How To Tune A Guitar For Beginners Lesson on JustinGuitar

Don't start playing if you don’t know how to tune your guitar! Get used to the right sound! :)


View the full lesson at How To Tune A Guitar For Beginners | JustinGuitar

I have a G-force tuner built-in to my guitar, do you have any experience with these? How accurate are they?

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@dhh welcome to the community Hugh
Yes the built-in tuner in your guitar is just fine.
Enjoy your guitar journey

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i use the guitartuna app, is it fine?

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Hello @Kenny6 welcome to the Community.
I haven’t used it but many people do and it works fine.

Cheers :smiley:
| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide & Moderator

I am brand brand new to guitar playing, I bought this one Ortega OCST-1BK Clip On Tuner and it seems to be doing OK. :slight_smile:

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Hi John, as you’ll hear Justin say many times, if it sounds good, it IS good! Same with that clip-on tuner. Welcome to the Community! Feel free to drop an introductory post here #community-hub:introduce-yourself. We all enjoy getting a bit of backstory from new members - what brings you here, when did you start playing, what do you want to be able to play, what kind of guitar you have, etc.

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I’m trying my best to tune my guitar through online resources but I am not convinced it is right yet. :confused: My guitar (fender strat) tends to sound like the recordings I’m listening to online but deeper and not as bright or brassy as the examples (accoustic). I can’t figure out if this is just a difference in sound based on the guitar or whether I’m doing something wrong. Any possible clarity on this would be appreciated. :grinning:

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@suzieq

Try checking your individual strings against these reference tones from Justin:
https://soundcloud.com/justinguitar/sets/guitar-tuning-notes

Then check simple chords against these references from Justin:
https://soundcloud.com/justinguitar/sets/justins-beginner-guitar-course-examples

Also - an electric guitar (Stratocaster) will not have the same sonic quality / tone / timbre as an acoustic guitar. Even when they are both perfectly in tune.

Hope that helps.
:smiley:

| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide

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I had to re-string my old guitar, so I tuned it roughly to the standard tuning by ear (using the app mentioned on this website) and then used a clip-on tuner to get the exact tuning. I also noticed that I have to keep tuning up the thinner strings once every few days. Why is that?

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Hi Ashwini and welcome to the Community.

Good question. When you restring the guitar the windings on the tuning pegs have to settle down or bed in and the result is reduced tension, thus you need to retune. One the strings have bedded in on the pegs the tuning will be more stable and may need just a little or no adjustment at all. To speed to process up you can “stretch” the strings, just pulling up gently in the middle of the fret board. This doesn’t actually stretch the strings but tightens the windings and gets them bedded in quicker. BUT be careful “stretching” B and e !!

Hope that helps.

Cheers

Toby
:sunglasses:

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Thanks, that really helps! :slight_smile:

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I have a free tuner app for my electrical guitar that I downloaded a year ago.

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I’ve read that it is better to start tuning with the 6th string first. https://www.fender.com/articles/play/7-tuning-tips

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This is a really useful lesson. I just tune my guitar using spark tuner today. Now, my guitar is in tune and I can go on with my practise.

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A lesson it took me a while to learn: Don’t be surprised if you break a string (Especially the thinnest “E” string) the first few times you start tuning your guitar. When you are new, you have no idea if you need to tune up , or tune down, to “find” the proper note. The high “E” string, being so thin, breaks easier than the rest. Strings are not tht expensive, and you’re going to be replacing them eventually, so don’t panic when you break one. Justin has an excellent video on how to restring your guitar, and it gets easier with practice. If money is an issue, most of the larger guitar shops will even sell you individual strings. Tip: Always try to keep a sealed, unopened string pack available, as you never know when a string might break. (Opening the pack exposes the strings to moisture, which could cause them to rust.

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A post was split to a new topic: Is there a guide to using the Community?

Hi there! New to the community and thus far I’m loving it. I have a question about tuning and starting anew with guitar. Long story short, some neurological issues made me cease playing about a decade ago, but I have gotten the clearance to play again. I’m a huge metalhead and when I played previously, I was always tuned down a full step. I was self-taught then, but now that I’m older I want to do this right. Should I tune to standard while I am being taught the fundamentals here? If so that’s fine, my only concern would be that the strings I put on the guitar are made for down-tuning. Given they’re thicker will they hold up to standard, or do I need to look at restringing already? Again, for me it’s about doing this right, this time through, as I am no longer a petulant teenager! =)

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Hi Bryan and welcome to the Community! :slight_smile:

If those are special strings, I think the easiest solution would be to put a capo at the 2nd fret. As the lessons over on the website are in standard tuning, you would be able to follow them without having to change strings or retuning all the time.

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Hello @jedimasterhunter and welcome to the community.

How old are the strings? Ones you put on years ago for your metal days?

Definitely learn in standard tuning.
Thicker strings at standard tuning will create additional tension on the guitar neck and prove more difficult and painful to hold when forming chords.
For electric guitars you want gauge 9 or 10.
I hope that helps.

Cheers :smiley:

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