| There are many ways to tune an electric guitar. The | | | | Finally, lower E, the largest string and also the first: - |
| easiest way is with a guitar tuner, if the intonation is set | | | | Place your middle finger on the 5th fret of lower E - |
| properly. Tuning a guitar trains your ear to the different | | | | This gives an open A sound - Match the sound |
| sounds of each note. | | | | produced by the A string to the 5th fret note - Adjust |
| Find a tuner that works with an electric guitar. Learn to | | | | lower E accordingly |
| tune your guitar with one note off a fixed source, or | | | | Be aware that when you tighten a string to tune it it's |
| by ear. This will help train the ear for the pitch of each | | | | put under lots of tension. Normally, this is not a problem. |
| note and help with finger placement and the pressure | | | | However, if your guitar has rough parts that can snag |
| to be applied to the string. | | | | a string. If you tune it incorrectly and over tighten the |
| One way to tune is set out below: - Start off with | | | | string, it will break. Since the string is under so much |
| open A (this is the second largest or 5th string). - Use | | | | tension, it can cause a lot of damage. Don't over |
| a fixed source such as the piano, harmonica, tuning | | | | tighten strings. If in doubt, tune down. |
| fork, even another guitar - Now make the A string | | | | You need to do one string at a time. Strings have |
| match the pitch or tone of the A source note by | | | | tension and a pulling effect on the guitar's neck. The |
| picking the A string and letting it ring - Loosen the string | | | | force that each string exerts on the neck causes it to |
| below the tone and then tune while increasing the | | | | bend slightly. |
| tension - Loosening and then tightening works best and | | | | Once you have tuned your guitar, you will probably find |
| keeps the guitar in tune longer | | | | that some strings have gone out of tune. You will need |
| Once the A string is tuned move to the D string. - The | | | | to repeat the above procedure until all the strings are |
| D string is directly below the A string, it is the 4th string | | | | in tune. |
| - Sound D by placing your middle finger on the 5th fret | | | | Good intonation means your guitar will stay in tune as |
| on A - This will give the D sound - Hold the finger | | | | you play different notes along the neck. The string |
| down and leave it to ring while adjusting D | | | | may be perfectly in tune but, on the 10th fret, it might |
| Now move to the G string; this is directly under the D | | | | be ½ semitone out. This is bad intonation. |
| string and is the 3rd string. - Sound G by placing your | | | | Bad intonation can be caused by a mismatch between |
| middle finger on the 5th fret on the D string - Let the | | | | the length of the string and the spacing of the frets. It |
| sound ring out by holding your finger down - Adjust G | | | | can also be caused by a non-uniform string (that is, the |
| by matching it to the sound | | | | thickness changes along the length). If you can't fix the |
| Then comes the B string or the 2nd string. This is | | | | intonation, try changing your strings. |
| directly under the G string. - Place your middle finger | | | | Intonation is easily adjusted on the electric guitar since |
| on the 4th fret on the G string - Hold your finger down | | | | the bridge consists of several adjustable parts. A flat |
| to let it ring out - Adjust the B string to match the | | | | note means the string is too long, whereas a sharp |
| sound | | | | note means the string is too short. Adjust the string |
| Next, the upper E string, the thinnest string and the one | | | | slightly by moving the appropriate bridge piece. You |
| below the B string. - Place your middle finger on the | | | | may have to repeat this several times on each string. It |
| 5th fret of the B string; this gives the upper E note - | | | | is time-consuming the first time you do it, but well |
| Let it ring out by holding your finger down - Adjust the | | | | worth your while. |
| E string to match the sound | | | | |