Tuning a guitar is a thing upon which few people agree. There are many ways of doing it and the suitability of each depends on the experience of the player, the confidence in their ear and the time at your disposal:

• using an automatic tuner – some guitars have one built into the body
• tuning to another in tune guitar, string by string

• tuning to midi (or recorded) notes

• tuning using harmonics

• tuning each open note to a fretted note on the lower string*

• tuning the open strings relative to one another

• tuning thanks to perfect pitch (apparently a gift with which we are all born – but only one in a thousand retain – it is said that hands-on experience of a pitched instrument at a young age offers the best hope)

• getting someone else to do it (or at least to check it)

• buying one of Gibson’s self tuning guitars (click Instructions if you follow this link)

Rather than argue the merits of these various methods, I’d like to include here some additional considerations which, although initially a surprise, are often a great help to pupils:

• two things can cause the pitch of a string to rise – pressing it against a fret or tightening it – tuning is all about tightening or loosening the strings
• most necessary adjustment will be upwards – the only thing (apart from human interference) which can cause a string to tighten is contraction, caused by cold weather – the most likely outcome of the passage of time is that the pitch will slip downwards
• it is very difficult to tune downwards by a small amount as loosening the tension can cause the string to slip – in such cases, I always tune below the desired pitch and ascend gradually
• the thickness of the string makes a difference – the thicker the string the less turning required
• until new strings have been stretched sufficiently to settle at the required tension, they require constant tuning and will initially go out of tune within seconds
• the initial seconds of a fiercely plucked note often contain a wavering of pitch before settling – so it’s better to listen to notes for as long as possible rather than constantly re-plucking
• in addition to hearing, one can make use of the vibrations felt by the contact between the back of the guitar and the body – it is possible for a profoundly deaf person to tune a guitar this way
• any string which is detuned will attempt a return to the original pitch – many guitar pieces tune the 6^th E string down to a D and, to ensure that the string does not begin its return journey during performance, it’s better to tune the string way below the desired pitch and tune gradually upwards.

* although possibly the most common method, this is the one I never recommend – for one simple reason – by reaching to adjust the appropriate machine head (tuning peg) you cause the disappearance of the note to which you are tuning.