metal shred-masters, every guitarist needs to know how to tune her guitar. Out-of-tune guitars can make even the most beautiful compositions sound amateurish and sloppy, so it's vital to ensure that a guitar is in tune before playing. In fact, learning how to tune a guitar is often one of the very first skills that a guitarist learns when taking lessons. Whether you're a beginner looking to get started or an intermediate player looking for information on common alternate tunings, see Step 1 below to get started!

Steps

Mastering Standard Tuning

  1. Tune the low E string to a reference E pitch. Tuning a guitar essentially means ensuring that every string makes the correct pitch when it is strummed. This is done by tightening and loosening the strings with the small knobs on the head of the guitar (called "tuning keys"). Generally, the very first string you tune is the most important one, because if you can get just this one string perfectly in tune, it's not hard to get the rest of the strings in tune by using the first string as a reference point. To tune your low E string (the thickest string on the guitar located nearest to you in standard right-handed configurations), use the corresponding knob on the head to tighten or loosen the string until it perfectly matches the pitch of an E natural.
    • Specifically, the note you're looking to tune your low E string to is the second E beneath middle C. On an 88-key piano, you can find this note by counting eight black keys from the left and then pressing the white key to the right of the eighth black key.
    • If you don't have a piano, however, you have plenty of other options at your disposal. For instance, you may want to purchase an electronic tuner or pitch pipe from a music store or use an online guitar tuner to help you find your reference pitch. One handy tuner is available here.
  2. Match the tone of the A string to the 5th fret of the low E string. Once you've gotten your low E string in tune, tuning the rest of the strings is fairly easy and won't necessarily require the aid of a tuner or reference pitches (though these can still be helpful if you get lost). Begin by using the index finger on your left hand to fret the low E string at its 5th fret (usually this is marked with a dot on the fretboard). Use your right hand (or a pick) to play this note by strumming the low E string. Next, play an open A string — in other words, strum the A string (the string just below the low E string) without fretting any notes. Use the corresponding tuning knob to tune the open A string until its tone matches that of the the 5th fret of the E string perfectly.
    • Make sure to only turn the knob that the A string is wrapped around. Don't turn the knob that you just used to tune the low E string. The low E string is already in tune, so turning this knob will bring it out of tune, which can force you to start over.
  3. Tune the D string to the 5th fret of the A string. Next, you'll want to repeat the exact process you just performed, but shifted down one set of strings. Fret the 5th note of the A string and strum the open D string. Turn the D string's tuning knob until the D string is perfectly in tune with the note produced by the 5th fret of the A string.
    • As above, you'll want to leave the tuning knob of the A string (as well as that of the low E string) alone at this point. Turning these knobs now can sabotage the tuning work you've already done by bringing these notes out of tune.
  4. Tune the G string to the 5th fret of the D string. For the next string, shift one string down and perform the same process you used for the A and D string once again. Fret the 5th fret of the D string and strum the open G string, then tune the G string so that its pitch perfectly matches that of the 5th fret of the D string. As before, refrain from turning the knobs for any of the other strings.
  5. Tune the B string to the 4th fret of the G string. The tuning process for the next string is slightly different than that used for the others. For the next string, you'll want to fret the 4th fret of the G string, rather than the 5th string. Strum the open B string and match its pitch to that of the 4th fret of the G string. Don't neglect this small but important difference — proceeding to tune as you have been previously will leave the highest two strings hideously out of tune.
    • A good way to remember that you use the 4th fret of the G string to tune rather than the 5th is to use the mnemonic "'4th string, 4th fret". G is the 4th string from the top of the fretboard and its 4th fret is used for tuning the B string.
  6. Tune the final string to the 5th fret of the B string. Finally, after you've tuned all of the other strings, only the bottom high E string remains. For this string, you'll want to return to using the 5th fret of the previous string for tuning. Fret the 5th fret of the B string, then strum the open high E string and attempt to match its pitch to that of the 5th fret of the B string.
    • Note that the high E string should be exactly two octaves above the low E string (the thick string that you tuned first). If you play the low E string and the high E string at the same time without fretting either (which can be done by using the thumb and index finger of the right hand to pluck them), they should sound in tune with each other. If they sound "off" or "wobbly", your tuning of the intermediate strings was probably not perfect and you may want to try again.
  7. Test your work. When you've finished tuning, it's a wise idea to make sure that your guitar is perfectly in tune before you start playing in case you've made any minor mistakes. You can do this in a variety of ways. For instance, you may want to use the reference pitched on an electronic tuner, a piano, or an online tuning application to ensure that each string matches its reference pitch perfectly. You may also want to try playing a few simple chords and listening to hear whether every string rings clearly and in tune with the other strings.
    • From top to bottom (thickest string to thinnest), your strings should be in tune with the notes E, A, D, G, B, and E, respectively.
    • If you don't know any chords yet, follow these instructions to strum a simple G chord to test your tuning. Fret the third fret of the low E string with the middle finger of your left hand. Keep this finger held down and use your index finger to fret the second fret of the A string. Finally, keep these held down and fret the third fret of the high E string with your ring finger. Now, strum all six strings in one motion. The resulting chord should sound pleasing and "happy", with little to no dissonance.
  8. Start playing. Congratulations! You've successfully tuned your guitar to standard EADGBE tuning. This tuning is by far the most common one used for guitar music. Many, many classical, blues, rock, and pop songs use this tuning. As an example of the wide variety of song styles for which this tuning is used, note that both "Hey Ya!" by Outkast and the classic "The Times They Are a-Changin'" by Bob Dylan use this tuning.
    • While standard tuning is certainly the most common guitar tuning, there are, however, countless songs that do not use it. In the next few sections, we'll learn several alternate tunings.

