Guitar Tuning Tips 
for Accurate Tuning

This lesson will pull together some useful tips that will help you fine-tune and make sure you tuned up accurately - sometimes you can be very slightly out of tune on just 1 string, but as soon as you play a particular chord that emphasises that string it also emphasises any inaccuracy.

There are some quick and simple "checks" you can do...

1. Once you think you've tuned up (using whichever method you've chosen), you can play a few chords to check just how well you've tuned up (obviously you would have done this at some point anyway!)...

2. You can also compare the same note on 2 or more strings to check that the guitar is at least tuned to itself and all the strings are working together in tune...

3. You can use harmonics to pick up on the vibrating effect that occurs when two strings aren't tuned perfectly to their intervals (more on harmonic tuning on this page)

Let's expand on these tuning tips and put them into practise...

Tuning tip 1: Using chords to identify tuning inaccuracies

The truth is, some guitarists simply don't have an ear for tuning. Some guitarists will be satisfied with a guitar that's "there and there abouts" in tune. Don't let that be you - you can train your ear to instantly pick up on any inaccuracies in your tuning.

Let's look at an example of how you can use the notes in a chord to tune up accurately.

One variation of the open G major chord includes a note twice.

Look at the diagram below (click diagrams to hear). Once you've fretted the G major chord, play the red strings - they should be the same note, and in tune with each other...

Tuning tip 2: Use string relationships for fine tuning

Most guitarists are familiar with the 5th fret method of tuning, but many also find it can yield inaccurate results, depending on the setup of your guitar, its neck shape, type of wood etc.

This is because with the 5th fret tuning method you are tuning an open string to a fretted string which can cause natural inaccuracies (especially with cheaper guitars).

However, you can overcome this by tuning fretted strings to other fretted strings all over the fretboard.

For example - fretting the A string and G string in the following positions...

Guitarists commonly tune up and find that if you do the test above, the G string sounds too high or low and it needs adjusting.

There are more string relationship diagrams to help you tune like this on the fretboard lesson page.

Tuning tip 3: Use harmonics to tune accurately

This page has a lesson on tuning using harmonics. You can train your ear to hear the "vibration effect" or "wobble" as I like to childishly call it.

Hopefully now you have some good guitar tuning tips to work with and make sure your music isn't destroyed before it begins!

Happy tuning.