TUNING BY EAR???

goalten106 · Post by **goalten106** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 4:01 pm

do you guys have any tips on learning to tune by ear? i know the whole thing where you strum the low E at an A (5th fret) and tune the A-string from that, etc. etc. for the other strings.

but lets say every string on a guitar is out of tune. is there a string that is particularly easy to tune by ear and then tune the other strings relative to it? or is there another method that is easy (ex. my friend claims he tunes his guitar by playing a standard A chord)?

my "tuning by ear" skillz just seem to be lacking and i was wondering if anyone had any tips...

thanks

Ando · Post by **Ando** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 4:19 pm

You can tune any of your strings together by the way of the 5th fret method.. but the doesn't mean its in standard. To be in standard the Low E would have to be tuned to.. well E.. then the rest of the strings tuned to that.

If you are having trouble by ear, i suggest getting a tuner. Try to tune your guitar by ear first, then use the tuner to see how close/off you were.. A good way to develop your ear.

hope you got that..

firedancer86 · Post by **firedancer86** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 4:47 pm

just train your ear well...I very rarely use a tuner...

I tune with harmonics ad I tune to low E by ear

DreaminBassMunky · Post by **DreaminBassMunky** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 4:54 pm

I dont suggest the 5 fret method mentioned above, no offense or anything, it usually just puts the guitar more out of tune, I've always found that you don't want to tune exactly to the 5th fret, and it's like that on many stringed instruements.

isaac · Post by **isaac** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 5:03 pm

yep...the next string is usually a little lower than what you hear when you fret the 5th.

Lying In My Grave · Post by **Lying In My Grave** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 5:07 pm

i agree with what andyrice said, just keep practicing (it's a skill that develops with time), and tune it by ear, then compare that with the tuner.

firedancer86 · Post by **firedancer86** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 5:08 pm

tune with harmonics A-G (tune until you remove the wobble sound and they tie together)

tune B and e with the 4th and 5th frets

then play a chord or two (i.e. G and E) and adjust as needed...

thats my motto...

goalten106 · Post by **goalten106** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 5:10 pm

cool. thanks guys. i learn something new everytime i post

.

however, being that you dont tune using the "5th fret" method, how do you tune your guitar without a tuner? do you just tune each string individually by ear?

isaac · Post by **isaac** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 5:13 pm

it's what i do. i usually take a familiar song that i've played so many times and i can tell if it's a little off. just takes time and practice.

taylordb · Post by **taylordb** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 6:01 pm

Firedancer is right, using harmonics is the best way to tune if you don't have an electronic tuner.

I bought an A440 tuning fork at the music store...they are not expensive at all... and I keep that in my guitar case.

To tune I use this proceedure:

I pluck the 5th fret harmonic on the A string...then I hit the tuning fork on my knee and quickly touch the base of the tuning fork to the bridge of the guitar...and keep it there. If the A string is somewhere near in tune, you will hear a "wa-wa-wa..." kind of like a "beating" noise like firedancer said. What you are hearing is the two harmonics out of sinc with each other. Now tune the A string up or down...you will hear the beating speed up as you tighten the string....or slow down as you loosen the string. What you want to do is tune up or down until the beating stops completely (you may have to repeat the very first part of this several times to keep the harmonics going)...when the beating stops, that means the two strings are harmonically in sinc...which means your A string is in tune

This will become your reference point for all the rest of your tuning.

Now, pluck the 5th fret harmonic on the low E string and the 7th fret harmonic on the A string......tune the low E string up or down until the "beating" between the two harmonics stops...now the low E string is in tune.

Now do the 5th fret harmonic on the A string and the 7th fret harmonic on the D string...tune the D string up or down until the "beating" stops...now the D string is in tune.

Now the 5th fret harmonic on the D string and the 7th fret harmonic on the G string...tune the G string until the "beating" stops...now the G string is in tune.

Now do the 7th fret harmonic on the low E string and pluck the open B (unfretted) string...tune the B string until the "beating" stops...now the B string is in tune.

Finally, do the 5th fret harmonic on the B string and the 7th fret harmonic on the high E string...tune the high E string until....you guessed it...now the high E string is in tune.

Sorry for the long post, but I really appreciated it when someone explained it to me step by step a long time ago.

goalten106 · Post by **goalten106** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 6:48 pm

taylordb - thanks for the advice. it is much appreciated. i had never heard of harmonic tuning before... cool. ill have to fool around a bit with it.

Dancing Ants · Post by **Dancing Ants** » Tue Aug 26, 2003 9:10 pm

eventually (took me 8 months), you learn to hear it. I can tune to drop D with me ear, too.

firedancer86 · Post by **firedancer86** » Tue Aug 26, 2003 9:49 pm

Dancing Ants wrote:eventually (took me 8 months), you learn to hear it. I can tune to drop D with me ear, too.

cool
well you just have to match it an octave from the D string...

I go into all sorts of alternate tunings by ear...like I said, I rarely ever about 99% of the time) tune with a tuner or otherwise...

just have to train your ear...

Roastbeef · Post by **Roastbeef** » Tue Aug 26, 2003 10:09 pm

taylordb wrote:Now do the 7th fret harmonic on the low E string and pluck the open B (unfretted) string...tune the B string until the "beating" stops...now the B string is in tune.

Hmm. Knew about harmonic tuning but never tried this for the B string. I usually did the 4th fret method... Learn something new every day!

firedancer86 · Post by **firedancer86** » Tue Aug 26, 2003 11:43 pm

yeah, but when you get to E and B, they tend to vary...so just play an E or G and pick out what needs to be changed