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learn guitar
| online guitar | natural harmonics
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Learn Guitar Online: Tuning Your Guitar Using Natural Harmonics
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Unfortunately you don't really ever get your guitar perfectly in
tune, you just strive for ever-closer approximations.
Unlike the keyboard, the guitar is not "well-tempered", in Bach's
time, it was discovered that, the intonation problem could be
averaged over the entire keyboard resulting in an instrument that
was close to being in tune in all keys.
It's a good idea to have a number of ways of tuning your guitar,
apart from using an electronic tuner.
Here's a list of three basic tuning methods that should prove
helpful in our constant quest to achieve acceptable intonation on
the guitar.
1. Traditional tuning method
(a) Tune your sixth string using a piano, electronic tuner or
another guitar. The sixth string will be your reference point.
(b) Tuning the 5th string - place your finger on the 6th string,
at the 5th fret, play the 6th string. Now, tune the open 5th
string. If the two notes sound the same they are in tune. If they
do not sound the same, then the 5th string is either too high or
too low in pitch compared to the sixth string.
(c) Tuning the 4th string - place your finger on the 5th string,
at the 5th fret. Tune the open 4th string.If they do not sound
the same, then the 4th string is either too high or too low in
pitch compared to the sixth string.
(d) Tuning the 3rd string - place your finger on the 4th string,
at the 5th fret. Tune the open 3rd string. If the two notes sound
the same they are in tune.
(e) Tuning the 2nd string - place your finger on the 3rd string,
at the 4th fret. Tune the open 2nd string. If the two notes sound
the same they are in tune.
(f) Tuning the 1st string - place your finger on the 2nd string,
at the 5th fret. Tune the open 1st string. If the two notes sound
the same they are in tune.
2. Tuning Using Natural Harmonics
(a) play the natural harmonic on the 6th string, at the 5 fret
and compare that pitch with the harmonic on the 7th fret, 5th
string.
(b) play the natural harmonic on the 5th string, at the 5th fret
and compare that pitch with the harmonic on the 7th fret, 4th
string.
(c) play the natural harmonic on the 4th string, at the 5th fret
and compare that pitch with the harmonic on the 7th fret, 3rd
string.
(d) play the natural harmonic on the 3rd string, at the 4th fret
and compare that pitch with the harmonic on the 5th fret, 2nd
string.
Please note, some guitarists prefer to tune the 2nd string by
comparing the natural harmonic on the 3rd string, 5th fret with
the fretted note on the 8th fret, 2nd string.
(e) play the natural harmonic on the 2nd string, at the 5th fret
and compare that pitch with the harmonic on the 7th fret, 1st
string.
3. Tuning Using Octaves
(a) compare the pitch of the 6th string open, with the fretted
note on the 5th string, 7th fret.
(b) compare the pitch of the 5th string open, with the fretted
note on the 4th string, 7th fret.
(c) compare the pitch of the 4th string open, with the fretted
note on the 3rd string, 7th fret.
(d) compare the pitch of the 3rd string open, with the fretted
note on the 2nd string, 8th fret.
(e) compare the pitch of the 2nd string open, with the fretted
note on the 1st string, 7th fret.
When using octaves as a tuning method listen carefully to the
musical interval between the two notes, it should sound like the
first two notes in the tune "Somewhere Over The Rainbow".
Tuning by "sight" with an electronic tuner is convenient when you
are in a noisy environment and it is difficult to hear your
instrument well enough to determine the correct pitch.
However, each guitar has it's own individual tuning peculiarities
and although the tuner might tell you that the guitar is in tune,
it is always a best to double check using a variety of tuning
methods.
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a student of Mike Hayes since 1999, I have found his teaching methods
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