How to tune a guitar: standard tuning, with a tuner or by ear

The notes of standard tuning

Strings are numbered from the thinnest (1st) to the thickest (6th), but most people name them from the top of the guitar down, the way they sit when you hold it: thick low E at the top, thin high E at the bottom.

The two E strings are two octaves apart: the high E vibrates exactly four times as fast as the low one. A handy way to remember the order is "Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie". The number after each letter is the octave, so a tuner that shows E2 means the low E, and E4 the high one.

How to tune with a tuner

A clip-on tuner, a pedal or a tuner app all work the same way. Find a quiet room first, because other sounds confuse the reading.

1. Start with the low E string. Pluck it once, firmly, and let it ring. Don't touch the other strings.
2. Read the note. The tuner shows the nearest note and a needle. If it says D♯ or F instead of E, the string is a long way out: turn the peg slowly until it reads E.
3. Turn the peg in small steps. Tightening raises the pitch; loosening lowers it. Pluck again after each small turn and watch the needle settle.
4. Finish by tuning up. If you go past the note, drop below it and come back up. Stop when the needle sits in the centre.
5. Repeat for A, D, G, B and high E.
6. Check them all again. Tightening one string pulls the neck very slightly and moves the others, especially on a guitar with new strings or a floating bridge. A second pass usually only needs tiny tweaks.

Cents, sharp and flat

A tuner measures how far you are from the note in cents. There are 100 cents in a semitone, the gap between one fret and the next.

• Sharp (a + number, needle to the right) means the string is too high. Loosen it, past the note, then come back up.
• Flat (a − number, needle to the left) means it's too low. Tighten it.
• Within about 3 to 5 cents is in tune for almost all playing. Most people can't hear a difference that small on a single note.

How to tune a guitar by ear: the 5th-fret method

With no tuner, you can tune the guitar to itself. First get the low E close to a reference: a piano, another instrument or a reference tone. If you have nothing to tune to, the guitar will still be in tune with itself, just not with anyone else.

1. A string: press the low E string at the 5th fret. That note is A. Play it, then the open A string, and tune the A until the two match.
2. D string: press the A string at the 5th fret (D) and match the open D to it.
3. G string: press the D string at the 5th fret (G) and match the open G.
4. B string: this is the odd one. Press the G string at the 4th fret (B) and match the open B.
5. High E string: back to the 5th fret. Press the B string at the 5th fret (E) and match the open high E.

When two notes are close but not quite the same, you hear a slow wobble, called beating. As you get closer, the wobble slows down, and it disappears when they match. Small errors add up from string to string with this method, so check the final chord, and use a tuner when you can.

Drop D and other tunings

Alternate tunings change one or more strings to make certain chords or riffs easier.

Drop D is the easiest to try: tune only the low E down to D, so it is an octave below the open D string. Play the low string and the open D together and listen for them to sound like one note. A power chord is now a single finger across the bottom three strings.

Tuning on a phone with Fret & Beat

Fret & Beat is a tuner and metronome that runs in your browser. Tap Tap to start tuning and allow the microphone, then play:

• The note, the frequency and the cents show for whatever you play, with a needle that settles rather than jitters, or a Strobe view if you prefer one. Within 3 cents it turns green and says "in tune".
• Each string ticks green once it has been in tune for a moment, so you can see at a glance which strings are done.
• Tap a string to hear its reference note and lock the tuner onto it. Drone holds a note so you can tune by ear against it. No microphone? Choose "Use reference tones" and tune by ear.
• Tunings: Standard, Drop D, half and full step down, DADGAD, Open D, Open G, Open E and Drop C, or make your own string by string. There are also settings for bass, ukulele, violin, viola, cello, mandolin, banjo and a chromatic mode for any note.
• A4 = 440 Hz is the default, adjustable from 415 to 466 Hz.

Once you're in tune, the Beat tab is a metronome with tap tempo, accents, subdivisions, swing and speed and gap trainers, and the Practice tab counts your minutes. Everything is free, with no Pro upgrade and no account. The microphone's sound stays on your device: nothing is recorded or sent anywhere.

Tips for staying in tune

• Tune every time you play. It takes a minute, and practising on an out-of-tune guitar trains your ear the wrong way.
• Stretch new strings. Pull each one gently away from the fretboard along its length, retune, and repeat a few times. New strings keep dropping flat until they settle.
• Let the guitar warm up. A guitar brought in from a cold car or a hot room will drift as it adjusts. Give it a few minutes, then tune.
• Pluck the same way each time. A very hard pluck reads sharp for a moment. Pluck firmly, then read the needle as the note rings.
• Check a chord at the end. Strum an open E or G chord. If something sounds off, check that string again.

Common tuning mistakes

• Tuning to the wrong octave. A tuner may show the right letter an octave too high. Thick strings sound low, so if a string feels very tight, check the number after the note.
• Turning the wrong peg. Follow the string from the nut to its peg before you turn anything.
• Tuning down to the note. It can leave slack in the gear, so the string slips flat while you play.
• Letting other strings ring. Their sound can confuse the tuner. Mute the strings you aren't tuning.
• Tuning in a noisy room. Music or chatter in the background makes the needle jump.
• Only doing one pass. Tuning one string moves the others slightly. Go round twice.