Basic Guitar Tuning Workshop

How to tune any guitar using any type of tuner to any tuning

Although there are many basic crash course videos on how to tune your guitar online, sometimes they assume prior musical knowledge and a trained music ear, and often bring up more questions than they answer. I feel there are not many courses on how to really understand tuning your guitar and how to do it on your own. It’s for this reason I made this course.

What you’ll learn

  • Learn first step basics like parts and names of the guitar, names and numbering systems of the strings, and other basic guitar vocabulary.
  • Learn to identify different types of guitar tuners, what kind you have (or want), and what the letters and symbols on any tuner display mean.
  • Learn how to use almost any dedicated, phone app, or online tuner to get your guitar in tune.
  • Learn about other side topics like special symbols on a tuner’s display, how to memorize your guitar strings, and how to shop for or download a guitar tuner.
  • Understand differences in tuning techniques between electric and acoustic guitars.
  • Learn how to tune your guitar with a tuner in a large variety of open, drop, detuned standard, and alternate tunings.

Course Content

  • Introduction –> 1 lecture • 8min.
  • “Drastically out of tune” tuning: Setup –> 1 lecture • 10min.
  • “Drastically out of tune” tuning: Walk-through –> 1 lecture • 15min.
  • Everyday tuning: The musical alphabet –> 1 lecture • 13min.
  • Everyday tuning: Types of tuners and what they do –> 1 lecture • 13min.
  • Everyday tuning: Tuning with a chromatic tuner or tuning mode –> 1 lecture • 18min.
  • Everyday tuning: Tuning with a guitar tuner or tuning mode –> 1 lecture • 13min.
  • Extra content: Tuning with an electric guitar –> 1 lecture • 3min.
  • Extra content: Alternate, drop, open, and other non-standard tunings –> 1 lecture • 4min.
  • Closing thoughts –> 1 lecture • 2min.

Basic Guitar Tuning Workshop

Requirements

Although there are many basic crash course videos on how to tune your guitar online, sometimes they assume prior musical knowledge and a trained music ear, and often bring up more questions than they answer. I feel there are not many courses on how to really understand tuning your guitar and how to do it on your own. It’s for this reason I made this course.

My course will start from square one (no playing experience needed!) and build up your knowledge on how to use any guitar tuner to tune your guitar, whether it’s a standalone tuner (no matter how old or new it is), a free smartphone tuning app, or a free guitar tuning webpage. It will thoroughly and simply explain the basic types of guitars and their parts, basic music and guitar vocabulary, the musical alphabet letter system, sharps and flats, the differences between different types of tuners, how to identify any tuner by its display and controls, a step by step walk-through of how to tune an extremely out of tune guitar and other “worst case” scenarios, and many more in-depth topics.

It also includes some extra side topics, like how tuning an electric guitar is sometimes different than tuning an acoustic guitar, a reference guide for how to tune in a variety of alternate, drop, open, and other non-standard tunings you may come across in your guitar journey, and includes tunings for non-standard guitars such as baritone, 7, 8, and 9 string guitars, and even bass guitar, ukulele, banjo and mandolin tunings. Now there are some weird and unusual guitars, tuners, and tunings out there, so it’s impossible for my course to cover EVERY possible scenario, but it does cover every common guitar type, tuner, and tuning scenario you will normally come across.

Disclaimer: this course teaches you how to tune your guitar with a variety of electronic tuners. However, tuning by ear, changing your guitar strings, and other advanced guitar playing and maintenance topics are outside the scope of this course. It’s great for absolute “square one” beginners who are just getting started on their guitar journey or intermediate players who need a review and thorough grounding in the basics.

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