Guitar: How to tune the guitar Correctly so it really sounds in tune.

[articles]

* After several years of trial*and error I have developed a tuning method that's far superior to the traditional methods that we were taught when we first started playing.* Guitars are mathematically incorrect and they MUST be "temper" tuned to sound really right! The conventional tuning method is a COMPROMISED tuning method that really doesn't work!

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[damoh]

I dont know about anyone else but I have always found that using my ears has been the best method for ensuring my guitar is in tune in different parts of the fretboard.
By playing the individual notes in a few different chords at different parts of the neck if you listen closely you will hear slight wobbles (different wavelengths) in the harmonics underneath the root notes telling you if the strings are in tune with each other or not.
Tune strings sharper or flatter til the wobbling harmonics become the same and stop wobbling.
I only use a tuner to get a reference point for E or whatever tuning the song is in.
Does anyone else use this method?

[brandondrury]

In my experience, the #1 problem with tuning is not in the tuning of the guitar or even how hard the player smashes down on the strings (although this is often a problem too).

The number one problem is how hard they strum / pick each string.

Take a needle tuner and hit your low E string. You'll notice that it flys up a little sharp and then comes down to hopefully the right note. Then it will go flat slowly. The intensity which you hit the string makes a tremendous difference on where that note peaks and where it levels out.

I don't know how many times I've sat in front of my studio monitors and heard a guitar player hit an out of tune "D" chord. Red flags will fly up. Then I'll ask them to play it again, and it will be in tune. The problem is in the players hands.

So, there are quite a few tricks to improve guitar tuning, but the best way to improve tuning is to improve smoothness in the playing.

I always have the guitar player tune using a tuner. From there, we sweeten as needed. It's not uncommon at all to end up with tuning settings that only work for a single chord and are useless for other chords, but ideally we can find a tuning that works with the chords in the song, the guitar, and the player.

Brandon

[Riggs77]

I just tuned my guitar really close to this method and it does sound alot better I think down the neck. Then again this could just be all mental.

[brandondrury]

I don't think it's mental. This trick really works!

Brandon

[jmseeley]

Originally Posted by damoh

I dont know about anyone else but I have always found that using my ears has been the best method for ensuring my guitar is in tune in different parts of the fretboard.
By playing the individual notes in a few different chords at different parts of the neck if you listen closely you will hear slight wobbles (different wavelengths) in the harmonics underneath the root notes telling you if the strings are in tune with each other or not.
Tune strings sharper or flatter til the wobbling harmonics become the same and stop wobbling.
I only use a tuner to get a reference point for E or whatever tuning the song is in.
Does anyone else use this method?

i use this method for quick tunes.. i really noticed the sub harmonics when a science teacher in high school hit a tuning fork and then hit that was just under the same frequency it wen to wobbling so obviously that it all just.. made sense. my quick tunes have never been the same

[Tony Ramone]

Those "wobbles" that you hear are called beats - they happen when you play two simultaneous notes that are very close in pitch, but not quite. As the two notes get closer together, the frequency of the beats slows down until both notes are the same.
(A quick search on google turned up this page...)
I remember our psychoacoutsics lecturer in college telling us that that's what he used to tune his guitar - basically play 2 notes that should be the same, and fine-tune the offending string until the beats disappear.
Of course this method also will only tune the open strings together, so you'll still end up with the standard problems of being slightly out the further up you go. That said, I always thought that the reason you set the intonation was to stop this happening, no?

[garww]

I always tune by ear using harmonics. Tuners are just new to me this last year and I use them for reference. I always have Communication Breakdown in my head that I tune to. And several variations of "Over the Bridge".

[chimp_spanner]

Interesting article I've noticed as time has gone on (and I've not been playing that long, about 7 or 8 years) that my reliance on what the tuner says is in tune has diminished and I just go by what sounds right. I play extended range instruments mainly; I've a couple of Ibanez 7's and one of their 8's too. And especially with the lower tuned strings I have to aim slightly flat when tuning to compensate for the raise in pitch once the strings have energy. Not that I'm an aggressive picker, mind. I know people who have picked my guitars up and made them sound terribly out of tune purely because they dig in so much.

Another thing I notice is the G string - what the hell is it with that string that it can be perfect in an open chord, and sound like ass when played higher up? Even on a well intonated guitar?

But yes, a good article. I'll try this method out next time I retune!

[Reversewahwah]

I use a BOSS TU-2 tuner. I like the regular tuner mode. It also has the strobe method. I have been mostly using my Ernie Ball seven string with the piezo guitar bridge. I have had a lot of luck with tuning on that guitar. I do a lot of bending, some whammy. My strings also seem to last longer on that guitar. The weird thing is I barely play my other guitars, except for ones I need special tunings.
I have an ESP ltd that is in serious need of freaking sperzel tuners. I think the tuning is mostly based on the guitar ,how it is setup, quality of the strings, as well as it has to do with playing technique.
I am very sensitive to out of tuneness. I can't watch American idol.