Skip to main content

Why you can’t tune a guitar – and how to fix it

 

There is no one way to tune a guitar.

OK, so why is this true?

One reason relates to the physical layout of a guitar compared to a piano or even a violin. Each note on a piano has its own string (or strings). You tune that note to where you want it, and you’re good to go. Every time you hit that key you get the note you want.

On a guitar, however, you’re asking six strings to produce dozens of notes each. And the way you produce those notes is by pressing down on the string. So let’s say you get your low E string in perfect tune: the minute you push down on the string on a fret, you are bending the string a tiny bit, which makes the tuning a tiny bit sharp, especially if your strings are high off the fret board.

You’ll notice the problem gets worse the higher you move up the fret board. Maybe your open chords sound beautiful, but then you go to hit a barre chord on the ninth fret and it sounds terrible. This problem sounds worse still if you put more pressure on the string. (A violin should have the same problem, but there are no frets, so the player can adjust his fingering to solve this problem.)

Also, the lower strings on a guitar tend to ring sharp the harder you play them. So if you’re playing a style of music where you tend to hit your low strings particularly hard, you will sound more out of tune.

We’re not done with our reasons why you can’t tune a guitar, but let’s pause here, because these are very common problems, especially amongst acoustic guitar players, and James Taylor has a rather nice method of tuning that can help solve these problems.

Guitar Tuning is an important process and for this user needs to good knowledge on different guitar parts as well.

How NOT to tune a guitar

1. Do not use the fifth fret and seventh fret harmonics. Many guitarists learn this method. You play a harmonic on the fifth fret of your low E string, then play a harmonic on the seventh fret of your A string, and then tune your string until they match. You can listen for the vibrations. When the vibrations are gone, the strings are, apparently, in tune. You repeat this all down the guitar (expect for the B string) and hope that this will tune your guitar. But it won’t.

2. Do not tune to a chord. You’ve probably tried this at home. You’re tuning your guitar and you play the open D, G, and B strings. And you tweak the B string until it sounds perfectly in tune with your D and G strings. Glorious, right? But then you play a D chord… and your D note on your B string is way flat. You check your B again and it sounds great. But now: check that B with a tuner, and you’ll see it’s about 14 cents flat of what a “standard” B should be.

Read More: Guitar Tuning Process and how to fix it

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How To Clean And Maintain Your Electric Guitar Fretboard

  Finished and Unfinished Fretboards  The guitar community is torn in a debate about whether the material of a fretboard makes any difference. Some believe that a rosewood fretboard is markedly different from ebony, while others say there’s hardly any difference. But when it comes to cleaning, you will need to be cautious. Primarily, the focus is on fretboard cleaning, but other  guitar parts   are involved, like the neck and tuning pegs. And if your electric guitar has a fretboard that uses unfinished wood, things are tricky, demanding extreme caution. So, it’s recommended to oil unfinished fretboards for obvious reasons. When you leave wood for a long time, it turns hard, thereby making it difficult for the truss rod-neck adjustment.  Unoiled fretboards can also crack in places that look bad and hamper your guitar play. How To Start Cleaning Your FretBoard  For maple fretboards, you don’t have to spend time oiling. Typically, they are pre-hydrat...
Post a Comment
Read more

5 Gibson Guitars You Should Go For

  Gibson SG is a model that was introduced in the year 1961. The splendid feature of this guitar is that it is lightweight. You can easily find the  vintage Gibson guitar parts  very easily for this one. It is made of mahogany wood which is quite durable and strong. It has a small and extra-thin neck that can be played by anyone. This increases the playability of the guitar in a big way. It is also cheaper than the previous Gibson models. The versatile design makes it repairable and   parts for Gibson guitars   are easily available. It also produces sounds that are fully balanced. However the joint on the neck is slightly weak that can affect sound quality. It can break easily and is fragile due to its super thin nature. The Les Paul model is the model that was released before the SG or Solid Guitar. This Ultima model from Les Paul is a little expensive and is a total vintage collection. These look classy, luxurious and has explicitly handcrafted features. It ha...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to Repair Binding around the Body of an Acoustic Guitar

What is Acoustic Guitar Body Binding? Almost all acoustic guitars have some type of binding around the edges where the top and back meet the sides. Many acoustic guitars also have binding around the fretboard and peghead. Acoustic guitar binding can be made out of many different kinds of material including: various woods, plastic, or celluloid. A “true” binding around the body of the guitar is inlayed or glued in a channel cut from the body. A router is used to cut a small channel or shelf on the edges of the guitar for the binding to sit on. The binding is then bent and shaped to fit the body and glued in place. Most of the time decretory purfling strips are usually inlayed next to the binding. Purfling strips are thin laminate pieces of wood dyed different colors. You might ask, what is the purpose of binding on an acoustic guitar and why don’t all guitars have binding. Acoustic guitars have the edges bound to create stronger joints between the top, sides, and back of the...
1 comment
Read more