BC-109 • Get your guitar in tune

[justinguitar]

Lesson Link: http://justinguitar.com/en/BC-109-TuneYourGuitar.php

Questions...

[willie nik]

Why does guitar tuning change from 4ths to thirds on 2nd string?

[Xaromir]

Maybe i can help a bit:

You should read the Note-Circle thingy on his homepage first.
http://www.justinguitar.com/en/TB-006-NoteCircle.php

If you did that just now you maybe already know that,
but i thought i show it anyway.
The notes on the first 5 frets on every string...

Just to explain that little table:
The numbers on the first line represent the number of the fret, "open" is just the note of the string.
Every line under the first one represents one string from thinnest to fattest,
the letters are just the names of the notes on the frets.
I hope it helps you to understand.
If there are questions please ask.

Open||---1------2-------3-------4-------5---
e----||---f------f#------g------g#------a---
b----||---c------c#-----d------d#------e---
g----||---g#-----a------a#-----b-------b#--
d----||---d#-----e------f-------f#------g---
a----||---a#-----b------c------c#------d---
E----||---f------f#------g------g#------a---

[justinguitar]

I think you want to know why...

The reason is just practical! If you try and tune them all in 4ths, then many chords become super hard to play. So it is just about playing really.

There have been other "standard" tunings in the history of the guitar, but the current one is by far the easiest for most things and so it stays!

J

[willie nik]

Many thanks.

I see what you mean re: tuning in 4ths. It would certainly make the F chord an interesting proposition!

By the way, regarding your Really Useful Guitar Stuff Part 1: is there a way of posting any questions?

Also, any chance of a part 3 dealing with reading music?  WN

[royp]

By the way, regarding your Really Useful Guitar Stuff Part 1: is there a way of posting any questions?

Yes, link below -

http://www.justinguitar.com/forum/index.php?board=24.0

 

[Tetsuo]

Hi there. im new to all this stuff (forum and guitar playing).

I just bought my guitar and im waiting for it to be delivered.
Im wondering how to tune the guitar with the attached tunner! Its said to be a Chromatic one (with an LCD screen)

How im suposed to know if i have to apply a high or low tension to the strings?
If im tuning the E string, for example, and the LCD show me another letter... is there an algorithm to follow?

I wanna thank you Justin for your great site. Surely it will help me a lot (im planning to learn with your Beginners Course V2..im a complete hiper super beginner in playing music). I watched some of your tutorials... its just perfect...
Sorry about my bad english, cause its not my main language. I got some problens listening the videos too. . My english teacher would not be proud 
By the way.. im from Brazil!

Any help or link will be great!

Thanks!

[Simonovski]

Im wondering how to tune the guitar with the attached tunner! Its said to be a Chromatic one (with an LCD screen)

If im tuning the E string, for example, and the LCD show me another letter... is there an algorithm to follow?

These are the letters the tuner can show you:
http://www.justinguitar.com/en/TB-006-NoteCircle.php

So if you want it to be E, but it shows D, tighten the string and it will move to D# or Em (Which are Two names for the same note). then tighten it again until you reach E.

[Tetsuo]

Hi Simonovski,

Thanks for the quick reply. I saw the circle and understood your example. But now, i got some new questions..  

If its a Circle ... and i want A, and it shows me E (i dont know if this is possible), how can i know if i have to tighten or loosen the string? As a circle it seen that i can go clockwise (tighten it) or counterclockwise (loosen it). Am i losing something?

ps: perhaps its not quite possible to get an E when im playing the string A?

I read somewhere that you should always tune UP to the correct sound. So..if you need to tune down.. just go DOWN DOWN DOWN... and then UP to the pitch. Is it right?!

Im really chosing words to put here ...cause my vocabulary is poor

Thanks!

[Simonovski]

If its a Circle ... if i want A, and it shows me E (i dont know if this is possible), how can i know if i have to tighten ou loosen the string? As a circle it seen that i can go clockwise (tighten it) or counterclockwise (loosen it). Am i losing something?

You are right, because it is a circle, you can tighten the string or loosen it to get to a note.
So in that situation, you would listen to the A, and see if it is higher or lower in pitch than the E that you want. If it sounds higher than the E you want, loosen the string, if it sounds too low, tighten the string.

If you don't know what it should sound like, compare it to the strings in Justin's video.
http://justinguitar.com/en/BC-109-TuneYourGuitar.php

ps: perhaps its not quite possible to get an E when im playing the string A?

Yes, any string can tuned to any note, but this is the most common way to tune it. That is why the A string is called the A string, not because it HAS to be A, but because it usually is.

I read somewhere that you should always tune UP to the correct sound. So..if you need to tune down.. just go DOWN DOWN DOWN... and then UP to the pitch. Is it right?!

That's right too  Always tune the string until it is too low, and then tune it up to the note you want. This stops the string slipping whilst you're playing, which would make it out of tune again. (I'm pretty sure that's the reason anyway).

And your English is great

[Tetsuo]

Thanks Simonovski.

Ill try that and let u know if i manage to get it in tune. 

[Bill_Evans]

Justin / Folks,

I have a Korg TM-40 Digital Tuner / Metronome. See image. Nice piece of kit. I'm very pleased with it.



When tuning, is it acceptable to tune so that the needle is within the -20 / +20 cent marks, or does the needle have to be spot on the zero every time?

Thanks.

Keep on pickin' folks...

Bill

[Bill_Evans]

Folks,

You might all find this helpful from JustinGuitar Forum member Jogr:

http://functionalfuture.com/guitar/ChromaticChart.html

Not only does it provide a guide to the notes on the fretboard, but also gives their frequencies in Hertz so that, when tuning, you can see if you need to go higher or lower (re. Tetsou's post below). Plus, all the same notes are coloured the same so, if your brain prefers seeing things written down that way, you might find it helpful when learning to find the notes on the fretboard. Check out also Justin's lesson TB-007 (http://www.justinguitar.com/en/TB-007-NotesOnNeck.php).

Keep on pickin' folks...

Bill

[rendelven]

When tuning, is it acceptable to tune so that the needle is within the -20 / +20 cent marks, or does the needle have to be spot on the zero every time?

I would strive to always have the needle SPOT ON. In time this will help your ears become accustomed to what a normally tuned guitar should sound like.

[Simonovski]

Yea, tune it perfectly. It doesn't take much longer really, but it will sound better