Tuning Your Guitar: first things first

There are plenty of ways to tune your guitar but most guitar players start with what is called “standard” tuning. That means the strings are tuned from the 6th or fattest string to the 1st or skinniest string with the notes like this:

E (6). A(5). D(4). G(3). B(2). E(1)

One magical thing about guitar standard tuning is the way the strings relate to one another, being a 4th apart (except for the B2 string). That means once we know the string names it is super easy to know all the notes at the 5th fret on each string.

Back in the day, guitarists would use that string relationship to tune their guitar… with an actual tuning fork, if you can believe that, tuned to an A. Once that string was tuned, the other strings would be tuned from it. Happily for us, we have technology now and can use a digital tuner for that. Here’s a video on using a clip on snark tuner (my preferred tuner and method)

Regular folks playing guitar

Sting: “If you play music with passion and love and honesty, then it will nourish your soul, heal your wounds and make your life worth living. Music is its own reward.”

Next” some common musical terms for guitarists