Tuning Your Guitar
![Picture](/uploads/1/9/4/4/19446045/561262435.jpg)
Every time you play your guitar, you should always start by tuning it. To do this, you should invest in a tuner. The picture to the right shows an example of a normal tuner. The lights at the top will tell you if your note is flat, sharp, or right on. With guitar it is especially important to pay attention to what not the tuner says you are playing. It is quite possible that if your guitar has not been tuned in a while, that it will be an entire note too flat. This may give you the illusion of being on pitch when in reality, you are much flatter than it appears. After enough playing, you will be able to tell just by strumming an open chord whether or not you are in tune.
If you do not want purchase a tuner like the one shown in the picture, there is an app for iOS called Clear Tune that works exceptionally well and is quite a bit cheaper. There are also tuners made specifically for guitar which clamp on to the head of your guitar. Finally, there are tuners online that will simply play the open string note from each string for you. The will not tell you whether or not you are in tune, it is up to you to listen. This can be a great listening exercise if you have a normal tuner on hand to see if you correctly matched the pitch of the online tuner.
Remember: if your pitch is flat, you need to tighten your tuning pegs. If your pitch is sharp, you need to loosen your tuning pegs. If you are using a tuner that plays the note for you and then gets you to try and match the pitch, always loosen your pegs first if you are unsure! If you tighten them too much, you may break a string.
If you do not want purchase a tuner like the one shown in the picture, there is an app for iOS called Clear Tune that works exceptionally well and is quite a bit cheaper. There are also tuners made specifically for guitar which clamp on to the head of your guitar. Finally, there are tuners online that will simply play the open string note from each string for you. The will not tell you whether or not you are in tune, it is up to you to listen. This can be a great listening exercise if you have a normal tuner on hand to see if you correctly matched the pitch of the online tuner.
Remember: if your pitch is flat, you need to tighten your tuning pegs. If your pitch is sharp, you need to loosen your tuning pegs. If you are using a tuner that plays the note for you and then gets you to try and match the pitch, always loosen your pegs first if you are unsure! If you tighten them too much, you may break a string.