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Hi fellow guitar learners. You know how sometimes it feels like you just can’t get your guitar in tune? You’ll strum a chord, not like it, and end up chasing sour notes for an embarrassingly long time? Guess what…it’s actually impossible to perfectly tune a guitar. So good news, it’s not your fault!
Since perfect tuning is impossible, the key is to find the best compromise. This is the theory behind tempered tuning, and why it works so well (to my ear, at least). I’ve tried a lot of different methods for tuning my guitar, none of which were very consistently successful for me, until I discovered Tempered Tuning on the Ryan Guitars site. So, I feel compelled to share this with those of you starting out on the guitar, because I wish I had known about it years ago when I was starting out on the guitar.
One thing before you read the method below – you need to know what “interference beats” are. I’m guessing you’ve heard them, especially if you are using harmonics to tune. They happen when you are tuning a string, you have plucked the target note, and are tuning the other string up to that note, you can hear a pulsing sound that slows down until the two notes are in sync and the pulse (or beat) is gone. You will need to listen for this sound and use it to tune your guitar with this method. So here is the method:
1. Tune the D string to a known source
2. Pluck the 12th fret harmonic of the D then tune the G (fretted at the 7th fret) to this harmonic.
3. Pluck the same 12th fret harmonic of the D then tune the B (fretted at the 3rd fret) to this harmonic
4. Pluck the 12th fret harmonic of the G and tune the High E fretted at the 3rd fret to this harmonic
5. Tune the 12th fret harmonic of the A to the G fretted at the 2nd fret (pluck the harmonic first!)
6. Tune the 5th fret harmonic of the Low E to the High E open (pluck the harmonic first!)
Hopefully this is helpful. I know that I am now tuning faster and more accurately than I ever have (even using electronic tuners).
Taylor
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You must have a more musical ear than I have, the open tuning of my guitars strings using a tuner works fine for me, Of course I have to agree with you that there is no perfect tuning on a guitar as there are too many variables to throw the string/strings out of tune when played, But everything in life is about compromise and tuning guitar strings isn’t any different imho…
I am glad you have found a system that works for you Taylor, good interesting post..Billy
..Billy..
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That’s worth experimenting with. If it works for you, that’s great, but the harmonics don’t reflect the sounds the fretted notes make. I’ve tried it and it really didn’t affect the overall tuning in a consistently good way (my hearing is also quirky and varies from day to day, but I can tune a guitar).
There’s something similar I’ve heard about—the desired result is similar—that is tuning compensation for particular keys. Have you heard of anyone working out tunings for this? For example, in the key of F, I really want my F, G, (Ab?,) A, Bb, C, D and Eb to be in tune but I’m not as concerned about other notes. Has anyone heard of tunings that achieve optimum consonance for each key? (I don’t mean alt. tunings, hypothetically, I mean something like “leave 5th string 15 cents flat of A”—if it takes alt. tunings and learning new fingerings for each key, that’s more than I can do.)
I heard about this in the ’80s, but recently I haven’t been able to find evidence of it, or even anyone else who remembers it. It may be what you’re mentioning, just that with my limited understanding of music in the ’80s, I interpreted what I heard in a strange way and I’ve continued to remember it that way. Trying again.
Don D.
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@DonD. – regarding the use of harmonics not reflecting fretted notes – I definitely find this to be the case when I try to tune my guitar using the 5th and 7th fret harmonics (Low E 5th fret harmonic to match A 7th fret harmonic, and so on down the strings). I think I said that right, it’s been a while since I used that method. Anyway, it doesn’t give good results to use those harmonics that way. But the Tempered Tuning uses the correct harmonics in the correct way so that it should translate to well tuned fretted notes, unless your guitar has other intonation issues related to action, neck relief, saddle placement, etc.
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@Don D. – also, I do believe you could tune your guitar for certain keys, but I’ve not come across instructions for it. Though it’s not a bad idea if you are recording. Honestly, we probably naturally do this when we are working on a song, and tweaking the tuning a bit while working on that song. It would be interesting to work out a method for this, though. Beyond me, I’m afraid 🙂
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Hey Taylor, yes, you’re right, I was referring to the 5th fret/7th fret thing. I’m going to try it again, printing out your instructions. Thanks for your persistence, I ASSumed that any use of harmonics would have the same built-in drawbacks.
I’ll let you know when I get a chance to try this.
Don D.
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@DonD. – I should add another advantage of this method is that you can use the “interference beats” to tell if you need to tune up or down (I have to admit sometimes I don’t know, so maybe my ear isn’t that great after all @BillyM :)). As you start to turn the tuning button, if the interference beat increases, you’re moving in the wrong direction. If it slows, you’re getting hotter. I think this is the aspect of the method that makes it so accurate and quicker for me than other methods. I know that electronic tuners show you this as well, but in my experience with Snark tuners and the GuitarTuna app they don’t get you quite as dialed in as listening to the interference beats does.