Tuning to Drop D

  1. Tune the low E string to a D reference pitch. As with standard tuning, the first note you'll want to tune for this alternate tuning is the thick string at the top of the fretboard. However, in this case, you'll want to tune it to a note other than what the string's name (E) implies. Using one of the means described in the section above (for instance, a piano, tuner, or online application), play a low D note. This note should be exactly one whole-step lower than the E you used for standard tuning above. Turn the low E string's tuning knob until the string matches the pitch of your D reference tone when strummed.
    • Note that, if you're using a piano, the note you want is the white key directly to the left of the E note you used for standard tuning above, or, in other words, the white key between the seventh and eight black keys from the left (assuming an 88-key piano).
    • The term "whole-step" above refers to the way in which musical scales are divided into notes. Basically, scales are divided into twelve different pitches. However, these pitches aren't evenly-spaced within the scale. Some, like E and D, are a whole tone apart, while others, like E and Eb, are half this tonal distance apart (we say they are a "half-step" apart).
  2. Tune the A string to the 7th fret of the low E string. In drop D tuning, only one string (the low E string, which you just tuned to D) is different from its standard tuning tone. The rest of the strings are tuned to the same notes as they are in standard tuning. To tune the A string to an A, fret the 7th fret of the low E string, then strum the A string and turn its tuning knob to adjust its pitch to that of the low E string.
    • By doing this, you are tuning the A string to the note A, just as you did for standard tuning. You are using a different fret on the low E string to compensate for the fact that the string is now tuned to a lower note.
  3. Tune the D, G, B, and E strings as in standard tuning. Because only the low E string is tuned to a different note in drop D tuning, you can tune the final four strings exactly as you did for standard tuning. In other words, tune the strings as follows:
    • Tune the D string to the 5th fret of the A string.
    • Tune the G string to the 5th fret of the D string.
    • Tune the B string to the 4th fret of the G string.
    • Tune the high E string to the 5th fret of the B string.
  4. Play a few power chords to test your work. At this point, you should be finished. Congratulations! You've tuned your guitar to drop D tuning. This tuning allows you to hit the low D note on the top string and gives your chords a darker, muddier feel. Note that, in this tuning, power chords with their roots on on the thickest string become exceedingly easy to play. Simply lay your left index finger across the same fret on the top three (thickest) strings and strum these strings to play a power chord. If your guitar is in tune, your chord should sound positively nasty (in a good way).
    • This style of tuning is often used to achieve a sludgy sound for heavy metal music. For instance, songs like "Moby Dick" by Led Zeppelin and "Everlong" by the Foo Fighters both use drop D to great effect.
  5. To tune to drop C, B, etc., tune the low E string to the desired note. Though drop D is probably the most common tuning after standard tuning, a variety of other alternate tunings use the same "drop" configuration. The difference between these tunings is based on the note that the low E string is tuned to initially. After tuning the low E string to the desired note, the rest of the strings are tuned in the same way as for drop D tuning. The lower your starting note, the darker and sludgier your guitar will sound when you play. This makes these alternate tunings especially popular with extreme metal acts. For instance, experimental metal duo Sunn O))) achieves extremely dark sounds by tuning as low as drop A.
    • As noted above, once you pick your starting note for the low E string, you'll tune the rest of your strings exactly as you did for drop D. This means that, for drop tunings other than drop D, the actual notes the strings are tuned to will not be the same as in standard tuning, but the tonal distances between the strings will be. As an example, if we want to tune to drop C, we'll tune the low E string to C, then tune the rest of the strings as follows:
    • Tune the A string to the 7th fret of the low E string (G).
    • Tune the D string to the 5th fret of the A string (C).
    • Tune the G string to the 5th fret of the D string (F).
    • Tune the B string to the 4th fret of the G string (A).
    • Tune the high E string to the 5th fret of the B string (D).

