Guitar Tips, Music Tips and Product Reviews

One of the first things you need to learn is how to tune your guitar. Before you do anything you must make sure the strings are in tune with each other or nothing will ever sound good.

You should know about the various parts that your guitar consists of: 1 )If you start at the top, there is the machine head for each string. Turning them makes the string tighter or slacker which alters its pitch and how high or low the note sounds. 2 )The nut supports the strings between the neck and head of the guitar and spaces the strings out evenly. 3 )The neck goes from the lower end (at the nut) to the higher end (where the neck joins the body). 4 )The frets are the raised bands across the neck, which you press with the fingers of your left hand just behind the frets. This will raise the pitch of your notes. 5 )Next the strings are numbered from 1 to 6 which go from the highest to the lowest sounds. String 1 is at the bottom when you hold the guitar in playing stance, with string 6 at the top. 6 )Each string also has a letter which relates to the different notes. 7) Playing a string without holding it down, is called an open string. Open strings consist of the notes E, A,D, G, B and E. (The 2 different E's are 2 octaves apart).

The 5th Fret Trick may be the simplest method to tune the guitar without using extra gear. It's called this because you use the fifth fret to ensure the other strings are in turn. Here's how: a) With any finger, press the sixth string just behind the 5th fret. Pluck string six then pluck open string 5.If they seem exactly the same, they are in tune. b) Keep plucking both strings and turn the machine head for open string five until the sounds match. c) Keep matching the sound of every string to the one below it.Example: fifth fret string 6 = 5th open string, fifth fret string 5 = 4th open string, fifth fret string 4 = 3rd open string, fourth fret string 3 = 2nd open string (this is the only odd one), fifth fret string 2 = 1st open string,

If your strings sounds a bit low, you have to strength the string tension on your machine head. If the string sound is high, lessen the tension and repeat the process for the other five strings. It can take a few minutes to get the sound on your tuner and your sound correct, but after some practice, you'll be able to do it in no time at all.

There are many alternative methods of tuning your guitar that you may want to look into. Some of these are: i) Online Guitar Tuners - probably for the more advanced, but they can can also do alternated guitar tunings; such as Drop D, Open C, Open G, Open D, Open G, Half Step Down, Full Step Down, Open E or Major. ii )Electronic Tuners - There are many electronic tuners on the market today. An electronic tuner monitors the frequency of each of the six strings. The guitar tuning is adjusted until the correct reading on the tuner is given. These are especially good if you are the visual type of learner. iii) Keyboard or Piano - the strings on the guitar can easily be tuned to six keys on the keyboard iv) Harmonics - for the more advanced v) Octaves - a common approach to tuning the guitar makes use of octave intervals

Whichever tuning method you end up using, it's always a good idea to learn the basic Fifth Fret Method because it's always a good idea to know how to tune your guitar without the need of electronics.