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Sometimes when they’re close, I can tell right away they don’t match, but I still end up tuning in the wrong direction. That’s what I mean about my hearing varying, because some days I know right away which direction to turn it, other days I have to twist and listen 3-4 times (and I’m not talking about the mechanical difficulty of turning the peg the exactly right amount).
Same thing finding keys, some days it’s a breeze, other days…
Don D.
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This method works because the 12th fret harmonic is a perfect octave above the open string fundamental. It also has the advantage that you can play both strings at the same time. There’s no reason it should be better or worse than playing the fifth fret of the D string and the open G string at the same time to create a unison.
If you use the 7th fret harmonic, then you are tuning the strings according to a just intonation perfect fifth. That is about 2 cents sharp of an equal tempered perfect fifth. It will not only sound in tune, but it will sound in better tune for those two adjacent strings, especially in the key of that string. But the 2 cent error compounds over each of the strings, so if you did it for all six strings, you will find that your high and low E string are not in tune with each other. Strange, but true.
And yes, its impossible to come up with a perfect tuning that accommodates any usable scale over several octaves. There are lots of compromises. The one that your guitar maker used is equal temperament. To fundamentally change that, you would have to reset the frets to another type of temperament.
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The compromises involved in tuning are interesting, but are presumably inevitable given that we use a system of equal temperament. What works for me is to tune one string from a known note (usually A) and then other strings using octaves at the 7th fret of the string above and checking the unison at the 5th (or 4th) fret. I then fine tune by trying one or two chords in the key I am about to play in, because often while some keys then sound right others don’t quite. I think this is linked to the point Don was making. I have often noticed in solo classical guitar recitals when players check their tuning between pieces they invariably try a few chords quietly in the key of their next piece.
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Testing this, I don’t know how to do it either but I have an idea. Tagging you @taylorlongoutlook-com and myself @don-deering
Don D.
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Ahhh, thank you Don. Or @don-deering I should say.
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Also, can you tell I have no idea how to tag people in posts? I need to look up how to do that.
I think I turned my name off in the settings and that’s why I am untagable, I know when Bryce or Brian @ me then my email address comes up, I don’t like that either but I don’t know how to stop it from happening..
..Billy..
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The special tuner is a little battery-powered thing (I use and carry an adapter, but you could conceivably use batteries and take it anywhere if you wanted). It measures cents, I’ll soon find out how accurately. If I need a more accurate one, I’ll add it to “the list,” and near the top because this is one of the things I’ve been looking for.
After this compensation, there are separate +/- tweaks for different keys (also, I think, depending on where on the fretboard you’ll be playing).
But ultimately, without the method and the tuner, I’d do what I always did. Play slightly out of tune.
James Taylor has always been a guilty pleasure for me. He’s such a badass, I could picture him cringing a little at some of the stuff he released, but looking at the checks and thinking “oh well.”
Don D.
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@jiffy – thanks for adding that, it makes sense of why I’m often not happy with the result of using my electronic tuner, especially since I’m often playing with another guitarist and using a capo.
Here’s an extraction from the video you posted of James Taylor’s tuning method which compensates for capo use:
High E: -3 cents (flat)
B: -6 cents (flat)
G: -4 cents (flat)
D: -8 cents (flat)
A: -10 cents (flat)
Low E: -12 cents (flat) -
I might have to get another tuner to accomplish the James Taylor method, although Boss tuner I have shows cents, it does it with LED dots next to tiny numerals, so I see the dots flashing but I’m not sure if it’s -5 or -3, for example, that I’m seeing. Going to try again once or twice more, maybe I’ll get used to looking at the readouts and will actually SEE them.
Thank you, Taylor, for typing out the James Taylor readings.
Don D.
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My tuner does measure cents, but it does so by flashing a red LED dot the size of the head of a pin over the number on a semicircular dial with a 2-1/2″ radius. So I haven’t been able to test/use James Taylor’s method.
Has anyone else? Any results to relate?
Someday I’ll get a new tuner, but at present I’m recovering from the shock of buying a vintage Flot-a-Tone tube amp on impulse. Haven’t even received it yet, and when I do, I’ll still be living in an apartment where I won’t be able to play it all that often. But I will be taking it somewhere to demo it, and I plan to document that. If anything sounds good enough to share, I certainly will.
I hope everyone (you know who you are) is having a fun and productive day, and if you aren’t, you realize it’s just temporary.
Don D.
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