How to tune your guitar by ear?

Most teenagers between the ages of 13-16 dream of owning their own acoustic guitar. Guys draw pictures in their minds as they play different melodies for a large group of friends. The girls are sure that, having mastered the acoustics, they will be able to attract the enthusiastic glances of those around them. And, in principle, both judgments are correct. However, learning to play the guitar is not easy. You need to learn different fights, memorize chords, master the bar. But first you need to learn how to tune the guitar. Today a tuner has been developed for this purpose. And in the absence of a device, the guitarist must be guided by his own hearing.

“My guitar is upset again” - this phrase is heard more often than others from the lips of novice guitarists. And this is not surprising. Inexperienced hands strike the strings incorrectly, and fingers do not accurately pinch chords. Today's manufacturers of musical instruments and ancillary equipment offer consumers a multitude of tuner variations that allow them to tune their guitar in seconds. But it is much more difficult for novice musicians to orient themselves by ear. However, before you begin to learn the nuances of properly tuning strings, you need to understand some of the concepts of this process.

Guitar strings are numbered from bottom to top. The thinnest is the 1st, and the thickest is the 6th. Standard guitar tune should start from the 6th, which corresponds to the "E" note. In self-instruction manuals, it appears in the Latin letter "E". The following is a transcript of how guitar strings should be tuned in classical tuning:

• "E" - the first, the most subtle - "mi";
• "B" - the second - "si";
• "G" - the third - "salt";
• "D" - the fourth - "re";
• "A" - the fifth - "la";
• "E" is the sixth, the thickest is "mi".

Well now, having recognized the standard of the classical tuning, you can begin to study the nuances of tuning. The tuners placed on the head of the guitar are important details of acoustic tuning. You can twist them in different directions. Turning it clockwise makes the strings sound high, and counterclockwise produces a lower sound.

The guitarist should tune the 6th string first. You will need to find the reference sounding of the "E" note. You can hear it on any other musical instrument, such as a tuning fork. Owners of absolute pitch without the use of various devices can determine the required note pitch as accurately as possible. However, this quality is given to only a few. Many musicians have to develop this important skill over the years.

After finding a quality sound sample, you can start tuning. Having started the E note, the guitarist should start plucking the 6th string. At the first sound, the musician hears the difference. To adjust the sound, you need to start twisting the tuning pegs. They can be tightened or loosened. The main thing is that the sounds of the string and the sample of the note are identical.

The remaining strings can be tuned in the same way. However, guitarists prefer the 6th-string tuning option.

• The 6th string should be played at the 5th fret. In this case, the 5th must remain free, that is, completely open. The guitarist needs to alternately tug on the 5th and 6th sound reproducing strings in order to achieve a unison sound.
• The 4th, 3rd and 1st strings are tuned in a similar way.
• Tuning the 2nd string is done in a slightly different way. Use the 3rd string at the 4th fret as the basis for picking the sound.

It is impossible for beginner guitarists to master the technique of tuning the instrument the first time. But with a little effort, after several independent attempts, it will be possible to remember the approximate sound of the notes, to which the sounds of the strings are adjusted.

It's actually very difficult to tune the 2nd string of a guitar by ear. As good as the E note sounds, it can take a beginner more than a minute to adjust to the unison sound. For those who are unsure of their listening skills, it is recommended that you practice with the tuned piano, playing the desired notes by pressing the appropriate keys.

The 2nd string is tuned based on the sound of the 3rd string clamped at the 4th fret.

It is necessary to alternately pull the open and clamped string. The selection of the sound should start from the 5th fret. On heavily detuned guitars, the unison sound can be caught at about the 3rd or 7th fret. If it turns out that the sound is combined at a fret higher than the 5th, then the musical thread needs to be tightened. And if the unison sound coincides with a fret below the 5th, the string should be loosened.

The closer the guitarist gets to the ideal sound, the less rattling is felt. The same situation occurs if the musician has pulled the string. The guitarist needs to catch the very moment when the tremors completely disappear.

Tuning the 3rd string is much easier. It is already easier for the guitarist to find the right sound by ear. The search system for unison sound is similar to tuning the 5th string. The main thing is to carefully twist the tuning pegs so that the sound thread of the musical instrument does not burst.

The 4th, 5th and 6th strings are tuned to the already fitted sound being clamped at the 5th fret. They themselves must be free.It is important to pay attention to vibrations and rattles. The disappearance of these states indicates that the setting was successful.

Learning to tune a guitar is not easy. Of course, musical instrument manufacturers have developed special devices that do not require the guitarist to have hearing. but any musician should be able to hear and understand notes. That is why virtuosos of acoustics recommend gaining knowledge of guitar tuning without using electronics that think for a person. And to help aspiring musicians, there are several important tips and tricks.

Surely middle-aged people remember that guitarists of the 90s used a landline phone to tune the first string. Having picked up the receiver, the person heard a lingering beep, which was the quality sound of the "mi" note. The guitarist had only to adjust the sound of the strings to the moan of the telephone. Well, then proceed to tuning the remaining musical threads. Unfortunately, today not every musician can use this method. Modern telephones are equipped with a complex "filling" that affects the drawn-out sound of the dial tone. In some pipes, it turns out to be muffled, in others, on the contrary, it is saturated.

The second way to tune your guitar by ear involves the use of modern gadgets. It is enough to download a special application to your phone, which will tell you how far the tuned string falls short of the ideal. At the same time, the guitarist remembers the correct sound and after a while can safely remove the application from the phone. Experienced musicians recommend installing Fender Tune - Guitar Tuner. It is efficient and very easy to use.

All strings should be loosened before proceeding with tuning. And when pulling up the tuning pegs, be extremely careful. Any sudden movement can lead to the breakage of the thinnest element of the guitar, which cannot be restored.

After the final tuning of the strings, you need to recheck your work. When you pull up the tuning pegs, the already tuned strings are weakened, respectively, they can make the wrong sound.

After checking has shown that the guitar is in tune, the musician needs to press the ends of the strings against the tuning pegs and twist them in a spiral. This fixation is a kind of guarantee that the sound-reproducing threads do not have to be tightened again after several compositions.

According to the information provided, it becomes clear that everyone can learn how to tune the guitar. The main thing is to take this process as seriously as possible.

For a visual instruction on how to tune your guitar by ear, see the following video.