TIPS AND ARTICLES
Guitar Tuning Tips
by Edward D Cupler
Most new guitar players and even some experienced ones have
trouble staying and playing in tune. I'll try listing here some
of the common mistakes and their solutions.
When putting new strings on your guitar you must always make
sure you stretch them as you tune them to pitch. I always hold
them down on the neck around the 24th fret with my left hand
while pulling them away from the guitar body with my right hand.
You don't have to use too much muscle, a few firm tugs should
do the trick.
Whenever you tune a string down in pitch, be sure to use the
string stretching technique described above. Remember ALWAYS
TUNE UP! It's always better when tuning down, to get close to
the note, stretch the string and then tune up to the intended
pitch.
You should purchase a quality tuner from a music store like
zZounds.com . You don't need to spend your life's saving. An
inexpensive tuner should be fine to start out. Remember, this
thing will be traveling to gigs and jam sessions with you. I
would recommend a good Boss tuner or Korg tuner. Both brands
have low cost tuners that will do the job just fine.
If your guitar has a tremolo bridge, always remember that each
string that you tune will go down in pitch as you tune the next
string. One solution to this is to over tune the strings. That
is to say, you may need to tune your low E string to an F in
order to have it be around an E note by the time you finish
tuning the other strings. Over time you'll get a feel for how
much you need to over tune each string and it will become second
nature.
If you play in a band, it is a good idea to always tune to the
same pitch. Standard pitch is 440 but some bands like to tune
down to 430 or even 420 for the heavier sound or vocal reasons
or both. My point is that if you're practicing at 430 then you
have a gig and your band tunes to 440, everything will suddenly
sound different, your singer might not be able hit all the notes
he or she did at practice, your solos might even sound wrong.
This is because everything is now a half step higher in pitch.
Make things easy on yourself, pick a pitch and stick with it,
at practice and gigs.
Free online guitar lessons presented by guitarmetal.com
About the Author
Edward D Cupler is the owner of guitar lessons website guitarmetal.com
Offering free guitar lessons to beginners and advanced students.
Ed is also the owner of Digitalgreys.com |
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