The guitarist walks out onto stage in the darkness.
The roadee silently hands him his axe.
The roadee has just finished tuning the guitar prior to handing it to the star.
This is the norm for most any professional guitarist.
The guitar is perfectly in tune for the very first note played live for the audience.
This is very important because the worst possible thing that could happen is a bad first note.
Let's have a look into how the guitar itself is tuned.
There are two main ways a guitar can be tuned.
The first method is "by ear", and the second method is by using a digital tuner.
The first method involves matching the pitch of each string to a reference pitch that is heard by the ear of whoever is tuning the instrument.
The second method, which is much more accurate but not always possible is done by plugging the guitar into a digital offboard tuning device that reads the pitch of the string electronically, and displays the result as a meter on a digital screen.
there is a third "tuning method" that can be used, but we cannot call it an official method because there is no guarantee that the strings are in the proper key after completing it.
It is called relative tuning, where the strings pitches are matched to each other starting with the first two, and so on.
Tuning By Ear This method is done by hearing a reference of the correct pitch using a computer online guitar tuner, or another method of sound output like a keyboard, or another in-tune guitar.
The way to tune each string is by plucking it, then comparing the sound from the guitar to the sound of the output device that is playing the reference pitch.
It is not perfect though because it is only as good as your ability to hear the difference in sound.
Digital tuners Using a digital tuner is much easier, and much more accurate than doing it by ear.
It requires that you have a guitar which can be plugged into it using a 1/4 inch patch cable.
Some digital devices also have a built-in microphone that can "hear" sounds of acoustic instruments that do not have the option to plug in.
Tuning the guitar is simply done by plucking each string, looking at the reading on the screen of the device, and changing the pitch according to the reading.
the string is perfect once the needle or light is centered in the tuner.
Relative This method can be used in certain instances when the actual pitch of the guitar does not matter.
If it is being played alone without any other instruments, and there is no option to use the other two methods you can use it to at least make the guitar sound good when being played.
It is done by playing the low E string on the fifth fret, and testing that note against the open position of the second string.
Then, the second string is played on the fifth fret, and tested against the sound of the third string.
Then, the third string the same way.
At the fourth string, there is a slight change because of the way a guitar is made to sound.
You must play the fourth fret of this string and test it against the open note of the fifth string.
finally, play the fifth fret of the fifth string and measure it against the last string.
This method if done correctly, and by someone who can hear the pitches pretty well, should put the strings in tune with each other so the guitar as a whole sounds good.
The roadee silently hands him his axe.
The roadee has just finished tuning the guitar prior to handing it to the star.
This is the norm for most any professional guitarist.
The guitar is perfectly in tune for the very first note played live for the audience.
This is very important because the worst possible thing that could happen is a bad first note.
Let's have a look into how the guitar itself is tuned.
There are two main ways a guitar can be tuned.
The first method is "by ear", and the second method is by using a digital tuner.
The first method involves matching the pitch of each string to a reference pitch that is heard by the ear of whoever is tuning the instrument.
The second method, which is much more accurate but not always possible is done by plugging the guitar into a digital offboard tuning device that reads the pitch of the string electronically, and displays the result as a meter on a digital screen.
there is a third "tuning method" that can be used, but we cannot call it an official method because there is no guarantee that the strings are in the proper key after completing it.
It is called relative tuning, where the strings pitches are matched to each other starting with the first two, and so on.
Tuning By Ear This method is done by hearing a reference of the correct pitch using a computer online guitar tuner, or another method of sound output like a keyboard, or another in-tune guitar.
The way to tune each string is by plucking it, then comparing the sound from the guitar to the sound of the output device that is playing the reference pitch.
It is not perfect though because it is only as good as your ability to hear the difference in sound.
Digital tuners Using a digital tuner is much easier, and much more accurate than doing it by ear.
It requires that you have a guitar which can be plugged into it using a 1/4 inch patch cable.
Some digital devices also have a built-in microphone that can "hear" sounds of acoustic instruments that do not have the option to plug in.
Tuning the guitar is simply done by plucking each string, looking at the reading on the screen of the device, and changing the pitch according to the reading.
the string is perfect once the needle or light is centered in the tuner.
Relative This method can be used in certain instances when the actual pitch of the guitar does not matter.
If it is being played alone without any other instruments, and there is no option to use the other two methods you can use it to at least make the guitar sound good when being played.
It is done by playing the low E string on the fifth fret, and testing that note against the open position of the second string.
Then, the second string is played on the fifth fret, and tested against the sound of the third string.
Then, the third string the same way.
At the fourth string, there is a slight change because of the way a guitar is made to sound.
You must play the fourth fret of this string and test it against the open note of the fifth string.
finally, play the fifth fret of the fifth string and measure it against the last string.
This method if done correctly, and by someone who can hear the pitches pretty well, should put the strings in tune with each other so the guitar as a whole sounds good.