Anyone Can Learn To Tune Your Guitar By Ear

Anyone Can Learn To Tune Your Guitar By Ear

by Robert Scott

Those who are new to playing the guitar are often so anxious to get started that they don't learn to tune properly. Certainly you should take the time to learn to tune your guitar by ear for many reasons. One of these is that there are times when tuners are not available. Ear tuning is actually quite simple and often times much faster too. Sometimes this type of tuning is necessary to make small adjustments quickly. It takes very little time and effort to learn.

Over time, players become quite proficient in hearing a note when it is in tune as well as when it is not. It can be quite a challenge however to tune each of the six strings individually by simply hearing the note. The first step is to get the low E string tuned. Doing so by ear may mean the pitch isn't perfect, but beginners are typically surprised at how close they can get.

When basing standard tuning off the sixth string, the rest of the strings can be adjusted based on the sound of the string directly above it on the neck. Start with string five. This is the A string and should sound like the low E string played on the fifth fret. When the fifth string matches this sound, it is in tune relative to the sixth string.

String four, played open, is a D note. This same D can be found on the A string by picking it in the fifth fret. The third string is G, and it should sound exactly like the fourth string played in fret five. Match them and keep moving down.

The second string, also known as B, is where the pattern changes. To play a B on this string it must be picked at the fourth fret. For standard turning this is the only time fret five isn't used.

Move back up to the fifth fret for the first string. This is high E and should match the tone that results from playing the second string on fret five. Finally, play the first and sixth strings. They should match. Remember the sixth string is Low E and the first string is the same note only one octave higher.

Over time this method of tuning will become quite simple. When you learn to tune your guitar by ear in this way you will find getting in tune and saying in tune is fairly simple. And, since each string is relative to the same note from the fifth or fourth fret above it, the guitar will sound great even if it is not perfectly tuned as a whole.

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