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How To Play Notes on the Guitar

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Guitar Chord Basics

How to Tune Your Guitar

When you first pick up a guitar, it will likely be out of tune, which means the notes of open strings will not be E, A, D, G, B, and E. In order for the notes you play to sound right, you’ll need to adjust each open string to bring it back in tune.

How to Use the Tuning Pegs

You can adjust the pitch of each string by tightening or loosening the tuning pegs on the guitar’s headstock. Turning a peg away from you tunes its string higher in pitch. Turning it toward you tunes the string lower.

Standard Tuning (E-A-D-G-B-E)

Each string on the guitar can be tuned to sound any note when played open. But the vast majority of songs are written for guitars that are tuned to what is called standard tuning: E, A, D, G, B, and E. All beginners learn to play guitar using standard tuning.

How to Tune Using the 5th Fret Method

The most common way to tune a guitar to standard tuning is called the 5th fret method. In this method, you tune the six strings of the guitar in pairs, by comparing the sound of a fretted note with the sound of an open string. If the guitar is in tune, both strings should sound the same. To tune using the 5th fret method, complete these written steps or refer to the following fret diagram:

Play the note at the 5th fret of the 6th string and let the sound continue ringing.
While this note is still ringing, play the open 5th string by itself. The two notes should sound the same.
If they don’t match, tune the open 5th string higher or lower so it matches the pitch of the 6th string played at the 5th fret.
1. Adjust the pitch of the 5th string by playing the 5th string, and as the note is still ringing, slowly turn the tuning peg counterclockwise.
2. Avoid turning the tuning peg haphazardly without listening to how far the note is going up or down in pitch. Be sure to hear it and gradually bring it in tune with the 6th string—guessing is difficult and usually frustrating.
Play the 5th fret of the 5th string and then match and tune the open 4th string against it, just as you did with the 5th and 6th strings above. When the 5th and 4th strings are in tune, proceed to the 4th string and tune the 3rd string open to match it.
There is one exception to the pattern—the 3rd string is played at the 4th fret to tune it to the open 2nd string.
When the 3rd and 2nd strings are tuned to one another, play the second string at the 5th fret and tune the open 1st string to it. The guitar should now be in standard E-A-D-G-B-E tuning.

The following diagram of the 5th fret method makes things easier to visualize. Fret each string where the dots appear. While that fretted note is still ringing, play the next string open and tune the strings until they sound the same.

Tuning Forks and Electronic Tuners

For the 5th fret method to work, the 6th string must start off in tune and sound an E when played open. If it’s not in tune, you’ll end up tuning the entire guitar based on the wrong reference note. Two common tuning tools can help:

Tuning fork: A metal, Y-shaped tool that sounds a specific note when struck with a hard object. Sound the fork and tune the 6th string to match it.
Electronic tuner: A digital device that can identify the frequency (and thus the pitch) of each string as you play it and indicate whether you should tune it higher or lower. An electronic tuner can be used to tune just the 6th string or all six strings.