Tuning a guitar

[solitaire]

You may need to get help to set the initial tune of the guitar – with the new strings. I’m not familiar with the Snark X but an electronic tuner is a great help. The strings are from thickest to thinnest – low E, A, D, G, B, high E. It may be that you are winding the thin strings an octave or two higher. Once they are in tune they really don’t move all that much from one use to the next. Perhaps a visit to the local guitar shop? You could search the membership list to see if there are any TAC members in your location.

[[email protected]]

Fortunately, I have a great guitar shop just a few blocks away from where I live. I had them re-string the first string I broke (G string). They showed me how to use a clip-on tuner. I figured out what I did wrong last night. I was tuning the B string, but turning the high E peg by mistake. It was late, I was tired, and got careless! Couldn’t believe I had broken yet another string!

[SoCal_Ian]

The problem @[email protected] may be that there’s lots of notes on the guitar and you have to find not “just” the E-A-D-G-B-e but the RIGHT E-A-D-G-B-e! If you’ve broken strings with the clip on tuner (man’s most awesome invention for the guitar in the past 30 years) then I’d advise you listen to an online tuner so you can at least get in the correct neighborhood. Trying to tune your high e string even one octave above the note it should be could easily break that string. Same with the others so you’ll want to listen online then “get it close” by ear and then use the clip on to get it dialed in. Good luck and let us know how it goes. Welcome to the guitar journey!

• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by  SoCal_Ian.

[[email protected]]

Thank you. I first used the Guitartuna app, then purchased the clip on tuner, which I really like. But, I agree, it may be good to go back and listen online. I think learning to tune the guitar is going to be more difficult than learning to play!

[Loraine]

One other thought is that when you put new strings on a guitar, you need to wind them slowly. There’s a lot of tension on the strings, and they haven’t been stretched out at all, so they will be very tight. I agree that you might want to visit your local shop for a set up and ask them to show you how to tune the guitar.

[[email protected]]

I’m not brave enough to re-string the guitar myself yet. Fortunately, there is a great guitar shop just a couple of blocks away from where I live. The re-strung the first string I broke, and I’ll be making another trip this week to get the high E string replaced. They showed me how to use the clip-on tuner, but I need to practice a lot. Just hoping I don’t break any more strings. This could get expensive!

[solitaire]

Another idea I had – those Emails Tony sends for feedback on how it is going – you can reply to those. Don’t click the link, just reply as per a normal Email and tell them how it is going for you. I’ve done this and got useful links sent to me. They may have a tutorial link that would help, or be able to help you via Zoom. You have actually highlighted a little gap in the TAC program which would easily trouble absolute beginners. Perhaps this is something that could be addressed?

[charlie_d]

Hi there. Stringing and then tuning a guitar can be tricky when strting out. If you know the order of the strings thickest to thinnest from the set this is important for tuning and for ensuring you place the right strings for the correct tuning. I have a number of tuners. If ever you need a online tuning app. i recommend Guitartuna. It as a number of different tuning settings and can also do alternate and open tunings even in the free app settings. Here’s the link https://yousician.com/guitartuna

Hope this helps.

Charlie D

[[email protected]]

Thank you. I used Guitartuna the first time I tried to tune, then I bought a clip-on. Last night I made the bad mistake of turning the peg for the high E when I though I was turning the peg for the B string. I was tired and got a little careless.