Guitar Tricks Online Guitar Lessons

Tuning Your Guitar

 

Now it's time to get your guitar in tune, and there are a million different ways to do this. I'll go ahead with the simplest and quickest way right now so that we can get to the actual playing. If for any reason this does not work for you, there's a comprehensive tutorial on tuning in the trouble-shooting chapter that you can reference at any time. But chances are you'll be just fine with this lesson! And maybe you already know how to tune in which case you can skip this lesson.

Anders Mouridsen
Instructor Anders Mouridsen
Tutorial:
Tuning And Playing Notes
Styles:
Any Style
Difficulty:
print notation download lesson open guitar tuner
Tuning Your Guitar song notation

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Questions & Answers

10 months ago
Hi, How do I download the lessons?
Josh Workman 9 months ago

It’s super easy. Just click on the button that says "Download Lesson" located below the video. It’s right there with the “Favorite” and “Print” buttons. The ability to download videos is only available to Full Access subscribers.

11 months ago
The tuning video has confused me. Do I assume I have to use a guitar tuner or always refer back to the video and listen to the tones in the video
Josh Workman 11 months ago

Hi, you can tune your guitar in many different ways. Anders is just showing how to match pitches by ear. There are tuners (and phone apps/websites) that will actually play the same pitches that he does out loud, too. So, you don't need to refer back to his video. If you decide to use a tuner that helps you tune visually, I would get the notes close by listening to the pitches the first time, then use the tuner (if you choose) after that. Sometimes beginners use a tuner without listening to the notes and end up breaking strings by tuning to the correct note (say E) but an octave higher than it should be.

1 year ago
Hi. I'm new with you as I'm just starting to learn the guitar. If I understood well the notation of the guitar, the middle C is played at the 8th flet of the E string. If that is corrected; and after tunned the guitar, why that note sounds the same as the C3 in the piano (the 3rd C from the left in a 88-key piano), when the middle C in such piano is the C4? Thanks a lot to any help you can give me to answer this doubt.
Josh Workman 1 year ago

Hi, good question. This has to do with finding the right octave to read music on just one staff, instead of using the Grand Staff, in the same way that singers often transpose music an octave or how a tenor sax reads an octave plus a 2nd above the concert pitch. Actually, I just found a GT post about this that should help: https://www.guitartricks.com/forum/t/29368/p/239281 Hope this helps!