Using an Electronic Tuner

The alternative to comparative tuning is using an electronic tuner.  An electronic tuner is a battery-operated device that enables you to tune each string to its desirable pitch.  There are several benefits to using a tuner:  first of all, your guitar’s strings are designed to vibrate optimally at a certain tension.  For example, your A string is designed to play at 440 Hz, and your tuner will tell you whether you’re sharp or flat.  Second, your guitar is designed to handle a certain amount of tension from the strings you attach to it.  If you tighten your strings too much, it is possible that you can damage your guitar’s neck.  Third, using a guitar tuner will enable you to play along with others.  Whether it’s your guitar instructor, a friend, or a song on the radio, if your pitch matches theirs, you can move in the same direction.

There are dozens of different kinds of tuners on the market, ranging from $5 to $70.  Here are a few characteristics of what you may find:

  • Quick-tuner (non-chromatic):  The most basic of tuners, the quick-tuner is designed to help you tune your six strings to match E, A, D, G, B, and (high) E respectively.  This tuner thinks in black and white.  Either your string is in tune or it’s not.  Think of this tuner as one that will give you “Yes” or “No” to indicate whether you can move on to the next string.  These can range from $5-10.
  • Chromatic:  Providing a little more detail than the quick-tuner, the chromatic tuner displays the note you play and its pitch by using a needle or some other indicator to show you how flat or sharp the note is.
  • Sound or Vibration sensitive: The tuner’s interface will either be through sound or vibration, or both.  If the tuner has a microphone, then it will interpret your pitch by the sound emanating from your guitar.  If the tuner works on vibration, typically it will clip to the headstock of your guitar and feel the vibration of each string as you play it.  Using a tuner with a microphone is fine when you’re in a quiet place, but if you’re trying to tune your guitar in a crowded room or where there is a lot of interference, a tuner with a vibration sensor is recommended. (If you’re in the market for an electronic tuner, check out the chromatic Intelli IMT 900, (pictured above) which is vibration-sensitive.  Or perhaps you’d prefer the Planet Waves tuner (pictured below), which is a vibration sensitive, chromatic tuner that can be re-calibrated to match flat or sharp instruments (for example, an out-of-tune piano).  It has less moving parts than most tuners, and its LCD screen displays green to indicate in-tune and red to indicate out-of-tune.
  • Iphone Applications:  Applications for the Iphone are now available that serve as guitar tuners.  These applications use the phone’s built-in microphone to indicate your pitch.  Check out the amazing Guitar Toolkit tuner which provides a chromatic tuner, metronome, and references for chords and scales.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post