Tuning open strings on the guitar

by Brian Capleton     

You will need to practise tuning techniques first. This is how to learn:

The first string

Firstly, the interval between all the pairs of adjacent strings except G - B, is a tempered perfect fourth. We need to know how to tune these fourths.

Start by tuning the A string to another instrument or a tuning fork. Remember that the A string is tuned 2 octaves below the pitch of a standard A440 tuning fork. This is not the first A below middle C, but the A one octave below it.

Listen for patterns of fluctuation in the sound as the string is being tuned. This fluctuation is called beating, and roughly speaking will be a kind of "wa wa wa" sound within the tone. As the string comes into tune, the speed of this beating will slow down. The more sharp or flat the string is, the faster the beating will be. You will not necessarily stop the beating altogether. Listen to the pitch of the note at the same as listening to the beating.

The idea is to get beating in the soundscape as slow as possible, whenever two notes are to be tuned to the same pitch, or are to be tuned an octave apart, or a number of octaves apart. This is called tuning harmonically, or tuning harmonic intervals.

The point about tuning in equal temperament is that all other intervals are not to be tuned in this way. They are to be tuned deliberately leaving beating in the soundscape.

This applies to the fourths between the open strings, and will also apply to the major third between G and B.

Practice tuning the fourths

Each interval between adjacent open strings except the G - B, must be an equally tempered fourth. this means it must be wider than the harmonic fourth. The upper and lower strings are tuned a little further apart than they would be, if tuning were harmonic.

Firstly, the upper string (upper in pitch, not the string furthest from the floor!) in each case, must sound approximately a perfect fourth above the lower string. It must sound 4 steps in a scale above the lower string. In tonic sol fa this means taking the lowest string as doh, imagining a re and mi above it, and then tuning the upper string to fa.

When the upper string is approximately a perfect fourth above the lower one, listen for beating in the soundscape. If you can't hear it, try altering the string tension. Alter and listen at the same time.

If you still have trouble, listen for beating at the musical pitch two octaves above the pitch of the lower string.

Try this on E(6)-A(5),  A(5)-D(4),  D(4)-G(3) and B(2)-E(1). Don't worry about the overall tuning of the guitar, just practise it on the individual intervals.

Try tuning each fourth so that it stops beating. If you can do this, you will be able to temper the fourth.

The first mistake made by many guitarists is tuning the fourths beatless, i.e., harmonically. The fourths must be tempered. To temper a fourth, first tune harmonically, i.e. beatless, and then try raising the upper string a little, so that it beats about 1 beat every 2 seconds. Alternatively, you can lower the lower string to achieve the beating.

If you can hear more than one beat rate, listen to the slowest one.

In the case of B(2)-E(1), try tuning so that the beat rate is 1 per second.

Practice tuning the major third

Try tuning the G and B strings so that they are a major third apart. In tonic sol fa this means taking the G string as doh, imagining a re tuning the B string to mi above it.

Listen for beating. It may be much faster than in the fourths. Try altering the tension and listening at the same time. Try listening for beating at a musical pitch 2 octaves above the B.

Experiment with tuning the third beatless, i.e. harmonically. Then try raising the B until there are about 8 beats per second. If you are a musician and can think of a one per second beat, it's easy to double this, and then double again, and then double again. 8 beats per per second is quite fast - much faster than the fourths.

Try it the other way round. Tune a beatless third first, and then lower the G.

Listen to the difference between the harmonic third and the tempered third, in terms of its tone quality, and the pitches of the notes.

Practice tuning the major tenth

Follow the same principles as for the major third. For example, open A up to C#, on the B string, 2nd fret.

Practise tuning the double octave

Really, this should be easy. Tune the top E(1) against the bottom string E(6), as a double octave. You should be used to doing this already. But now listen for beating, and endeavour to stop it.

Practice tuning other octaves

Practise tuning other octaves or double octaves by tuning an open string against a stopped note.

Listen for beating, and endeavour to stop it.

Practise tuning the twelfth

The interval between D(6) and A(2), or between A(5) and E(1), is a twelfth. Try tuning this so there is no beating, and try tuning it so that the A(2) or E(1) string is slightly flat, and the interval beats about 1 beat per second.

Having had some practise, you may have noticed that sometimes, when trying to tune by stopping the beating in an interval, you cannot do it, because one of the strings is beating on its own, and this beating is always present in the soundscape of the interval, no matter how you tune it. This may be particularly true with older strings. Let's look at this on the next page, falseness in guitar strings.