How To Tune A Guitar

Last Updated on October 2, 2022 by Guitarist Authority

An out-of-tune guitar is no fun to play, it makes practice difficult, and let’s be honest… It also sounds terrible.

Tuning a guitar, whether acoustic, electric, bass, 12 string, etc.. is as simple as matching the note you are playing with an in-tune reference. This reference could be a physical tuner, computer software, smartphone app, tuning fork, or another instrument. If you happen to know a pitch-perfect singer, that would work too!

Luckily, tuning a guitar is very easy and can be done quickly. I have included information below that will not only help you tune your guitar but understand more about the process and answer some questions along the way.

Before we get started, the directions in this first section assume you have an electronic tuner. There are different types available, including the clip-on style (pictured right). If you do not have an electronic tuner, you can scroll past this first section and apply one of the other methods.

If you have an electric guitar, plug in your guitar’s cable to the guitar as well as the input of your tuner. If you have an acoustic guitar your tuner must have a microphone to be able to identify your note.

Turn your tuner on, wait for the visual display.

Make sure you turn up your guitar’s volume knob, obviously a non-issue for an acoustic!

Pluck or pick the thickest, closest string to you (low E string) and watch for the readout on your tuner’s display.

If the display shows you below the desired note you are flat and need to increase the tightness of the string by turning your tuning peg counterclockwise slowly, while still occasionally plucking or picking the string for reference until you reach perfect E tuning.

Congratulations, you’ve tuned your first guitar string, it’s that easy!

The steps to tune the rest of the strings are identical. The only differences to be aware of are the different string/note names: E, A, D, G, B, E, and the tuning peg locations…

Most guitars will either have all six tuning pegs on one side of the headstock (term: six in a line) or a split of three on one side, three on the other (term: side by side). They all operate the same way, counterclockwise to tighten, clockwise to loosen. It may be confusing as the G, B, E tuning pegs will be upside down but you’ll get it in no time.

Tune Your Guitar Using a Piano or Other Instrument

If you have access to a piano or another guitar/instrument (assuming they are in tune) you can match the pitch by playing a note, using it as a reference, and tuning your guitar to that reference.

Here are the keys you need to be aware of on a piano:

After tuning the E string you can continue with A, D, G, B, E matching each note with a reference on the other instrument. Or, you can use the method below.

Tune Your Guitar Using the Fifth Fret

Once your E string is in tune using one of the options mentioned on this page, you can tune the rest of the strings using the fifth fret as a reference to tune the string below it.

Looking at the sixth string (thickest, closest string to you), the open note is E. The first fret note is F, the second fret is F#/Gb, the third fret is G, the fourth fret is G#/Ab and the fifth fret is A.

Next, if we look at the fifth string just below E, what is it? That’s right, A! We can use the fifth fret on the E string to tune the A string as this is the same note!

This works for A, D, G, and high E (first string) on the fifth fret. To tune the B (second) string using this method you would use the FOURTH fret on the G (third) string for reference, not the fifth fret.

How to Tune a Bass Guitar

You would tune your bass guitar the same way we tune any other guitar. The only difference being a bass has only four (E, A, D, G) or five (B, E, A, D, G) strings. Again, keep in mind the location of the tuning pegs on the headstock.

How to Tune a 12 String Guitar

To tune a twelve string guitar, we would reference “How to Tune a Guitar” above and use the same principles. The main differences here are, you guessed it, twelve strings instead of six.

This goes a bit further as we are now introducing another octave on our first four pairs of strings. The twelve string guitar has two strings where one would normally reside. There are six pairs of two strings. Each pair is tuned to the same note (E, A, D, G, B, E) however, the first four pairs (E, A, D, G) each have a low and high octave string. In the final two pairs (B, E), both strings in each set are tuned the same, both high octaves. Twelve string tuning goes like this:

String 12: Low E ←- Note the low and high pairs
String 11: High E
String 10: Low A
String 09: High A
String 08: Low D
String 07: High D
String 06: Low G
String 05: High G
String 04: High B ←- Note that from here on they are all high tunings
String 03: High B
String 02: High E
String 01: High E

Alternate Guitar Tunings

In addition to the standard EADGBE tuning, there are plenty of other tunings to try.

Drop D Tuning

To tune to Drop D, all you do is tune the low E (6th string) down to D. It’s that simple. You can easily tune to Drop D without a tuner by tuning the 6th string down to match tuning with the 4th (D) string. Pluck the D string, pluck your E string and tune your E string down until it matches your D string. The 6th string will end up tuned to D, one octave lower than the 4th string.

