Tuning with the tuner

A guitar that is out of tune sounds wrong however well you play it. Worse, it teaches your ear that wrong is normal. Strings go out of tune with every change in temperature, and new strings stretch for days, so tune every time you pick the guitar up. It takes a minute once you are used to it.

This app has a tuner that listens through your microphone. You will open it in a moment, tune up, and come straight back here.

• Play one string at a time, open, and let it ring. Do not strum.
• The tuner shows the note it hears and a needle. The needle in the middle means in tune.
• Needle to the left: the string is flat, too low. Tighten it.
• Needle to the right: the string is sharp, too high. Loosen it.

On most guitars, turning a peg away from you tightens the string, but check with your own eyes: watch which way the peg turns and listen to the note rise or fall.

Here is the habit that separates a guitar that stays in tune from one that drifts:

Always finish by tuning up to the note, never down to it. If a string is sharp, loosen it until it is a little flat, then bring it back up to pitch. A string that arrives from below holds its tuning much better, because the gears are pulling in the right direction.

Turn slowly. A small turn of the peg moves the note a long way, especially on the thin strings.

Tune all six strings, starting with string 6 (low E) and finishing with string 1 (high E).

When you have tuned the last string, go back and check the first one again. Tightening one string changes the tension on the neck slightly, so the first ones often need a small touch after the others are done.

Strum all six open strings together, slowly. A tuned guitar played open sounds calm and full, even though it is not a chord you will use much. If one string sounds sour, pluck it alone and check it with the tuner again.