Methods for tuning your guitar
Learn guitar easy from the following guide:
The guitar is such a simple and convenient instrument: just open the case and start playing. Well, it’s not THAT simple. A good practice before playing the guitar is to tune it first.
How Often to Tune Your Guitar?
Tune it every single time you pick it up. Guitars (particularly cheaper ones) tend to go out of tune quickly. Make sure your guitar is in tune when you begin to play it, and check the tuning frequently while you're practicing, as the act of playing the guitar can cause it to go out of tune.
Tuning the guitar prior to playing it will ensure that you will create harmonious music; for each string has a specific note to play and even if one goes out of tune, the rest will sound disarrayed. Note that some guitars may not need as frequent tuning (well constructed = expensive), but if ever it is well played (to the point of abuse, actually), then that just needs tuning as well.
Read on for an essential guide on guitar tuning.
Explanation
The guitar presents a particular kind of difficulty in tuning because it has six strings, each of which has an individual pitch or a place in the musical staff assigned to it.
The string numbers, as more popularly known, from top to bottom are 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, while their musical counterpart are mi, la, re, sol, si, and mi or E, A, D, G, B, and E respectively.
The open strings of a guitar from the thickest to thinnest are as follows:
• E - the thickest or lowest sounding string is known as the 6th string
• A - is the 5th
• D - is the 4th
• G - is the 3rd
• B - is the 2nd
• E - the thinnest or highest is the 1st
In order to tune the guitar correctly, one must have an axis or a reference pitch. You will need the commercially available pitch pipe o, better yet, acquire a tuning fork in case you don’t have a reliable instrument at hand to give you an axis.
Pitch pipes have a bad reputation of changing pitches after some time. Tuning forks are more reliable and easier to use.
The Steps
First, make the fork vibrate by tapping it lightly on any hard object while holding the handle. Then, let the handle touch the guitar’s soundboard below or above the sound hole while gently moving it towards the bridge.
This will locate the spot where the resonance is at its loudest. You are supposed to hear a high pitched A (la) which should be the same as the sound produced by striking the first string while it is being depressed on the fifth fret.
Now that you have tuned the first string (E/mi), its open sound is the same as the sound of the second string pressed on the fifth fret. The third string on the fourth fret is equal to the open second string (B/si).
Furthermore, fourth string/ fifth fret equals open third string (G/sol); fifth string/ fifth fret equals open fourth string (D/re); and the sixth string/ fifth fret equals open fifth string (A/la).
In order to check the accuracy of your tuning, gently or lightly touch the fifth string directly above the fifth fret wire, without pressing the string to the fingerboard. By striking the string in this manner, it should sound similar to that high-pitched tone produced by the tuning fork. Sounds of the string produced this way are called “harmonics.”
Harmonic 5 (Harmonic on the fifth fret) of the sixth string equals harmonic 7 of the fifth string (which is also similar to the open sound of the first string). Harmonic 5 of the fifth string equals harmonic 7 on the fourth string. Harmonic 4 of the third string is equal to the harmonic 5 of the second strung and harmonic 7 of the first string.
Incidentally, harmonic 4 may require lots of practice for some, so the best choice is use harmonic 7 of the sixth string to tune the open second string. These pairs of harmonics, when sounded together, should produce only one steady tone.
If the sound the produce clash or seem wavy, they are not in tune.
These two methods of tuning must always go together. You may use the harmonics method first then check with the other or vice versa. If, after crosschecking, the strings do not agree with each other, you may have to repeat the whole process.
If you still cannot get them in tune, your strings might be defective. If your strings are new, this may even be worse—your ears need tuning!
To avoid all the hassles of manual tuning, costly electronic device called strobo tuners are available. Just turn the dial to the string’s name and it will pick the string’s sound through a condenser microphone and tell you if it is in tune through a meter. That’s what we could called learn guitar easy.
