, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5-B, 6, 6-B, 7, 8, 8-B, 9, 9-B,


IMPORTANT NOTE

THE "A" ABOVE MIDDLE "C" ON THE PIANO HAS A FREQUENCY OF 440 CYCLES PER SECOND. THAT NOTE IS NOTATED BY THE SECOND SPACE FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE STANDARD G, OR "TREBLE" CLEF. THAT SAME NOTATION IN GUITAR MUSIC PRODUCES A PITCH OF "A 220", A NOTE EXACTLY ONE OCTIVE LOWER IN PITCH THAN THE PIANO. THE "A" STRING OF THE GUITAR IS ACTUALLY TUNED TO 110 CYCLES PER SECOND, TWO OCTAVES LOWER THAN "A 440". THE VALUE OF TUNING THE REFERENCE STRING TO THE HARMONIC AT THE 5TH FRET OF THE "A" STRING IS THAT THE ACTUAL PITCH IS THE EXACT "A 440" OF YOUR TUNING FORK.

Each of the following methods of tuning assume you have already tuned the "A" string. DO NOT RE-TUNE THE "A" STRING! It is your reference pitch and if it is adjusted you will have to re-tune all of the other notes as well.

Method 1 - Sequential Tuning of Adjacent Strings.

This first method of tuning is simple and easy to learn, however, it is not the best way to tune the instrument. Each time you progress from one string to the next any slight error in tuning is propagated to the next string. By the time you get to the high "E" string you may not even be close to correctly in tune. Once you get to the point where you are playing chords on the guitar this method of tuning will prove inadequate but it is fine for very early beginners on the guitar. Method 2 - Tuning Relative to One Fixed Pitch

This method of tuning is more accurate than the previous method because it avoids cumulative errors by always tuning each sting to a single reference string. It does require that you learn how to play a harmonic on the "A" string at the 7th fret (you may have already played your first harmonic on the 5th fret of the "A" string to tune the "A" string to the tuning fork). The actual note that will sound when you play the "A" string while touching the string lightly above the 7th fret will be an "E." This "E" harmonic which is played on the "A" string at the 7th fret will be your reference pitch. All other strings will be tuned to this note by finding "E" notes on each other string (yes, there actually are "E's" on every string), and by comparing each "E" with the "E" harmonic on the 7th fret of the "A" string. The only problem with this method of tuning is that it is sometimes difficult to get each "E" to resonate well enough to be able to use it to tune the instrument. This is especially problematic with inexpensive instruments which may not resonate evenly on all notes.

Method 3 - Harmonic Tuning Relative to One Fixed Pitch

This final method is the best method for tuning the guitar. It is very similar to Method 2 but uses harmonics on all strings except the 2nd instead of using normal notes. The advantage of using harmonics is that they have fewer overtones to confuse the ear so it is easier to hear the beats when two strings are not correctly tuned. This method requires the use of "artificial harmonics." They are a little tricky to produce, but are worth the effort to learn.

Playing Artificial Harmonics

If you have read the supplement to this lesson: The Acoustics of Music, you will have seen how strings vibrate at many frequencies or pitches at the same time. If you excite the string (pluck it, strike it, move it, etc.) directly above a point on the string where a "node" exists for some harmonic frequency, you will be able to clearly hear the pitch of the harmonic, rather than the fundamental frequency of the string. If you press a string against any fret on the neck of the guitar, you effectively shorten the string length. A complete harmonic series will then be accessible relative to the new string length, rather than to the original string length. This opens up some very interesting possibilities, not only for tuning, but for making music on the instrument - more on that later...

In order to produce the harmonic, you must strike the string and touch it lightly at the same time with the fingers of the right hand. This leaves the left hand free to press down at any desired fret. To practice this, choose a string...say, the "D" string. Fully extend the index finger of the right hand (like you're pointing at something) with your other 3 fingers rolled into your palm. Align your right thumb so that it is parallel to the index finger. You should be able to look directly at your right hand and see the top of the thumbnail and the outside edge of the index finger. Lower this entire assembly down to the "D" string. Touch the "D" string lightly at the 12th fret with the soft tip of the index finger, while striking the same string with a lateral movement of the thumb. As soon as the thumb stroke is complete, move the index finger away from the string so that the note will continue to sound. You should hear a bell-like tone, a harmonic, that is actually the octave of the open "D" string. Try the same thing on each of the other strings until you get a feel for how to sound each harmonic. This same technique can be used to get harmonics from each string at the 5th and 7th frets. If you experiment, you will discover that there are other harmonics just waiting to be heard, some of them at points on the string that don't even correspond to fret positions. Anyway, we diverge...

Now try pressing the "D" string at the 2nd fret while producing an artificial harmonic by touching and playing the string at the 14th fret. That note happens to be an "E", exactly the note you will need to continue this lesson on tuning. You can continue experimenting with this technique by pressing any note on any string and counting 5, 7, or 12 frets up from that note to pluck the artificial harmonic. Once again, there will be other harmonics at many other points on the strings, enjoy!

Checking the strings

The final step in tuning the guitar is to check that the strings have not "gone bad". A bad string will be in tune on some points on the neck but way out of tune at other points due to uneven stretching of the string when it is tuned up to pitch. The quickest way to check a string is to play a harmonic at the 12th fret and than compare the pitch to the pitch you get when you actually press the string down on the 12th fret. This should be done for all 6 strings. Because the 12th fret is the half-way point of the string length, the harmonic and the natural tone should be identical. In practice, it is not uncommon that the two pitches will differ slightly so I usually continue to use a string that has only a slight error at the 12th fret. If you get too picky about the correctness of the pitch you might go through many strings before you finally find one that is perfect. Another consideration before you replace strings on the instrument is your own level of playing. If you are a beginner and play mostly on the 1st five frets of the guitar you probably won't be affected too badly by a bad string. On the other hand, if you use the entire neck of the instrument in your playing you will most likely find a bad string to be unacceptable.

Conclusion

Almost all vibrating objects produce harmonics above the fundamental frequency. As a matter of fact the ONLY thing that differentiates the timbre of one instrument from another is the relative mix of harmonic frequencies present in the tone. This is a very important fact with implications that are especially important to the guitar and we will explore this in later lessons.

This concludes the lesson on tuning the guitar. You learned quite a few other things as well, but I believe they were necessary in order to truly understand not only how, buy why. I guess it's on to lesson 6!