How to tune a guitar

No matter where you are in your guitar-learning journey, knowing how to tune your instrument is one of the most essential skills you need. Tuning a guitar is something you’ll do almost every time you pick up your instrument, so it’s worth learning how to do it the right way.

Tuning a guitar is the foundation for playing all your favorite songs or coming up with your own tunes. Read on as we teach you how to tune a guitar.

In addition to improving your skills, knowing how to tune your guitar is useful for learning ukulele, bass, or any other stringed instrument. Let’s get your guitar in tune!

Getting to know your guitar

Let’s begin with the fundamentals of tuning a guitar. First, we need to learn the different parts of the guitar.

• Tuning pegs: These pegs, also known as machine heads or tuners, are used to adjust the pitch of a guitar string. Turn the peg one way, and the corresponding guitar string tightens. Turn the peg the other way, and the guitar string loosens and, as a result, lowers its pitch. There is one tuning peg for each guitar string (usually six).
• Headstock: The top part of the guitar, also known as the headstock, is where most of the action happens when tuning. This is where the tuning pegs are located. The headstock’s layout can vary between guitars; most acoustic guitars have three tuning pegs on either side of the headstock, whereas many electric guitars have all six pegs on the same side.
• Fretboard and neck: The headstock is located at the end of a long strip of wood, known as the neck. This is also where the guitar fretboard is located. Some tuning methods require you to press the strings against the fretboard at the correct position to produce the right pitch.

Learn guitar string names

One more thing before we can get started with tuning your guitar: you must know the names of the different guitar strings. Fortunately, this isn’t as hard as you might think when you know one simple trick.

From the thickest (the 6th string) to the thinnest (the 1st string), the guitar strings are E, A, D, G, B and e. When you play each string open (without fretting the string), you produce the note of the string’s name.

Notice that there are two E-strings: one spelled with an uppercase “E” and the other with a lowercase “e”. The first of these is the low E-string, and the latter is the high-E string. The low-E string is thicker and produces a much lower pitch when played, whereas the high E-string is thin, producing a high-pitched sound.

There are also other strings in between. To remember the six guitar strings, use this fun mnemonic: “Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie”. And there you have the guitar string names from thickest (lowest) to thinnest (highest): EADGBE. As it turns out, standard tuning requires you to tune the guitar strings to E, A, D, G, B and E.

Did you know there’s more than one type of standard tuning for the guitar? Read more about alternate guitar tunings in our guide!

Step-by-step guide to guitar tuning

Now you know the different parts of the guitar and the names of the different guitar strings. Let’s look at how you can tune your guitar, first by ear, and then by using a guitar tuner app.

Tuning a guitar by ear

You don’t need fancy tools to tune your guitar, although they can make things simpler. All you need is a reference point on which to base your guitar tuning. This could be the E-note played on another guitar or a piano, for instance.

Tune the low E-string

Start by tuning the low-E string (also known as the 6th string). This is the thickest string on the guitar and the one closest to you when looking down at the guitar on your lap.

You should match the pitch of the low E-string with the reference sound. Listen to the tuning reference and pluck the open E-string with your picking hand (this is your right hand if you’re right-handed, and your left in case you’re a leftie).

Listen to see if the string’s pitch is flat (too low) or sharp (too high). Turn the tuning peg to adjust the pitch of the low-E string and keep plucking the open string. Repeat this until the E-string matches the reference sound.

Tune the A-string

Once you have the low E-string in tune, move to the next string: the A-string. Because your E-string is in tune, you can use it as the reference sound for the A-string. This is where things get interesting!

To tune the A-string, press down the 5th fret of the E-string you just tuned and then pluck it. This produces the A-note. While the E-string is still ringing, keep holding the 5th fret and pluck the open A-string. Your task now is to match the tune of the open A-string with the fretted E-string. Remember to keep holding the E-string on the 5th fret while playing the A-string open.

Once you have tuned the A-string to match the E-string, you can move on to the remaining four strings.

Tune the D, G, B and high-E strings

Repeat the same process above for the remaining strings:

• D-string: Match the open D-string with the note played on the 5th fret of the A-string.
• G-string: Match the open G-string with the note played on the 5th fret of the D-string.
• B-string: Match the open B-string with the note played on the 4th fret of the G-string.
• Low-E string: Match the open low-E string with the note played on the 5th fret of the B-string.

Tip: Try to always tune up to the correct pitch. If the string is too high and you tune down to the correct pitch, the string might go out of tune quicker than if you tune up to the correct pitch.

Re-check your tuning

Once you’ve tuned all of your strings, go back and repeat the process to check that none of the strings have gone out of tune. This can happen, especially if the strings are brand new. As you begin playing with new strings, they stretch and stay in tune for longer.

Tuning a guitar with a tuner app

Learning how to tune your guitar by ear is definitely worth it, as it helps you develop your musical ear and trains you to recognize when the strings are out of tune. Yet, there is an easier way to tune a guitar: using a guitar tuner. And not just any tuner, either – you can use a free app that removes all the guesswork!

Guitar tuner devices are useful and work well. However, high-quality chromatic tuners often come with a hefty price tag! That’s why we recommend a tuner app like GuitarTuna.

GuitarTuna’s Auto mode uses your device’s microphone to listen to you play and automatically recognizes which guitar string you’re trying to tune. It then shows whether the string is tuned too low or too high. Keep plucking the string and adjusting the tuning based on the app’s feedback until the tuning is just right.

What’s best is that GuitarTuna helps you tune more than just your guitar. Download GuitarTuna for free for your iOS and Android devices.

Acoustic vs. electric guitar tuning

You might wonder if there’s a difference between tuning an acoustic guitar and an electric one. Fortunately, the basic tuning process is similar, whether you play an electric or acoustic guitar.

However, there are some differences between the two instruments, and these can influence the tuning. For instance, acoustic and electric guitars often use different types of strings that vary in material and thickness. Also, some mechanisms in electric guitars can make maintaining the correct tune trickier.

There are also different types of electric tuners that work only with electric guitars. For instance, electric guitars can be plugged into an electronic tuner, whereas acoustic guitar players often use clip-on tuners attached to the headstock. Luckily, a tuner app works well with both electric and acoustic guitars!