In this lesson we are going to cover how to tune the guitar. For now, we will be working in A440 tuning (aka...standard tuning). In later lessons, we will play around in other alternate tunings that will open up a whole other world of possibilities to us. But, it is generally a good idea to start out in a standard tuning that most every other guitarist is familiar with--especially if you
want to be able to communicate well with other guitarists in a band or jamming situation.

In standard A440 tuning, we have the normal string order Low E, A, D, G, B, High E that you were asked to memorize in the last lesson. But, why are these string names so important? The string names are important because they define what note you are playing when you pluck the string of the guitar and are not pressing down any frets on the string in question. They are also important because they tell us what note we need to use on a different string to compare with to make sure the string in question is in tune with the rest of the guitar. For example, if your guitar is in tune with itself and you hold down the fifth fret on the Low E string, it should ring out with the same pitch as the A note you get when playing the A string open. The reason is because the fifth fret on the low E string and the open A string are both A notes. If we do not get the same pitch when we compare the two notes together, then we will have to adjust the guitars tuning pegs until we do.

You might be asking yourself, what is a tuning peg? I'm glad you asked. You will notice that your guitar neck has two ends. There is the end that is attached to the body of the guitar and then there is the other end of the neck. If you run your hand from the end that is attached to the body of your guitar out towards the other end, you will notice that your strings are threaded into their own little individual metal poles. This little metal pole through which the string is threaded and wrapped around is called a tuning peg. This end of the guitar neck where the tuning pegs reside is often refered to as a headstock.

You will notice that each tuning peg can be adjusted by a little knob like device that resides on the edge of the headstock. The little metal knob that when turned begins to rotate the tuning peg is called a machine head. Adjusting the machine head to turn the tuning peg will cause the tension of the string threaded through the tuning peg to change. It is through the process of adjusting this string tension that we go about tuning a guitar. If we make the tension to tight on a given string, it can cause the string to break. It's not uncommon for beginning guitar students to break lots of strings learning how to tune their guitar. Usually, people employ the use of an electric tuner, a pitch pipe, tuning fork, or even a piano to obtain a familiar reference by which to tune their guitar. But, if you are just jamming around in your room and don't have a tuner, you can always simply tune the guitar to itself.

In order to tune your guitar to itself, you begin by holding down the fifth fret on the Low E string and plucking the string along with the open A string. You adjust the machine head for the open A string until it's pitch matches that of the A note on the fifth fret of the Low E string. Once the two pitches match, you then move down to the fifth fret on the A string, which is a D note, and you play the open D string (which is the string right below the A string. Again, you turn the machine head that controls the tension of the D string to get the open D string to match with the pitch of the D note on the fifth fret of the A string.

Next, move down to the fifth fret on the D string (which is a G note) and play the open G string below it. Adjust the machine head to change the tension of the G string until it matches the pitch of the G note on the fifth fret of the D string.

At this point in the process, we encounter a slight deviation from our normal procedure. Instead of moving to the fifth fret on the G string, we are going to hold down the fourth fret instead. The fourth fret on the G string is a B note, and the string below the G string is the B string. From here, we adjust the machine head of the B string until the pitch of the B string matches the B note on the fourth fret of the G string.

Finally, we move to the fifth fret on the B string (which is an E note) and we tune the open E string below the B string to the E note we are holding down. Once you get the two pitches to match, your guitar should be in tune with itself.

This brings us to the end of lesson 2. Your homework is to practice getting your guitar in tune and to reenforce the information you learned in the previous lesson. Also, it is important to play around with your guitar now that you are able to get it in tune and start to look for relationships between notes on different strings. For example, You can already notice that an open string has the same pitch as the fifth fret on the string above the open string, accept when it comes to the B string (which has the same pitch as the fourth fret of the G string). The more of these relationships you are aware of and able to quickly find, the easier it will become to move around on the neck and isolate notes you are looking for. We will discuss this in greater detail in our next lesson. So, until next time, keep studying your guitar neck and take lots of notes on what you find.

Corey J. Bray