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'''Tuning ''' the guitar is one of the most difficult things for any beginner to get right quickly. It seems simple, but it is not nearly as simple as it first appears. I will be spending lots of time here - just bear with me and don't get discouraged. If your guitar is not in tune, it will NOT ''not'' sound good. And if tuned ''incorrectly'', it will apply the wrong tension to each string, which makes fretting easier/harder and can throw off your technique. Basically, you must learn to tune your guitar to succeed.
==PreReqs==
|Tuning and Harmonics#Harmonics|Harmonics}}
On the guitar, the '''tuners''' are (usually) the pegs on the headstock that ''increase/decrease tension'' on each string. Here, I am referring to devices that ''detect pitch'' and let you know how close you are to a certain note - these are tuning assistance tools, also commonly called '''tuners''' which can lead to some ambiguity. Even the most advanced players use some kind of tuning tool to help them. '''If you don't own a [[Guitar Parts and Functions#Tuner|tuner]], buy one or download a free smartphone tuner app.''' There are 3 kinds of tuners. The best kind for electric guitar is one you can plug the electical output of your guitar directly into the deveicedevice. The other two either use a microphone or a vibration sensor to get an electrical signal to analyze, which can introduce noise. The vibrational ones can also get broken from a hard shock. A tuner app on a phone will use a microphone - with electric guitar it can be difficult to play loud enough so that the microphone can pick up a clean signal.
Most tuners only tell you how close you are to a target note (A, B, C, etc), not what octave that note is (A<sub>2</sub>, C<sub>3</sub>, etc). You should be able to tell if you are a whole octave off, however. If you are an octave below, the string should have very little tension and may not resonate at all. If it does resonate, it will likely flap against the frets. If you are an octave above, the string will be extremely tense, to the point where it will be near breaking. It's always safer to go lower than higher. So if your target note is E but the note on your tuner is A, and you are unsure if you need to raise or lower the frequency, try lowering it down to E first. If the string is now way too loose, you went the wrong way. no harm done, just tune it up to the next highest E.
While not a pitch-detecting device, '''pitch pipes''' are also a common tool used to help tune the guitar. A pitch pipe is generally any kind of pipe or harmonica-like instrument that creates a single, fixed pitch. For guitar-tuning purposes, specialized pitch pipes that have 6 pipes combined in a single casing, tuned to each of the notes of a standard guitar tuning. You blow on a pipe and tune the corresponding string by ear, which is described below.
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|Tuning and Harmonics#Harmonics|Harmonics}}
I prefer to use harmonics. '''Harmonicsharmonics''' , which use a "pivot point on points" to divide the string into equal lengths that can all resonate simultaneously. Each section of the string to cause it to can resonate with the amplitude greatest at pitch that the middle of each section. The pivot points have essentially no amplitude - each section is resonating out of phase with the adjacent section(s), causing the point between them to be a multiple null (not produce any sound). The pitch created follows the harmonic series - the fundamental pitch (open string played normally) multiplied by the number of its resonant frequencysections produced. For example, the 12th fret harmonic divides the string into 2 sections, and has a pitch 2x as high as the open string's pitch. The 5th fret harmonic divides the string into 4 sections, and has a pitch 4x as high. To sound a harmonic, you lightly place a finger from your left hand on the pivot point, but don't push down (don't fret the string) and pluck the string. Almost immediately after plucking, remove your finger from the string - it will continue to resonate at the harmonic frequency. Harmonics are identified by a number (the multiple of the base frequency), but more often are labeled by the location of a pivot point in relation to fret numbers. For example, the second harmonic is also called the "12th fret harmonic". Note that beyond the 2nd harmonic, there are multiple pivot points on the string that can be used to achieve the same harmonic. The number of the harmonic indicates the frequency multiple from the first harmonic. Here are a list of the first 8 harmonics:
{| class="wikitable"
| 2|| 12|| Octave
|-
| 3|| 7, 19|| Fifth(12th)
|-
| 4|| 5, 24|| Octave(15th)
|-
| 5|| 3.9, 8.8, 15.9|| Major Third(17th)
|-
| 6|| 3.2|| Fifth(19th)
|-
| 7|| 2.7, 5.8, 9.7, 14.7, 21.7|| Seventh(21st)
|-
| 8|| 2.3, 8.1, 17|| FifthOctave (22nd)
|}
Note that to sound the harmonic correctly, you place your finger at exactly the position specified. So to ''fret'' the 12th fret, you would actually press down ''behind, not directly on top of'', the 12th fret. But for the 2nd ''harmonic'', you want to be ''directly'' over the 12th fret.
=== Tuning Using Harmonics ===
Since the guitar is tuned mostly in ascending 4ths, we can use harmonics to get what should be completely equivalent frequencies between two strings. A 4th interval is 4/3 the base frequency. The 4th harmonic of the lower string will give a frequency 4x that open string. The 3rd harmonic gives a frequency 3x that open string. Using the 4th harmonic on the lower pitched string and 3rd harmonic on the next highest pitched string should be the exact same note.
--0-- = 4/3* x Hz; --<7>-- = 3* 4/3* x = 4* x --0-- = x Hz; --<5>-- = 4* x = 4* x To demonstrate, the 6th string should be tuned to E, or 82.5 HZHz. Sounding the 4th harmonic would give us 4x that pitch. 4 * 82.5 Hz = 330Hz. The 5th string should be tuned to A or 110 HZHz. The 3rd harmonic is 3x that pitch. 3 x 110 Hz = 330Hz. So 6th string 4th harmonic = 5th string 3rd harmonic = 330 HZHz. 82.5 Hz (E) x 4/3 (4th interval) = 110 Hz (A). --0-- = 110.0 Hz; --<7>-- = 3* 110.0 Hz = 330 Hz --0-- = 82.5 Hz; --<5>-- = 4* 82.5 Hz = 330 Hz
So if we sound the ''5th fret harmonic of the 6th string'' and the ''7th fret harmonic of the 5th string'', the same note should be ringing out. This frees up the left hand to rotate the tuners to achieve the same note. And like open strings, harmonics tend to sustain longer. This works on every pair of strings except the 2nd and 3rd strings. For these we can use the 5th harmonic of the 3rd string and the 3rd harmonic of the 1st string. That's the 3.9 or 8.8 fret harmonic on 3rd string and 7th fret harmonic on the 1st string.
3rd string G is 196 HZHz. 196 x 5 = 980. 1st string E is 330 HZHz. 330 x 3 = 990 HZHz. But wait - 980 != 990. Unfortunate, but close enough for our purposes. If we tune the 1st string 3rd harmonic to 980, that means the 1st string is now 326 and 2/3 HZHz. That's only 3 1/3 HZ Hz away from our target of 330 HZHz, and the human ear has trouble differentiating pitches within such a small window (approximately 1% off).
Once we've gotten the 1st and 3rd strings tuned together, we can use the previous 5th/7th fret harmonic technique to tune the 2nd string to the 1st string.