Tuning is the most important habit you will build as a guitarist. Even the most skilled player sounds bad on an out-of-tune guitar. This lesson teaches you exactly how to get in tune — every time.
Tuning is the most important thing you have to learn. Even simple music will sound wrong if the guitar is out of tune. At first, tuning will seem difficult and your guitar may go out of tune easily, but after some practice it will become much easier and the tuning will hold better.
Find somewhere quiet to tune. You need to be able to hear each string clearly without distraction. Tune the guitar before you play for anyone else — always. Before playing outside, check the tuning again even if it was in tune inside, as temperature changes affect the strings.
You need a starting point — a reference pitch for the 1st string (high E). The best sources are:
While the reference note sounds, pluck the 1st string. If the string sounds higher than the reference — slacken it by turning its tuning peg a little. If lower — tighten it a little. Turn only a quarter turn at a time. If you are not sure whether the string is higher or lower, slacken it slightly until it is clearly too low, then tighten it slowly until it matches. Always approach the correct pitch by tightening upward — this keeps the tuning more stable.
Once your 1st string is in tune, you can tune all the others to it. The principle is simple: pressing a string behind a specific fret produces the same note as the next open string below it.
Every string is tuned at the 5th fret — except string 3, which is tuned at the 4th fret. This is because of how standard tuning is structured. Forgetting this is one of the most common tuning mistakes beginners make.
Everything guitarists ask about this topic
Standard guitar tuning from the thickest string to the thinnest is E A D G B E — often remembered with the phrase Eddie Ate Dynamite Good Bye Eddie. The low E (6th string) has the deepest pitch and the high E (1st string) has the highest.
Use the 5th fret method: tune the 1st string to a reference pitch (pitch pipe, tuning fork, piano, or app), then press each subsequent string at the 5th fret and match it to the open string below it. Note: the 3rd string is pressed at the 4th fret, not the 5th.
Tune your guitar every single time you pick it up to play. Strings go out of tune constantly — from temperature changes, humidity, playing, and just sitting in the case. Checking takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference to how you sound.
New strings stretch and go out of tune more quickly. Stretch new strings by gently pulling them away from the fingerboard after fitting, then re-tune. After 2 to 3 sessions, new strings settle and hold their tuning much better. Old or worn strings also go out of tune easily and should be replaced.
A clip-on chromatic tuner is the easiest option for beginners — it clips onto the headstock and reads the vibration of the guitar directly, so it works even in noisy environments. Tuner apps on a smartphone also work well. A pitch pipe is inexpensive and useful to have as a backup.
Standard tuning has a minor third interval between strings 2 and 3 (B and G), while all other adjacent strings are tuned a perfect fourth apart. This means the reference fret for string 3 is the 4th fret rather than the 5th. It is one of the quirks of standard guitar tuning that every player needs to memorise.