Grizzly H3122 Tuning, Important issues to consider when tuning a guitar, To tune the guitar

Tuning

Tuning is the most important concept of playing a guitar. If the guitar is not in tune with itself, or the other instruments in an ensemble, the resulting music will not sound pleasing to the ear. Having a good understanding of tuning is essential to maximizing the full potential of any guitar.

Important issues to consider when tuning a guitar:

•Get into the habit of tuning the guitar every time it is picked up to be played.

•Always tune the strings “up.” The final tuned tension of each string should be reached while tightening the string, not loosening it. If the string is tensioned too far, loosen the tension and tune “up” again.

•The goal when tuning is to make the strings in tune with one another. Standard tuning is shown in Figure 16.

6E

5 A

4 D

3 G

2 B

1 E

Figure 16. Winding the strings.

•The easiest way to tune a guitar is using an electronic tuner such as the Grizzly H3097 Chromatic Tuner shown on page 17. However, knowing how to tune a guitar by ear is an important part of being an accom- plished guitar player.

To tune the guitar:

1.Play a known Low E pitch. A piano, a tuning fork, or an electronic computer file will work.

2.Play an open (non-fretted) 6th string. The goal is to match the open 6th string to the known Low E pitch.

3.Adjust the tuning peg until the pitch of the open 6th string sounds exactly like the known Low E source.

—If the string is tuned too high, back the tension off and retune the string back up to match the Low E pitch. Now the other strings can be tuned to the 6th string.

4.Next, the 5th string needs to be tuned. The tone of the 5th string must be matched to the tone of the 6th string by playing the same note on each string, one after another. This is done by playing the 6th string while it is being pressed (fretted) at the 5th fret, and immediately after, playing the open 5th string.

5.Listen to the two tones. As the two notes are still resonating, adjust the tuning peg of the 5th string until the two notes have matching tones. Remember to tune “up.”

6.Perform the same tuning steps on the 4th and 3rd strings.

7. When tuning the 2nd string, the 3rd string should be fretted at the 4th fret instead of the 5th fret.

8.Tune the 1st string in the same manner as the 6th, 5th, 4th, and 3rd strings.

-16- H3122 Classical Guitar Kit