Some popular songs that are played in Drop D are:

Foo Fighters – Everlong
Click here for guitar tab

Led Zeppelin – Ten Years Gone
Click here for guitar tab

Neil Young – Harvest Moon
Click here for guitar tab

Linkin Park – What I’ve Done
Click here for guitar tab

Open C Tuning

Open C tuning is CGCGCE. Popular in songs such as:

Led Zeppelin – Friends
Click here for guitar tab

Soundgarden – Burden In My Hand
Click here for guitar tab

John Butler Trio – Ocean
Click here for guitar tab

Open G Tuning

Open G tuning is tuning your guitar to DGDGBD. In comparison to standard tuning EADGBE, you can see that you will only change tuning on strings 1, 5 and 6. Noteable songs in Open G:

George Thorogood & The Destroyers – Bad To The Bone
Click here for guitar tab

The Rolling Stones – Start Me Up
Click here for guitar tab

Eric Clapton – Walkin Blues
Click here for guitar tab

Other Notable Tunings

Other tunings to be aware of:

Drop A – A E A D F# B
Drop B – B Gb B E Ab Db
Drop C – C G C F A D
Open D – D A D F# A D
Open E – E B E G# B E

Different Types of Guitar Tuners

There are four main types of guitar tuners to be aware of:

Non-Chromatic:

These tuners only recognize standard guitar tuning: E, A, D, G, B, E. These tuners do the trick if you’re not worried about additional tunings. However, if you want to tune alternate tunings: Drop D, DADGAD, or other open tunings, etc… this tuner style is not for you.

Chromatic:

The chromatic tuner is the most common type of guitar tuner I’ve listed here. A chromatic tuner will show the current tuning of any string in relation to the nearest semitone (half note on a chromatic scale).

The chromatic scale contains twelve notes in ascending or descending order: A, A#/Bb, B, C, C#/Db, D. D#/Eb, E, F, F#/Gb, G, G#/Ab.

The chromatic tuner simply identifies the note you are playing and shows you if you are flat (too low) or sharp (too high).

These come as a plug-in type, both stand-alone and pedal, as well as microphone type, which may be included in other items such as metronomes.

Polyphonic:

Unlike a chromatic tuner which tunes one note/string at a time. A polyphonic tuner allows you as a guitarist to strum all of the strings at the same time and see the tuning of each string. Pretty cool, right?

Strobe:

For complete accuracy, strobe guitar tuners are the go-to tuner for music professionals. They use the hertz value of a chosen note and flash at the same frequency of that note. The flashing is the rotating of a disc that is set to a specific speed related to the frequency of the desired note. The more out of tune the faster the flashing effect. As you get your string closer in tune the flashing will slow and eventually, once fully in tune, the disc will appear to no longer be spinning, you’ve achieved the perfect tune!

Other Guitar Tuning Tools:

There are other ways to tune a guitar if you do not have a guitar tuner like the ones we’ve mentioned above.

Apps:

There are plenty of free tuning apps for your tablet or smartphone. A simple search on your preferred app store will show many options. I’ve include a few here:

GuitarTuna – Easy to use and responsive. A great all-around tuner for most stringed instruments.
Fender Guitar Tuner – Another fantastic tuning app from one of the most recognized brands in the guitar world.
gStrings Free – Simple to use, easy to read, gets the job done.

There are plenty of other options, these three are just a few of our favorites.

Online:

These are similar to the smartphone apps, just desktop/laptop-based. Some options just play a note and you match it with your guitar or with some, if you allow microphone access you can access chromatic tuning ability.

Fender Online Guitar Tuner – Again, what can we say, they do it well! This one just plays a note and you match it. Each string can be selected and you can loop the sound.
JamPlay Online Guitar Tuner – Chromatic style that requires microphone access to use.
ProGuitar OnlineGuitar Tuner – Similar to JamPlay, chromatic style that requires microphone access.

How Often Should I Tune My Guitar?

The simple answer here is every single time you play it. Tuning a guitar should always be the first step when you decide to pick up that guitar.

Changes in temperature and humidity, accidentally bumping the tuning pegs, aging stings, etc., all directly affect your guitar. It only takes a minute or two and the results speak for themselves. You wouldn’t sing out of tune on purpose, you shouldn’t play your guitar out of tune either, it’s no fun, trust us.

What About Travel & Storage?

The only times when you may leave your guitar out of tune or specifically tune it out of standard not for playing purposes would be traveling with your guitar in any environment that is not heat controlled, like the cargo hold of a jet, storage unit, a vehicle that is too hot/cold, etc…

What you would do in this circumstance would be to relieve some of the tension off all the strings. That way, if the temperature or humidity would force the strings to tighten. you won’t have to worry about the excessive force on the strings and neck.

How Do I Remember the String Names?

Don’t worry, soon enough it will become second nature. In the meantime, there are MANY different mnemonics that can help you remember!

Standard guitar tuning is: E A D G B E

Some of the most popular and easy to remember mnemonics:

– Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie

– Every Amp Deserves Guitars, Basses Everyday

Mnemonics in reverse order (E B G D A E):

– Easter Bunnies Get Dizzy At Easter

– Every Boy Gets Dinner At Eight

There are plenty more, I find the best option is to make one up yourself, that way you are sure to remember.

What to do Next?

Learn the string and note names.
Familiarize yourself with the tuning pegs and their direction of rotation.
Practice tuning with electronic tuners and work your way up to tuning by ear using a pitch reference and tuning using the fifth fret method.

Final Thought

Always tune your string UP to the desired note from flat. If your string is too sharp or you tuned it too far past your reference, make sure you tune it flat (below) your reference and then adjust up to the note.

This makes sure the string is under the correct tension and doesn’t back off or store tension on the nut (see picture right) which could release and cause the note to go flat.

There are locking tuners available that provide more tuning stability. They work by clamping the string inside the tuning post.

Now go tune-up your guitar and jam away! Thanks for reading.