Sometimes you may need to tune your guitar without having the tuner at hand. If you are familiar with the fifth fret tuning method, which uses the low E string as a reference for tuning the other strings, then you are in luck because you will simply need to know if the low E is actually in tune. This article will show you how to tune it, using sound sources you may have on hand as a reference point.
Steps
Part 1 of 2: Getting Started
Step 1. Take the guitar and position it as if you were going to play
Step 2. Find the low E string
This string is also known as the sixth string, thicker than the others and positioned high.
Step 3. Find the low E chord key
Follow the low E string to its chord key.
Part 2 of 2: Tuning the Bass E string
Step 1. Find a reference sound for the low E
In the absence of a tuner, you can use one of the following devices as a reference point for tuning the low E string.
- A piano. Find the low E on a piano. This is usually the third white key from the left. An electronic keyboard will also work perfectly in place of a traditional piano.
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A computer.
Use your browser to listen to a bass guitar E recording with speakers or headphones connected to your computer. For example, the guitar manufacturer Fender has made available on its official website an online tuner, integrated into an image of the mechanics of the guitar. Here you can hear the low E by clicking on the clef of the left string, you can also select the "No Loop" option, or listen to it repeatedly by selecting the "Loop" setting. Alternatively, you can also listen to the recording of a low E on a variety of websites, such as Soundcloud and YouTube, even if those recordings are uploaded by users and therefore may not be completely reliable. You will also have to charge them again to resent them.
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A smartphone or tablet.
There are several apps, such as Cleartune and Gibson Learn & Master Guitar (for both IOS and Android), or Guitar Toolkit and Cadenza (for IOS only), which offer a great variety of tuning tools, including the ability to hear and tune the low E string on your smartphone or tablet.
Step 2. Play the guitar note and the sound source note at the same time
Position yourself in front of the sound source with your guitar and play the sound source simultaneously with one hand and the low E string with the other.
Step 3. Match the source note to the guitar
Keep playing the source note and the guitar string at the same time, carefully adjusting the clef of the low E string until the sounds coincide.
- Turn the key clockwise to lower the pitch of the string and counterclockwise to raise it.
- You have to try to eliminate the "dissonance" with the tuning. This dissonance is that annoying, out-of-tune vibration that is heard when the musical notes are similar but not perfectly matched.
Step 4. Tune the remaining strings
Once the low E is tuned, continue to tune the other five strings of the guitar using the fifth fret tuning method.
Advice
- If you are not familiar with the fifth fret tuning method, read the article on tuning after you have tuned the low E string to learn it.
- A piano is the obvious choice if you have one on hand in such a situation, because both the piano and keyboard tend to stay in tune longer and are also more reliable for tuning the low E.
- Online tuners and apps not only allow you to tune the low E string, but also all the strings of the guitar and are, at times, more advanced tools than actual tuners. These instruments are particularly suitable if your computer, smartphone or tablet is equipped with a microphone and I can use a software based on chromatic tuning that will listen to each string as you play it, giving you an almost perfect tuning. All of this could make the fifth fret tuning method seem rather redundant, being able to tune the entire guitar with an app. However, it is very useful to know this method, in case your guitar is out of tune and you do not have any type of tuner or musical instrument available. In such a situation, you can use relative tuning, assuming the low E is in tune, even if it isn't, by tuning the whole guitar to that string. This way, while your guitar won't match other instruments, you can still play harmoniously.
Warnings
- Electronic tuners, whether physical or app, should be used to tune guitars together, especially if you have to play with other musicians or instruments. The methods outlined in this article should be used when a tuner is not available. Knowing how to tune a guitar without a tuner is very useful, especially in emergencies, but should never be done except in cases of extreme necessity.
- Some online forums recommend using a landline phone as a source note to tune your guitar. This is based on the belief that landline telephone sounds, in some parts of the world such as North America, are emitted at 440 Hz, which corresponds to the tuning of A to middle C. However, these sounds are actually output between 350 and 440 Hz and should not be trusted for tuning a guitar.
