How to tune a guitar without going crazy!
Check out my new blog for more information on electric guitars! Learning how to tune a guitar and keep it in tune can be a royal pain sometimes! It's very tough for a beginner, even with some kind of electronic help. It's also very discouraging to a beginning guitarist to find the correct low E string tuning to start the process when you change strings even with an electronic tuner. Unless you have perfect pitch , you'll have to use the methods I outline below...
Here's my method on how to tune a guitar after a string change: 1) Take off the old strings. After they're off the guitar, take all six string together- coil them up and then keep passing the end of the strings through the coil until you have a round circle of old, dirty strings. That way you can trash them without the strings flying all over the place. 2) Now's the time to clean around the pick-ups and the top of the fretboard. I use a glass cleaner for the plastic and a quality wood polish for the body and neck. 3) Run your strings through the base of the bridge or tail piece. Start with the low E. Figure out how much you want to wind onto the tuners and clip off the excess with wire cutters. Push the string through the hole in the tuner far enough to start winding. Put your right thumb (or left if your stringing a lefty guitar) on the string just below the nut and hold the string against the fretboard. This keeps the tension on the string over the nut and keeps the string from spooling off of the tuner. 4) Wind the string onto the tuner and as tension increases to the point that the string doesn't pop off, release your thumb. 5) Repeat for the rest of the strings. 6) When the strings are in place, wind some more tension on each string to raise them above the fretboard. DO NOT WIND TOO MUCH!
8) Now find some music on your player of choice and fine a tune heavy with E guitar chords.(Back in the day I used "Eighteen" by Alice Cooper). 9) Play your music and tune the low E to the song. It will take some practice for beginners to find the "ear" for it. 10) When your satisfied with the low E, work your way down the strings to the high E. You can do this a number of ways including: A - Put your finger on the low E string at the fifth fret (A note). Tune the A string to this note. Do the same for each string except the B string. Here you put your finger on the G string at the fourth fret (B note) and tune the B string to that note. Tune the high E string the same as the first four. B - To tune the rest of the strings after low E, put your index finger on the low E-2nd fret and your pinky on the A string-4th fret. Tune the A string until the string stops "warbling". The string will "warble" high(fast) or low(slow) when plucked together and out of tune. It will stop "warbling" when it's in tune. This bit of physics is called heterodyning. Use the same finger positions on the D and G strings. To tune the B string, place your index finger on the G string-2nd fret and your pinky on the B string-5th fret. Tune the same as the previous strings. The high E is tuned the same as the first four strings.
That's how you tune a guitar!
Bear in mind you'll have to re-tune frequently, especially with new strings until they settle down and stay in tune. I have heard stories of people boiling new strings in water to stop the re-tuning, but I've never tried it.
Check out my new blog for more information on electric guitars!
Disclaimer- be careful when changing strings on any stringed instrument! They can be sharp and love to spring everywhere if they are not held in place. Wear some kind of safety eye wear.
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