How to Tune Your Guitar

Tuning the guitar is the first step in making beautiful sounds and beautiful music. It is the most essential aspect of creating chords and notes that sound good. Therefore it is extremely important. Nevertheless, it is often overlooked. You should tune your guitar EVERY time you play it. Get in the habit of tuning your guitar before you start, and if you are playing your guitar for long periods of time, every 15 minutes or so. 

Instructions For Tuning the Guitar 

Place the guitar on your lap. The string that is closest to your head is called the low E string. Starting with the low E string and tune each string, one at a time, progressing as you go toward the ground. Below are the names of each of the strings, which also indicates what notes each string should be tuned to: 

E – the low E string, also known as the 6th string 

A – 5th 

D – 4th 

G – 3rd 

B – 2nd 

E – 1st 

If you like you can tune your guitar by using the simple free online guitar tuner on located here. 

To use the tuner: 

Simply click on the appropriate letter and match the corresponding string of your guitar to the sound produced by the tuner. This tuner is always going to be on this page, so if you want you can bookmark this page now so you will always have a free tuner. 

Once you have the low E string tuned, you can use another method to tune your guitar, as follows: 

Standard Tuning Method 

Step 1: Make sure the low E string is in tune. 

Unfortunately, if you don't have a tuner, you are going to have to just 'wing it', meaning do your best to remember how the low E should sound when in tune. 

Step 2: Tune The A String 

Next, use the low E string to get a relative tone for the A string by playing the 5th fret of the low E string. Place your left index finger on the fifth ret of the low E string. Make sure to put adequate pressure to produce a nice clean tone, and pluck the string with your right finger. This will produce an 'A' note. The next string should sound exactly like this, since it should be tuned to an 'A'. 

Step 3: Tune The D String 

Next, use the A string to get a relative tone for the D string by playing the 5th fret of the A string. Place your left index finger on the fifth ret of the low E string. Make sure to put adequate pressure to produce a nice clean tone, and pluck the string with your right finger. This will produce an 'D' note. The next string should sound exactly like this, since it should be tuned to an 'D'. 

Step 4: Tuning The G String 

Now repeat the steps above on the D string. In other words, place your left index finger on the fifth fret of the D string and pluck. This will produce a 'G' note. The next string should sound exactly like this, since it is the G string. 

Step 5: The B String 

Now comes the curve ball. This time you're going to place the first finger of your left hand just behind the forth fret instead of the fifth fret. This will produce a 'B' note, which you can use to tune the next string. 

Step 6: Tuning The E String 

Finally, Place the first finger of your left hand just behind the fifth fret on the B string. That’s should create an 'E' note, which you can use to tune the final string. 

Remember to bookmark this page for your free tuner. 



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