Acoustic Guitars: Tuning for Beginners
Tuning a guitar is the most basic skill that a beginner guitar player needs to learn. Mastering this skill in the beginning will help get you on your way to becoming an accomplished guitar player. Before you learn anything else you should master tuning your own guitar. Often times beginner guitar players who have not bothered to learn this basic skill give up because their guitars are out of tune and they have no clue how to go about rectifying this particular problem.
Before you tune your guitar be sure that you are holding it properly. You need to know how to position, rest and support your guitar. You can get some accessories that will help you such as a foot stool, strap or guitar belt. When you sit down you should rest the guitar on your leg. Find a good comfortable playing position where you can easily access all the strings. Be sure that you don't have to stretch really far to reach the strings.
Be sure to check your guitar and make sure that it is free from dust on the strings, frets, sound box and neck. You can use a soft, lint free cloth which will avoid you damaging the grain and finish on the guitar. Never use furniture polish on your guitar. If you really want to clean the guitar be sure to get a specialty cleaner from your local music dealer.
Next you are going to tune your guitar. You will need to have a reference point so you can get the proper pitch. You can get this from another guitar, piano, tuning fork or electronic tuner. An electronic tuner can be especially helpful for beginners who are practicing when there are no other instruments around. You can also now go online and get clips that will have a tuner help you properly tune your guitar. Once you practice more and more you will be able to learn how to tune your guitar by ear. Your ability to recognize pitch will improve over time.
There are also some general reminders that you should remember when tuning your guitar. You need to pay attention to the tension in the string because too much or too little slack will not produce a good sound. If you wind it too tight you may cause your string to snap. If you feel you may have gone too far you should loosen the string and start over. Always tune upward because if you tune downward your string is less likely to stay in tune.
Every beginner will eventually master the art of tuning a guitar. Keep practicing with a reference point so you can become familiar with the way the different keys should sound. Eventually after doing it long enough you will be able to recognize each individual key just by hearing it and you will be able to adjust your own guitar because you will know the sound you are trying to achieve.