Other conventional methods of tuning are through imitation of pitches from different musical instruments like the piano, flute, etc. You can even use that portable but silly investment, the pitch pipe set. But you have been warned!
c) 2009 Copyright http://learn-guitar-easy.blogspot.com
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
How to Properly Hold the Guitar
Learn guitar easy is fun and guitar is a nice instrument to play. Start by learning the correct method of handling the instrument. Here’s how:
Your body and posture:
You must be comfortably seated,
resting your back adjacent to the backrest of your chair making sure that your legs are in front and feet flat to the ground. This position is now your "footing" or support that your guitar is going to rest upon.
Picking up the guitar, held it close to your chest or stomach ensuring that the back of the guitar’s body touches your chest and the neck’s bottom is parallel to the ground.
The guitars thickest string must be directed close to the face and the thinnest string must be directed close to the ground.
Generally, a right-handed individual holds the guitar in such manner so that the “headstock” is pointing towards the left, while a left-handed individual holds the guitar in such manner that the headstock is pointing rightwards.
To learn guitar easy, especially to play the guitar in a seated position, the guitar’s body should be resting on either one of your thighs. In most guitar playing approach, the instrument should be resting upon a leg that is farthest from “the headstock”. Meaning, a right handed individual handling a guitar will naturally rest the instrument on his right leg, and a lefty will rest the instrument on his left leg.
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Your right arm and hand:
Using the correct hand position is crucial in guitar playing. You will face many problems should your hand be in the incorrect position; your hands will easily tire, it will be difficult to for you to play particular chords and you could even hurt or injure your hand when you continue playing in the wrong hand position.
The right hand will be used to "strum" the guitar’s strings in order to produce the varying chord sounds. Rest your right hand and arm over your guitar. The bicep must rest on the topmost part of the guitar’s body and the hand must be properly placed directly on top of your guitar’s sound hole (where sound will be produced). Attune your body as needed, so that your position is comfortable.
A left handed individual, have two alternatives. The first of which is to purchase a guitar that is right-handed then re-string it (reversing the sequence of the guitar’s string), and the other option is to purchase a guitar that is left-handed.
Give focus to your "fretting hand" or the hand that is near the guitar’s neck, when seated in proper guitar position. Your fretting hand’s thumb must be resting at the back of the guitar’s neck, having your fingers positioned in a slight curled manner, balanced on top of the strings. Keeping these particular fingers at a slight curl at your knuckles is very important.
Your fingers:
Your fingers at your left hand should be bent as well as it should be pressed down onto the guitar’s strings that are located on the “fret board”. The neck’s back should be curved, in order that the hand is molded into the neck’s shape.
Remember that it is alright for you to press or push the thumb at the back of the neck when creating your chords, though this is common when one is “playing scales”. Sample out or test certain thumb positions so you will know which one you are most comfortable with.
Do not worry too much about the strings that the fingers in your left hand are pushing down at this time; as still, you are just in the process of acquainting yourself with learn guitar easy (your instrument).
Never worry too, when you can not play a good tune at this early stage. There are still many things to be learned, many stages to go through and practices to do, in order for you to get the right tunes and the right notes to play. You are just beginning, so be patient.
The important factor here, is that you can comfortably learn guitar easy by holding the guitar, being at ease with it, then the rest of techniques still to be learned will just automatically flow, at your fingertips!
c)2008 Copyright http://learn-guitar-easy.blogspot.com
Your body and posture:
You must be comfortably seated,
resting your back adjacent to the backrest of your chair making sure that your legs are in front and feet flat to the ground. This position is now your "footing" or support that your guitar is going to rest upon.
Picking up the guitar, held it close to your chest or stomach ensuring that the back of the guitar’s body touches your chest and the neck’s bottom is parallel to the ground.
The guitars thickest string must be directed close to the face and the thinnest string must be directed close to the ground.
Generally, a right-handed individual holds the guitar in such manner so that the “headstock” is pointing towards the left, while a left-handed individual holds the guitar in such manner that the headstock is pointing rightwards.
To learn guitar easy, especially to play the guitar in a seated position, the guitar’s body should be resting on either one of your thighs. In most guitar playing approach, the instrument should be resting upon a leg that is farthest from “the headstock”. Meaning, a right handed individual handling a guitar will naturally rest the instrument on his right leg, and a lefty will rest the instrument on his left leg.
