Tunings - Tune it or die!

One of my favorite shirts! Tune it or Die! I know that there is an explanation of how to tune the guitar to standard tuning in the Introductory Lesson, but I get a lot of e-mails from people asking me how to tune to other tunings also, so I thought I'd put them all into one big pile of stuff.

First Recomendation

My first recomendation is to buy an electronic chromatic tuner. They cost from $35 on up. A CHROMATIC tuner (not all are chromatic) allows you to tune any string to any pitch. It will have a dial or lights or something that tells you what pitch the string is at when you play it. They now come built in to some multi-effect devices for electric guitars and basses. The tuner makes things a lot easier.

Second Recomendation

When tuning the guitar, always tune from a pitch below the note you're trying to tune to. Why? Because the tuners on a guitar have gears in them that are made to keep tension. If you're loosining the string (droping the pitch) the string might (and probably will) go out of tune when you're playing. If you tighten the string (raise the pitch) it's less likely to go out of tune. So if you're trying to tune to a note below your current tuning, go down further than the new pitch and then raise it.

Standard Tuning - E A D G B e

Click here to hear the low E.

Use a tuning fork, pitch pipe, or piano key to get a correct pitch and match it to an open string's pitch. (I usually use the A string (5th) as a starting point.)
Assuming that the A string is now at the correct pitch, match to it the note at the fifth fret of the low E (6th) string (which happens to be an A note -- not a coincidence!).
Now match the open D string (4th string) to the fifth fret A string.
Match the open G string (3rd string) to the fifth fret D string.
Match the open B string (2nd string) to the fourth fret G string.
Finally, match the open high E string (1st string) to the fifth fret B string.

If you had a tuner, (even if it's not chromatic) it's a lot easier and possibly more accurate.

Tuning down 1/2 step - Eb Ab Db Gb Bb eb

Click here to hear the low Eb.

Tune the guitar to standard tuning (with the above example or regular tuner).
Play the A string at the 6th fret (that note is Eb)
From there, you can then tune the E string down to match the pitch of the A string. That will make the E string now Eb.
Fret the new Eb string at the 5th fret.
Now tune the A string down to match the Eb at the 5th fret. (now Ab)
Fret Ab string at 5th fret and downtune D string (now Db)
Fret Db at 5th fret and downtune G string (now Gb)
Fret Gb at 4TH fret and downtune B srting to match (now Bb)
Finally fret Bb at 5th fret and downtune high E string (now eb)
You should now have a guitar that is tuned to Eb.

Dropped D Tuning - D A D G B e

Click here to hear the low D.

Tune the guitar to standard tuning (with above example or regular tuner).
Play the A string at the 5th fret (that note is D)
From there, you can tune the E string down to match the pitch of the D string.

Tuning down a full step - D G C F A d

Click here to hear the low D.

Tune the guitar to Dropped D tuning (above).
Fret the new D string at the 5th fret.
Now tune the A string down to match the D at the 5th fret. (now G)
Fret new G string at 5th fret and downtune D string (now C)
Fret new C at 5th fret and downtune G string (now F)
Fret new F at 4TH fret and downtune B srting to match (now A)
Finally new A at 5th fret and downtune high E string (now d)
You should now have a guitar that is tuned to D.

To tune lower than a full step, follow the pattern set above. Find the note you want to tune down to, and then tune an octave lower.
Click here to hear a low C#/Db.