Explaining to people how they can fix their guitar tuning problems that it's not as simple as the tuner saying a note is in tune.
Stringed instruments are weird, and guitars are inherently an imperfect instrument. That's part of the appeal. So getting your intonation, that is, playing in tune is a combination of factors.
First, there's you, the player. Getting better intonation comes down to fretting hand technique. Sure, you don't fret on the fret wire itself, but behind the fret wire. That said, the best practice is to fret as close to the fret wire as possible.
On top of that, you don't want to squeeze the string too hard, as then you'll pull the note sharp. So fret as close as you can to the fret wire (just not on it), and only use the necessary amount of force required to get a clear, distinct note.
Second, there's the guitar itself. Understand that that the guitar will never be perfectly in tune. But you can get damn close. First things first, fresh strings give you the best possible tone and tuning stability. Secondly, make sure the nut is properly cut and filed. Thirdly, make sure the guitar is set up properly with the proper relief, action, and intonation possible. Setting the guitar's intonation is comparing the 12th fret harmonic to the fretted 12th fret note. They should be identical. If it's flat compared to the harmonic, the string is too long and needs to be shortened. if it's sharp compared to the harmonic, it's too short and needs to be lengthened.
Thirdly, there's how you tune the guitar. If the string is too sharp from where it should be, don't just tune down to the note, tune past the note and then tune back up. This overcomes a flaw of guitar machine heads, where the gears are less likely to slip. In addition, don't tune to the transience of the note, tune to your pick stroke or attack.
Now, suppose you do all this, and the guitar still doesn't quite sound right. The next part is going to baffle newbie guitar players.
There's a secret "hidden tuning technique" where we "sweeten" the guitar's tuning by detuning the string by a specified amount so that the guitar plays in tune better.
Which sounds like secret voodoo. How can detuning the guitar make it play more in tune?
Well, that's the concept behind "sweetened" tunings. On a good tuner, you can program the tuning offsets by a specified amount in cents, thus, when you tune, the tuner reads the note as in tune, but the string is, in actuality slightly off tune.
The galaxy brain with all of this, is that tuning doesn't involve the tuner saying the guitar is in tune, but rather plays in tune when we play it.
Eddie Van Halen did something to this effect by tuning the guitar's B string slightly flat. Sounds crazy, but when you play open chords, they sound "sweeter" and more in tune.
James Taylor does this as well, using a sweetened tuning idea to make an acoustic guitar sound more in tune when playing it.
His method is as follows. For reference, a "cent" is 1/100th of a half-step.
Stringed instruments are weird.
Stringed instruments are weird, and guitars are inherently an imperfect instrument. That's part of the appeal. So getting your intonation, that is, playing in tune is a combination of factors.
First, there's you, the player. Getting better intonation comes down to fretting hand technique. Sure, you don't fret on the fret wire itself, but behind the fret wire. That said, the best practice is to fret as close to the fret wire as possible.
On top of that, you don't want to squeeze the string too hard, as then you'll pull the note sharp. So fret as close as you can to the fret wire (just not on it), and only use the necessary amount of force required to get a clear, distinct note.
Second, there's the guitar itself. Understand that that the guitar will never be perfectly in tune. But you can get damn close. First things first, fresh strings give you the best possible tone and tuning stability. Secondly, make sure the nut is properly cut and filed. Thirdly, make sure the guitar is set up properly with the proper relief, action, and intonation possible. Setting the guitar's intonation is comparing the 12th fret harmonic to the fretted 12th fret note. They should be identical. If it's flat compared to the harmonic, the string is too long and needs to be shortened. if it's sharp compared to the harmonic, it's too short and needs to be lengthened.
Thirdly, there's how you tune the guitar. If the string is too sharp from where it should be, don't just tune down to the note, tune past the note and then tune back up. This overcomes a flaw of guitar machine heads, where the gears are less likely to slip. In addition, don't tune to the transience of the note, tune to your pick stroke or attack.
Now, suppose you do all this, and the guitar still doesn't quite sound right. The next part is going to baffle newbie guitar players.
There's a secret "hidden tuning technique" where we "sweeten" the guitar's tuning by detuning the string by a specified amount so that the guitar plays in tune better.
Which sounds like secret voodoo. How can detuning the guitar make it play more in tune?
Well, that's the concept behind "sweetened" tunings. On a good tuner, you can program the tuning offsets by a specified amount in cents, thus, when you tune, the tuner reads the note as in tune, but the string is, in actuality slightly off tune.
The galaxy brain with all of this, is that tuning doesn't involve the tuner saying the guitar is in tune, but rather plays in tune when we play it.
Eddie Van Halen did something to this effect by tuning the guitar's B string slightly flat. Sounds crazy, but when you play open chords, they sound "sweeter" and more in tune.
James Taylor does this as well, using a sweetened tuning idea to make an acoustic guitar sound more in tune when playing it.
His method is as follows. For reference, a "cent" is 1/100th of a half-step.
- Low E = -12 cents.
- A = -10 cents.
- D = -8 cents.
- G = -4 cents.
- B = -6 cents.
- E = -3 cents.
- Low E = -2.3 cents.
- A = -2.1 cents.
- D = -0.4 cents.
- G = 0 cents.
- B = 0 cents.
- E = -2.3 cents.
Stringed instruments are weird.