.jpg)
Your right arm and hand:
Using the correct hand position is crucial in guitar playing. You will face many problems should your hand be in the incorrect position; your hands will easily tire, it will be difficult to for you to play particular chords and you could even hurt or injure your hand when you continue playing in the wrong hand position.
The right hand will be used to "strum" the guitar’s strings in order to produce the varying chord sounds. Rest your right hand and arm over your guitar. The bicep must rest on the topmost part of the guitar’s body and the hand must be properly placed directly on top of your guitar’s sound hole (where sound will be produced). Attune your body as needed, so that your position is comfortable.
A left handed individual, have two alternatives. The first of which is to purchase a guitar that is right-handed then re-string it (reversing the sequence of the guitar’s string), and the other option is to purchase a guitar that is left-handed.
Give focus to your "fretting hand" or the hand that is near the guitar’s neck, when seated in proper guitar position. Your fretting hand’s thumb must be resting at the back of the guitar’s neck, having your fingers positioned in a slight curled manner, balanced on top of the strings. Keeping these particular fingers at a slight curl at your knuckles is very important.
Your fingers:
Your fingers at your left hand should be bent as well as it should be pressed down onto the guitar’s strings that are located on the “fret board”. The neck’s back should be curved, in order that the hand is molded into the neck’s shape.
Remember that it is alright for you to press or push the thumb at the back of the neck when creating your chords, though this is common when one is “playing scales”. Sample out or test certain thumb positions so you will know which one you are most comfortable with.
Do not worry too much about the strings that the fingers in your left hand are pushing down at this time; as still, you are just in the process of acquainting yourself with learn guitar easy (your instrument).
Never worry too, when you can not play a good tune at this early stage. There are still many things to be learned, many stages to go through and practices to do, in order for you to get the right tunes and the right notes to play. You are just beginning, so be patient.
The important factor here, is that you can comfortably learn guitar easy by holding the guitar, being at ease with it, then the rest of techniques still to be learned will just automatically flow, at your fingertips!
c)2008 Copyright http://learn-guitar-easy.blogspot.com
Friday, January 2, 2009
Get Acquainted With Guitar Parts
Before we go further on learn guitar easy, let’s apply some of what we learned and get acquainted with this magnificent instrument; know its parts:
1. Head - contains the tuning pegs.
Found at the edge of the guitar’s neck. It is tailored with the instrument’s head for adjusting the pitch.
2. Tuners.
The tuners keep the strings of the guitar stretched beginning at the base down to the knobs. Tuners likewise allow the guitar player to alter or modify the pitch either flat or sharp, depending on the player’s choice of music.
3. Nut.
This is a tiny strip of hard medium or material which supports the strings in the intersection whereby the head meet up with the fret board. The strips can be made of plastic, bone, graphite, brass or any hard medium and indented so as to secure the stings in position.
The nuts, grooved to accept the strings. The saddle and the nut act as the two ends of the string.
4. Fret board.
Also known as the fingerboard, it is a lengthy wood plank inserted with frets of metal that composes the top of the guitar’s neck.
The fret board of a classical guitar is flat and is a little curved diagonally on an electric and acoustic guitar. The curve is calculated by the radius of the fret board that is the range of a “hypothetical circle” of which the surface of the fret board makes up a segment.
5. Frets.
The frets are metal pieces cut into the fingerboard at specific intervals. By pressing a string down onto a fret, you change the length of the string and therefore the tone it produces when it vibrate.
When the strings are pushed down from the rear of the frets, this cuts the string's length of vibration to give off different tones or pitches.
6. Neck.
The neck is composed of the guitar's fret board, frets, tuners, truss rod and headstock; all are fastened to long extension made of wood. Usually, the wood that is used for the fret board will be of a different kind from that used on the remaining neck parts.
The firmness or stiffness of the guitar’s neck in accordance to its body is one determining factor of whether it is of good quality or not.
7. Body.
The acoustic guitar’s body is an echoing cavity projecting the vibrations through the guitar’s sound hole which enables the audio of such instrument to be clearly heard even with no amplification.
