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Guitar Tuning
Dread Pirate Arbuthnot
OMG WRIGGLYT O X O P L A S M O S I SRegistered User regular
OMG WRIGGLYT O X O P L A S M O S I SRegistered User regular
So my boyfriend bought me a new guitar for Christmas, which was a very nice gift. It came with a little tuner that you can clip onto the headboard. I tuned it up all nice, and the tuner is swearing that it's in order, but everything I play sounds really off. I'm not good enough to tune by ear. What should I do?
Dread Pirate Arbuthnot on
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In my experience tuners are incredibly sensitive to the tone of the note, if you don't get a clear tone they read way sharp or flat. Also you might try repositioning it.
I have a $20 tuner that I got at Guitar Center, not a clip-on, instead you set it in front of the soundhole (or plug it in if electric) and go from there.
How do I tune E, though? I'm pretty sure that it is not right.
Another thing to note - the tuner came with a number in the top right ranging from 400-450. The instruction manual said that 440Hz was standard. Should I be tuning it to a different number?
As for the tuner hz - no idea, I think I just left my tuner the way it was out of the box.
new strings must be tuned about once ever three fucking picks.
after an hour or two of playing, and retuning, your strings should be properly seated/stretched.
I've been tuning it to the online tuner, since the computer I'm on right now doesn't have a microphone. The original notes sound perfect with the ones on the site, but then I play a chord and it sounds wretched.
I don't know what's wrong. It just sounds completely and totally out of tune even after I've been spending hours tuning.
Every guitar has sour note(s) on it too. It has to do with the physics of the fretboard. Some chords don't sound right, especially when you are behind the guitar and not in front of it. You can do standard tuning, or you can fine tune it to the chords (others might sound worse after), or you can try equal temperament tuning.
If you are new to guitar, it could also be your technique. Does it sound bad when other people play it? Have you tried playing it someplace else, like a stairwell, or another area with better acoustics? As other have said, new strings take time to reach their optimal stretch and will need frequent tuning. Worn strings generally sound dull, and have reduced resonance / sustain. Nylon strings can also develop thin spots that completely ruin their sound.
That is a really bad mentality. Sure your guitar is in tune with itself, but the pitches and frequencies are still off, and your mind will never get those proper tunings ingrained into your ear. Make sure that you're using the proper tuning, EADGBE, and if you are, then something might be wrong with the tuner, but usually the ones that clip onto the headstock are pretty accurate.
If you have no clue where each string should be close to before using the tuner, using a method like this might help. Some tuners go apeshit if you get a certain point below or above the "correct" pitch.
Good luck. What kind of guitar BTW! I assume acoustic/classical, but who's the manufacturer?
When you're tuning the guitar to itself, listen carefully for waves when you're comparing two notes that are very close together. You'll know what I mean when you hear it. With two notes that are perfectly identical, you won't hear any waves. Don't worry about being perfect though, just get the waves/vibrations as far apart as possible and you'll be fine. (These "waves" btw, are what's responsible for the dissonant chords even though the individual notes sound right)
And yeah, don't be the person who tunes the guitar to itself but out of pitch. It _will_ sound like shit.
This is absolutely wrong. Because the E string is wound so tightly and has such high tension, it takes forever to break it in. I find myself retuning a new E string days or weeks after I put it on. Stretching it a bit before you you actually wind it helps a lot though.
If I had to guess I would say it's your technique. When you hold the strings to the fret, before you strum the chord strum each string to make sure you're holding it down properly. If that works, with a balanced strum it should sound correct. Make sure you're hitting all the strings and not jabbing one or two of them.
For what it's worth, tuning with harmonics was helpful when I was starting out and my tone and fingering (hehe) wasn't so great. It was easier for me to hear. And often it still is... many of us find ourselves getting exasperated with the B string from time to time.
You play a harmonic by very lightly holding your finger over a fret and then plucking the string. When you lift your finger away from the fret the harmonic note will still ring out. It's nice sound... the intro to "Sweet Child O Mine" by Guns N Roses is all harmonics.
To tune one string to another, hit a 5th fret harmonic on the lower string and a 7th fret harmonic on the higher string. The notes will continue to ring out even when your hand is away from the fretboard, so your left hand is free to work the keys and tune up.
The pitches should ring loud and clear. If you get a choppy sound it means the pitches are slightly out of tune. You'll be able to hear it when they're in tune because they are the same note. (People who have really sharp ears can point out that they aren't exactly the same note but it's close enough for most of us to be satisfied with the sound... it will get you close enough for rock n' roll).
The 5th fret to 7th fret harmonic can be used to tune the low E to the A, the A to the D, and D to G. To tune the B string to the D string, play the 7th fret harmonic of the low E and the open B string. Then you can tune the high E to the B with a 5th to 7th harmonic.
It's wierd to explain but easy to show how to do. A quick consultation with google may give you a better explanation.
It has been said before and I'll echo that here: Take it to a shop to get the intonation checked and set up properly. If the guitar is brand new not only are the strings going to slide/get stuck in the nut and maybe the bridge, but it probably isn't setup properly. If it is electric and you have a floating bridge or in fact any sort of whammy bar you could be in for all sorts of headaches as well.