Acoustic Guitar Tuner - How Can I Tune My Acoustic Guitar Fast And Easy?

When I was learning the guitar, I haven't heard about Acoustic Guitar Tuner then. I was in second year high school when I first tried to play the guitar. No guitar teacher, No mentor, whatsoever. With  a little help of a music magazine and chords illustration on it, I learn to play the guitar by myself.

Acoustic Guitar Tuner

Guitar tuning was one of my biggest problems. My neighbor knows to tune the guitar but I'm just too shy to ask him a favor. So I just figured it out by myself. I was frustrated and about to give up until one day I found a guide on acoustic guitar tuning.

But even if I have the guide, still it is a very time wasting and painful process since no one is telling me if I'm doing it the right way. 

To cut the story short, I learn how to tune the guitar by ear but too much time was wasted. If only I knew about guitar tuners back then, my progress could have been on the fast track in just few months. I learn it the hard way and it doesn't mean that you will also learn that way. 

Good for you, it's much easier to learn anything these days because of the internet. 

Generally, there are two ways of tuning an acoustic guitar, one is tuning by ear and the other is using an electronic acoustic guitar tuner. Tuning by ear includes methods such as, Harmonics, Pitch Pipes, 5th Fret Method, Tuning Using a Keyboard or Piano. Good hearing skill is essential in order to use these methods. If you are a complete beginner, tuning by ear might be a problem. 

Focus On Playing Instead Of Tuning

Please don't get me wrong, tuning your guitar is very important. Every time you pick up that guitar, first you should tune it properly before start playing. You'll just get discourage if you keep on playing and your guitar is completely out of tune. 

Now you might ask why focus on playing when tuning is also a very important skills to learn. This is really getting a little bit confusing right?

But here's a simple explanation. If you are a complete beginner, don't dwell too much time on tuning your guitar. Yes! It is very important that you tune your guitar first but do it as quickly as possible so you can have more time to practice. 

The more you practice, the more you develop your hearing ability. The more you play the guitar, the easier for you to learn how to tune by ear.

So How Can I Tune My Acoustic Guitar Fast And Easy?

Your best bet is to use an electronic acoustic guitar tuner.

One really good electronic guitar tuner that I can recommend is Korg AW-2G. It comes with a clip that's optimized for attaching to a guitar headstock. It’s a cable free tuner with double ball-joint allows multi-angle positioning. 

Korg guitar tuners are well known to musician as very accurate tuners. It is one of the most trusted brands when it comes to acoustic guitar tuning.

Other Good Electronic Guitar Tuners:

• Snark SN-2 All Instrument Clip-On Chromatic Tuner
• Intellitouch PT10 Mini Clip-On Tuner
• Fishman FT1 Digital Tuner
• Snark WW SNARK SN-1
• Peterson SC-1

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Now if you don't want to spend money yet on a guitar tuner then you can opt for an online guitar tuner. Jamplay guitar tuner is one of the best out there. It's fairly accurate and it's a free Online Acoustic guitar tuner.  






Photo thanks to mhx under a creative commons license.

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Electronic Acoustic Guitar Tuner - Why Should I Need This?

There are many old guitar hands who insist not to use an electronic acoustic guitar tuner and that the only way to tune a guitar is to do it by ear.But, for a beginner, that can be a problem.

For most people new to guitar playing, tuning by ear is a skill that hasn't been developed yet. 

Ear tuning is a skill that can take years of practice to develop, and hone to a skillful level. For that reason, among others, an acoustic guitar tuner is one of the first accessories a new player should buy. Speaking from experience, I can tell you that learning to play the guitar can sometimes be frustrating enough without having to worry about learning to tune your instrument by ear. 

Investing in a good tuner will save you a lot of frustration and a lot of time. Time that could be used more profitably learning to play your instrument.

Choosing your electronic acoustic guitar tuner will be determined more by price , I think, because there are so many styles and price ranges to choose from. You can find a free Online Acoustic Guitar Tuner, although, with these you still must depend upon your ear to tune correctly. 

You can even find a free acoustic guitar tuner download, but again, that only lets you hear the notes for each string and you still have to tune by ear. There are several moderately priced tuners to choose from which will do the job quickly and accurately, saving you time and frustration. 

As with most purchases, you'll need to do some research, especially in the lower price ranges, to ensure the quality and to determine if that particular tuner is capable of doing what you need.

Electronic Tuners

Probably, the two most popular types of acoustic guitar tuners today are the electronic tuner and the clip on tuner. Electronic acoustic guitar tuner, usually digital, are small tuners that incorporate a highly sensitive microphone to pick up sound when a string is plucked. 

A digital pointer will indicate left or right of 90 degrees to indicate which way the string needs to be tuned, with the pointer at 90 degrees indicating that the string is in tune. These tuners will vary greatly in price and quality. Prices can range from $10 or less and up to several hundred dollars. 

Some will have features such as pitch pipe features, digital metronomes and others depending upon brand and price, but, for $30 to $40 you will be able to find a very good tuner that will fit your needs.

Clip On Tuners

Another type of acoustic guitar tuner that is very popular is the clip on type. This small tuner is just clipped onto the guitar, usually on the headstock, and tunes by picking up vibrations when a string is played. They are not affected by any noise around them since they do not use an integrated microphone to pick up the sound of a played string. 

For that reason, they are very popular with bands during gigs and tuning sessions. These also can vary greatly in price, but a good, accurate clip on tuner can be found in the $30 to $50 range. Of course, you can spend a lot more than I have described here if you want, but, for the beginner and the recreational player the tuners in these price ranges will be more than adequate.

Summing Up

Back in the day, tuning by ear, using a tuning fork or using pitch pipes were about the only options, but, using a good electronic tuner gives very accurate results, and is much less time consuming and frustrating. That's why, in my opinion, the first accessory the beginning guitarist should buy is a good electronic acoustic guitar tuner.

Special thanks to Gavin Tapp for the photo.

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