Rossini's Jazz

Those who are new to playing the guitar are often so anxious to get started that they don't learn to tune properly. Certainly you should take the time to learn to tune your guitar by ear for many reasons. One of these is that there are times when tuners are not available. Ear tuning is actually quite simple and often times much faster too. Sometimes this type of tuning is necessary to make small adjustments quickly. It takes very little time and effort to learn.

After playing the instrument for a while, most people get pretty good at using their ear to determine whether or not a string is in tune. Of course tuning each string based on its expected tone for a given tuning can be a bit much to ask at first. Instead, getting the low E tuned is a good place to start, and most newcomers are pleased to find they can get pretty close, even without a tuner.

Once the low E is tuned, each of the other strings can be tuned, one at a time, based on the sound of the string above it. Once the low E is tuned, placing a finger on that string in the fifth fret produces an A. This is what the fifth string should be tuned to. Make certain the fifth string, when played open, sounds like the sixth string when played on the fifth fret.

Moving down, the fourth string is D. Conveniently, the D note can also be found by playing the fifth string on the fifth fret. Just match the fourth string to that note and the first three strings are done. Moving down again, the third string is G. This is also the note when the fourth string is played on the fifth fret.

Now, the second string is a B. To get the B note on the third string it should be played on the fourth fret. This is the only exception to the pattern. The G string plays a B note on the fourth fret, and this is the tone the second string should be matched to.

Return to the fifth fret on the second string to produce the high E note. Tune the first string to this pitch. Next, check the first string and the sixth string to confirm they each produce E. These are the same notes, only they are separated by a single octave. If they don't ring true, make adjustments, beginning again with the sixth string and working down to the first.

Over time this method of tuning will become quite simple. When you learn to tune your guitar by ear in this way you will find getting in tune and saying in tune is fairly simple. And, since each string is relative to the same note from the fifth or fourth fret above it, the guitar will sound great even if it is not perfectly tuned as a whole.