Tuning to Open D

  1. Grab a slide for playing. Until now, we've discussed guitar tunings that are useful for people playing guitar with a pick or their fingers. However, these aren't the only ways to play a guitar. For instance, many blues songs make use of a special tool called a slide which is essentially a short glass or metal tube that fits over the guitarist's index finger on his fretting hand. The slide allows the guitarist to glide effortlessly between notes on the fretboard for a characteristic "fluid" sound (a good example of this is the opening lead melody of the famous Lynyrd Skynyrd song "Free Bird"). Though it's possible to play with a slide in any tuning, because of the slide's rigidness, tuning to a style where the strings make a chord when strummed in the open position makes it much easier to play with a slide. In this section, we'll tune our guitar to open D, one of the most common of such tunings for slide guitar.
    • For great examples of slide guitar playing in open tuning, check out "Goin' Down to the River" by Mississippi Fred McDowell or "Catch Hell Blues" by the White Stripes (the latter is in open A, rather than open D tuning).
  2. Tune the low E string to D, as for drop D. The first few steps of tuning to open D are essentially the same as those for tuning to drop D. You'll want to begin by tuning your guitar's low E string to a D reference tone. As noted above, you can use a variety of options here — pianos, tuners, pitch pipes, and online tools all work well.
  3. Tune the A and D strings as you would for drop D. Next, you'll want to tune the following two strings exactly as you did for drop D tuning. Tune the A string to the tone made by the 7th fret of the low E string and, after that, tune the D string to the that of the 5th fret of the A string. This will tune the top three strings of your guitar to D, A, and the D one octave above the first D, respectively.
    • You may have noticed that this tuning preserves your ability to play easy power chords on the first three strings. While this is true, power chords aren't necessarily things that are common in traditional slide guitar music.
  4. Tune the G string to the 4th fret of the D string. For the last three strings, open D tuning begins to differ from drop D tuning. Tune the G string to the 4th fret of D, rather than the 5th, as is customary. By doing this, you tune the G string to the note F#.
    • As a reminder, tunings for slide guitar tend to form chords when all six strings are strummed together in the open position. The notes in the D major arpeggio are D, A, and F#. By tuning the G string from a G to an F#, this ensures that all of the strings will sound a chord when strummed together.
  5. Tune the B string to the 3rd fret of the G string. Next, we'll do something that we haven't had to do so far: tune a string to the third fret. As noted above, we want all of the notes in our open D tuning to belong to the D major chord, whose notes are D, A, and F#. By tuning the B string to the 3rd fret of the G string (which is now tuned to F#), we make it an A, which is a note that is in the D major chord.
  6. Tune the high E string the 5th fret of the B string. Finally, finish tuning to open D by tuning the last string as you always have so far. Strum the 5th fret of the B string, then strum the open E string and tune it so that it matches the tone perfectly. Though we're tuning it exactly the same as before, because the B string is now tuned to A, we're actually tuning the high E string to D, rather than E. This is a good thing because, as explained above, the note D is in the D major chord.
  7. Play to test out your work. You're all finished! All that is left is to test your handiwork by playing your guitar, preferably with a slide to take advantage of the open tuning (though this isn't absolutely necessary). Slip the slide onto the index finger of your left hand and strum all six strings in the open position with your right hand. Gently press the slide against the strings and strum again. Ideally, if your guitar is in tune, you should hear a major chord that's in tune with itself. Let the notes ring and move the slide up and down the neck. The chord should smoothly shift in pitch as you move the slide. It may take some practice, but eventually you should get the hang of playing in open tuning with a slide.
    • If you don't own a slide, you can usually get away with playing with any similarly smooth, round object. For instance, the neck of an empty glass bottle works well.



Tips

  • After using your guitar for a period of time (several hours of playing) All the plucking will pull the guitar out of tune. Check if your guitar is in tune every time before playing.
  • Try carrying a pitch pipe in your guitar case. They are VERY helpful.
  • Keep your guitar in a place were the head won't be touched. Laying a guitar against the wall for example can press against and turn the tuner heads, putting the guitar out of tune.

Warnings

  • NEVER tune a string too tight. This is especially true for the higher strings, as this can cause them to snap, forcing you to buy a replacement.
  • Don't play a guitar that's out of tune, especially in front of others. It sounds horrible!

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Sources and Citations

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