Tuning Up

Q: How should I tune my guitar?

don't let a tuner do it for you

Some people suggest using a digital tuner.
And I admit that these come in handy when you need to tune in a hurry.
But I feel that tuners leave out the most important part of tuning--listening.

do it by ear

Kuya Gab, my cousin and first guitar teacher taught me to tune to the piano.
But he himself tuned by ear!
I mean wihout even pressing on the fretboard and just listening to the open strings!
For a long time I used this method while playing for our choir.
But I noticed that singers had a tendency to sing flat
when I didn't use the piano/organ for at least one string.
But I wouldn't always have a piano around
so I had to find a way to tune my guitar to standard pitch even without it.
so now i...

use a tuning fork

I use A440 because it's the exact frequency of A on all instruments
(other pitches are just mathematical estimates, which I might explain sometime else)
and because it corresponds to the harmonic of the 5th fret on the 5th string.
(see how to produce harmonics, if/when I post it)

So what I do is:

1. I play the harmonic on the 5th string 5th fret and let it ring out.

2. While it's still ringing, I tap my tuning fork on my knee and place the ball end on the sounding board.

3. I then adjust the 5th string tuning key until I don't hear any more beats.
(This is better seen and heard than explained.)
(I might also do a little post on beats and other guitar physics stuff.)

4. Then I repeat step 3 with string harmonics. I match:

• string 5 fret 5 with string 4 fret 7
• s4 f5 with s3 f7
• s6 f5 with s5 f7
• s5 f7 with s1 f12 or open s1 (no harmonic)
  
• s6 f7 with s2 f12 or open s2
  

I did all the Hangad recordings using only this method.
I still use it every Sunday and for almost every gig I play.

I read somewhere that tuning with harmonics also leads to imperfect tuning
in terms of exact frequencies. But do tuners do better? I don't think so.

Especially since strings detune while you play.
And only your ears can tell you as soon as this happens.

One last piece of advice, always end by tuning a string up.
This prevents the string from loosening/detuning too quickly.
This is usually forgotten by those who tune using electronics.