In acoustic guitars, its body is a big determining factor in the overall sound it produces. The soundboard or guitar top is a delicately engineered and crafted component that is usually made out of red cedar, spruce or mahogany.
This very thin slice of wood, generally measuring only 2 - 3 mm thick, supported by different kinds of internal brackets, is the most pronounced and important element in influencing sound quality.
Most of the sound is produced by the guitar’s top vibration as the momentum of the vibrating cords is transmitted to it.
8. Pickups.
This is what really amplifies the cords sound. Most guitars have one to a maximum of three pickups. The kind of pickup is reasonably important, depending on a particular sound that you are aspiring for.
9. Pickguard.
Commonly called the scratch plate, is a plastic guard or any laminated medium which protects guitar’s top finish.
10. Bridge.
On acoustic guitars, the key objective of the guitar’s bridge is to hand over or shift the string’s vibration to the “soundboard”, which then shudders the air within the guitar, thus increase and strengthen the sound created by the cords or strings.
Go ahead, learn guitar easy by exploring the parts of your guitar and get yourself acquaint with this wonderful instrument. Enjoy!
c)2008 Copyright http://learn-guitar-easy.blogspot.com
1. Head - contains the tuning pegs.
Found at the edge of the guitar’s neck. It is tailored with the instrument’s head for adjusting the pitch.
2. Tuners.
The tuners keep the strings of the guitar stretched beginning at the base down to the knobs. Tuners likewise allow the guitar player to alter or modify the pitch either flat or sharp, depending on the player’s choice of music.
3. Nut.
This is a tiny strip of hard medium or material which supports the strings in the intersection whereby the head meet up with the fret board. The strips can be made of plastic, bone, graphite, brass or any hard medium and indented so as to secure the stings in position.
The nuts, grooved to accept the strings. The saddle and the nut act as the two ends of the string.
4. Fret board.
Also known as the fingerboard, it is a lengthy wood plank inserted with frets of metal that composes the top of the guitar’s neck.
The fret board of a classical guitar is flat and is a little curved diagonally on an electric and acoustic guitar. The curve is calculated by the radius of the fret board that is the range of a “hypothetical circle” of which the surface of the fret board makes up a segment.
5. Frets.
The frets are metal pieces cut into the fingerboard at specific intervals. By pressing a string down onto a fret, you change the length of the string and therefore the tone it produces when it vibrate.
When the strings are pushed down from the rear of the frets, this cuts the string's length of vibration to give off different tones or pitches.
6. Neck.
The neck is composed of the guitar's fret board, frets, tuners, truss rod and headstock; all are fastened to long extension made of wood. Usually, the wood that is used for the fret board will be of a different kind from that used on the remaining neck parts.
The firmness or stiffness of the guitar’s neck in accordance to its body is one determining factor of whether it is of good quality or not.
7. Body.
The acoustic guitar’s body is an echoing cavity projecting the vibrations through the guitar’s sound hole which enables the audio of such instrument to be clearly heard even with no amplification.
In acoustic guitars, its body is a big determining factor in the overall sound it produces. The soundboard or guitar top is a delicately engineered and crafted component that is usually made out of red cedar, spruce or mahogany.
This very thin slice of wood, generally measuring only 2 - 3 mm thick, supported by different kinds of internal brackets, is the most pronounced and important element in influencing sound quality.
Most of the sound is produced by the guitar’s top vibration as the momentum of the vibrating cords is transmitted to it.
8. Pickups.
This is what really amplifies the cords sound. Most guitars have one to a maximum of three pickups. The kind of pickup is reasonably important, depending on a particular sound that you are aspiring for.
9. Pickguard.
Commonly called the scratch plate, is a plastic guard or any laminated medium which protects guitar’s top finish.
10. Bridge.
On acoustic guitars, the key objective of the guitar’s bridge is to hand over or shift the string’s vibration to the “soundboard”, which then shudders the air within the guitar, thus increase and strengthen the sound created by the cords or strings.
Go ahead, learn guitar easy by exploring the parts of your guitar and get yourself acquaint with this wonderful instrument. Enjoy!
c)2008 Copyright http://learn-guitar-easy.blogspot.com
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