I get so carried away with bends that I sometimes forget my guitar has slowly drifted out of tune. It's amazing how quickly a perfectly good solo can start sounding suspicious.
When it comes time to practice, we all just want to pick up our guitar, flip on the amp and start jamming. But let's get in the habit of tuning our guitar first. It'll make practice feel so much better when your chords are dialed in.
Guitar strings can go out of tune for many reasons, but it really all boils down to one thing — string tension. Temperature changes, humidity, and just playing can stretch or loosen the strings over time. The longer your guitar sits around, the more likely it is due for a quick tune-up.
🔑 KEY IDEA
The six notes, low to high
Tune up, step by step:
- 1Get a reference: a tuner app, a clip-on tuner, or use a free online tuner.
- 2One by one, pluck each string and try to match u your sound with the tuner.
- 3If your guitar sounds too low (flat) tighten the peg a little. If it sounds too high (sharp) loosen it.
- 4Once all your strings are in tune, do a little strumming to make sure everything stays locked in.
🚨 WATCH OUT
Don't force it
I used to think tuning all the time was a beginner thing. Now I know it's the opposite—good guitarists tune because they care about sounding their best. Make it part of your routine, and you'll never regret those extra thirty seconds.
Your turn ⭐
You're mid-tune. What's the right move?
Question 1 of 4
The tuner says your G string is FLAT. What do you do?
The cheat sheet
- Low to high, the strings are E A D G B E.
- Sneak up to each note from below to avoid over-tightening.
- Turn pegs in tiny steps: pluck, check, adjust, repeat.
- Tune every time you play, and expect new strings to drift.
Common questions
How do I know if a string is too high or too low?
A tuner shows it: 'flat' or a needle to the left means too low (tighten); 'sharp' or right means too high (loosen). By ear, too-low sounds slack and dull, too-high sounds tight and strained.
Do I need a special tuner?
No. A free phone app, a clip-on tuner, or a browser tuner all work great. Clip-ons are handy because they sense the guitar's vibration and ignore background noise.
I tightened a string and it snapped. What happened?
You probably went well past the right note, or tuned to the wrong target string. Sneak up slowly and watch the tuner; each string only needs to reach its own note (E A D G B E, low to high).