How to use a guitar tuner?

How To Use A Digital Chromatic Guitar Tuner?

• Answer:

  Don't bother with Hz. If it's at 440, then just leave it there. That changes the reference pitch, the note all the others are tuned to. If you change that, you'll be out of tune any time you try to play with other musicians. When you pick a note, the name of the note should appear on the screen with a little needle. If the needle is left of the center, tighten the string while picking the note until it's centered and the screen turns blue. If the needle is right of center, loosen the string. Do that on every string until the screen shows the notes you want. As to tunings...well, E A D G B E is standard, of course. EbAbDbGbBbEb lets you play the exact same way, but sounds a little darker. You can keep dropping them as low as you want. Dropping the bottom E to D, as I'm sure you know, lets you play power chords with one finger; drop Db, drop C, drop B and so on are done by taking every string down the same amount from DADGBE. If you take the low E down to D and also drop the B and E to A and D, making your tuning DADGAD, then strumming all the strings open results in the dark and subtle suspended fourth chord; from that you can bar all the strings on the same fret for a different chord of the suspended fourth type. Tuning the bottom string up to G, the A string down to G, and the E down to D for GGDGBG will make a ringing, rich G major with all the strings open; then you can bar all the strings except the bottom G to make a moving major chord with a droning G. I personally like to tune to drop D, then drop the top three strings a whole step so that it's in DADFAD, so that I can solo on the top strings normally while using the bottom three as a droning D power chord. That's just a small sampling; if you want real information on alternate tunings, email me. Or listen to a Sonic Youth album. But for any alternate tuning, all you have to do is pluck the string and loosen or tighten it until the screen shows the note you want.