I cant tune my guitar
 

I cant tune my acoustic guitar , Whenever my moms boyfriend comes around he can do t perfectly in under a minute but i cant tune one string right after an hour! ive looked at vids that show you what the strings should sound like when properly tuned but i still can never get them to sound like they should i broke my 1st string in the attempt the technique where the strings 5th fret should sound like the string below its open fret
eg: E 5th fret should sound like A open fret
A 5th fret should sound like D open fret
so on and so forth

but i cant do that because ALL my strings are out of tune:banghead:

also another problem the morning after the guitar is tuned it goes out of tune , why does this happen?

i am new to the guitar and am probably missing something obvious or doing something horrendous to my guitar but i dont know what it is .

could be a bunch of things. the most likely being shoddy tuning pegs. the bane of cheap guitars everywhere.

you've got the method right but you need to know that you have 1 string in tune first before you start using it. if you don't have a tuner then find a song that you know is in E and has clear parts where the guitar is just playing that chord. old metallica is awesome for this.

Don't worry yourself too much about it. Nobody can do that at first, it took me a year before I could tune accurately like that, its just a matter of getting your ear in.

Some tuning tips -

Always tune going upwards. This stops the strings from snagging going down and ensures it stays in pitch more stably.

Make sure you're not putting too much pressure on the strings when fretting. This will send them out of tune.

Do it with distortion on. If its out of tune, you should hear the sound 'pulse' and 'beat'. The faster its doing this, the further out of tune you are. Tune it until the beat stops. Same goes for if you play a powerchord, in fact, once you're familiar with the sound of a powerchord, you can tune by them just as well as by 5th frets.

Make sure your tuners are tight enough. Most tuners have a screw head in the top. Tighten that up. Don't strip the thread, but make sure its not loose. this will keep things in tune as best as the tuner is able.

Also, even if all of your strings are out of tune, you can still tune the guitar to itself. It won't be in tune with anything ELSE, but it will sound good when played on its own. If you want it to be in 'concert pitch' then its easy, just find something thats already in tune (Piano, keyboard, download a recording of a recognizable pitch, anything will do as long as you know what note it is. I know some people who can tune from the pitch of a dialtone.)

Get yourself a good electronic tuner, in order to stay in the standard 440....

lol

it's really not that difficult.

Some guitars will simply not stay in tune, or....they will dis-chord. They may be in tune by the traditional way that (you have stated) or by electronic tuner. But when you chord say....a G or C chord, (for example). they will be out of tune, this is (dischording). If you take your guitar from the warmth of your house and out into the cold, or store it at a cold spot within your house, drastic changes in the temperature will cause it to go out of tune. I would suggest take it to a music shop for work, or buy yourself a better guitar

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i sometimes stretch the strings a little before tuning up

yes that is my monumental contribution to this discussion

it's not a bad one though, and one that most people overlook when replacing strings (in which case it's a necessity).

Hi there,

I agree that a cheap electric tuner is the easiest. Even cheaper are the old fashioned pitch pipes that you blow in to. It is important that the guitar is tuned in concert pitch. If you start with one string too high that might explain why you snap strings.

I use my keyboard often for tuning to so that's another way. Also check where the strings pass over the bridge. If it is a budget guitar, there might be sharp unfriendly edges that are cutting the strings.

Let us know how it goes, Gordon.

You'll still have to learn but this will help.

Online Guitar Tuner

One of the three classes is a jazz class. My guitar/bass guitar players always encounter this problem. It's normally a fairly simple fix.

Some tips:

• *Get a tuner. An inexperinced player shouldn't try to tune their instrument by ear. Your ear and intonation haven't devoloped yet, therefore, you won't know when the string is in tune, or when it's about to snap. Give yourself some time. You'll learn, in practice.
  *If you can, use a tuner and a piano (keyboard works fine too). Doing this, you'll be able to make sure it's tune, and it'll help your intonation devolope.
  *Part of the problem of the tuning slipping may be new strings/instrument. If that's the case, it'll stop in time. Be patient, and stick with it.
  *Make sure you room (or where ever you keep the instrument) stays a consetent temperture. If they room temp changes during the night, it'll make the wood expand/contrast. If the wood expands, the strings will go flat. If it contrasts, the strings will be sharp.

Hope that helps!

Both good answers but you should really just go to your local music store and ask them how. Surely they will teach you.

There are plenty of websites that teach you and some even play the notes you should be tuning each string to.

i don't even about the strings correct open notes, but even another instrument(TRUMPET, CLARINET, TROMBONE, PREFERRABLY TREBLE) would help you. For example, my trumpet jazz book has a tuning track, so you can tune the other instruments. One tip for these kinds of books is don't get rid of their cds. The cds have also pro players who you can tune to if you flip to long tone exercises.

Speaking of long tone exercises, here's one for you, Thomas:

Start on F or Bb, and go down to Bb or F(respectively), one octive should do it, in half steps. For each note play for 12 whole beats. Cresuendo through all 12, then decres. through the next twelve. Here's what it looks like:

F
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Cres.............................

E
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Decrs............................

F
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Cres.............................

Eb
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Decres..........................


And so forth until you reach Bb.

1. I would go to a guitar store anywhere and ask. I'm sure they will be more than willing to show you how.
2. If you are still having difficulty get an electric tuner. (still know how by ear is always good.)
3. If your guitar is still coming out of tune quickly (1-2 days of no play) then bring it into a shop, you could have bad pegs as Mr. Dave said, or you strings might be a gauge your guitar can't handle. My first acoustic had the same problem.

google 'online guitar tuner' it'll play the notes and you can tune to it by ear if you have an ounce of talent.

There's a difference between harmonizing and tuning by ear. Tuning by ear means without a pitch reference.

OMG, I never knew that!
Thank you!

I'm just asking, was that sarcasim?

Tune by harmonics to hear, and feel, the beating effect better.

Lubricate all string contact points with pencil lead, to prevent snags.

Store your guitar in a room with a constant temperature. If the temperature varies widely, it will go out of tune, which is a symptom of wood expansion & shrink -- a guitar killer if given time to work.

Yeah, I would stop selling that one, as it's a load of crap. Putting pencil lead on the pegs prevents sliding, not snags. It doesn't make the string slip easier. It prevents it from slipping. Most of the time. It's a trick of the trade that 90% of string players know. Ask any string person who's been playing for a bit. The pencil lead helps hold the tune by keeping the string from slipping. Not aiding it to slip.

Using the pencil lead is a good idea, to keep the string from slipping. Such a good time to use this trick: When the string is slipping and loosing it's tuning.

That's funny .. I've heard of the pencil graphite trick, but the way I heard, it was also supposed to help lubricate the string so that it would slide through the groove on the bottom nut (or whatever you english speakers call it) better.

Sometimes it will, Tore. But we're talking about once the string is already in the ring nut. It does make it smooth going through the ring nut on the bottom, but it keeps the strings from slipping on the peg. Which if you're having issues with your tuning slipping, the pencil lead on the peg helps.