Tuning Guitar In Pitch Pipes

Another, more portable alternative is to tune to pitch pipes. Most music shops will have in stock a set of six small pipes which are tuned to the open strings of the guitar. If not, they should be able to supply you with a single one, in which case a G is the best note. With this G you can first tune your 3rd string, then tune the others from it by the process of relative tuning.

RELATIVE TUNING

This is by far the most efficient method of ensuring that your guitar is in tune with itself, which for playing on your own, is far more important than any consideration of perfect concert pitch. Relative tuning works by matching the sounds of adjacent strings, as follows: Having tuned the 3rd (G) string to your satisfaction, press your finger down on this string. Then, keeping your left-hand finger on the 3rd string, so that it will sustain the note, pick the open 2nd (B) string.

The sound produced by the 2nd string should be identical with that from the 3rd string stopped at the fourth fret, because you have shortened the length of the vibrating part of the 3rd string by four fret and raised its pitch from semitones. i.e up to the note B. If the 2nd string isn't in tune, then it must be adjusted until it is identical. I must point out at this stage that when counting frets you should not include the nut that is, the bar of hard wood, or ivory which is situated at the top of the fingerboard. All the musical vibration of a string takes place between the natural boundary points formed by this nut and the bridge. You will find both of these parts of the instrument indicated in the diagram on previous lessons.

What You, Guitarist Should Know ?

Now that you have the guitar, the very first thing to learn is how to tune it. This may sound crashingly obvious, but I have met students who have been messing about with the instrument on their own for months and are still totally incapable of tuning it. I even had the bloke, who when I complained of his lack of tuning, said: 'But I paid twenty quid for this guitar, and they said it was in tune when I brought it!' and he wasn't kidding.

A plectrum guitar should hold its basic tuning pretty well, once its strings have had time to settle down. But even so, the tuning should be checked at least each time you pick it up to play. During a playing session an experienced guitarist checks his tuning constantly and adjusts as necessary. In solo playing, the fact that a string is out of tune shows itself immediately to the ear when playing a passage across the strings. In chord playing, an out of tune string will make the chord sound wrong, and two out of tune strings will give a total effect something like musical toothache.

One method of tuning is to use a piano. The illustration below shows you where to find the notes you need for this.

It is helpful when tuning to a piano to place your foot on the right-hand pedal. This will cause the piano note to sustain and make it easier to compare the corresponding note on your guitar. Begin by finding the E above Middle C then pick your 1st string. Remember, the 1st string is the thinnest one on the instrument, and the 6th is the thickest. I stress this point, because students often find the numbering of the strings confusing in the first stage.

Well, how is your 1st string? Chances are it's out of tune. If you're starting from scratch with a new set of strings, or a guitar that hasn't been tuned in years, then it will be way out. To make matters worse, it is likely that you will have difficulty in comparing the pitch of the piano note with that of the guitar. The reason for this lies in the different tones of the instrument, coupled with the fact that at this stage your ear is not accustomed to such exacting tasks.

Don't worry too much if you're a bit of a 'tin ear' at the outset. I have known students who held up the class for long enough during the initial tuning sessions, winding away grim faced at their creaking machine heads. Tuning was about as simple to them as boarding moving bus with a parcel under each arm and they usually ended up sharp or flat, leaving the final adjustment to me. And yet, later on, some of these same students have become exceptional players, with great left-hand agility and tuning, as their ears have developed, presents no difficulty at all.

Guitar Action And Tuning

Assuming that the guitar you are trying is tuned to concert pitch and this is essential, because only at this pitch will the strings possess the correct tension now is the time to check on Action and Tuning. Find the 21th fret by counting upwards along the neck on the 1st string. Unless the guitar you are trying is a Spanish guitar there should be a position dot, or dots at this fret to guide you. When you have found it, press the 1st string down onto the fingerboard just behind the fret and hit the string with your Right thumb or plectrum.

Then take your Left hand finger off and play the open string. The two notes should form a perfect Octave. If they don't, either the bridge of the instrument is our position, or the Action is too high.

Action is the word used in describing the amount of forced needed to press the strings down behind the frets. Thus we speak of a high or a low Action, according to the height of the strings above the fingerboard. It will be obvious to you that the higher they are initially, the more effort is needed to press them down firmly behind the frets.

Generally speaking the strings should not be more than a quarter of an inch away from the fingerboard at the 12th fret, and they are in some cases quite a bit nearer than that. Just how near they can be is a complicated formula referring to bridge height, neck pitch and fingerboard straightness understood only by alchemists like my guitarrero friends James and Michael. As a mere player I take these mysteries on trust and leave them to the experts.

At the beginning your fingertips are sure to be soft, and when they start to get sore (as they will!) yo're going to think that a quarter of an inch Action at the 12th fret is pretty high. The only certain consolation I can offer here is that the soreness will wear off in time, if you keep on playing, because your finger ends will grow their own protective coating. I stress the phrase keep on playing because at one stage I didn't touch a guitar for over a years, and when I came back to it I found that although I hadn't quite forgotten how to play, I had to go through the uncomfortable business of thoughening up my finger ends all over again.

Your Guitar Tone

Don't buy a guitar solely on its appearance. You may be temped by some beautiful looking instrument only to find that it makes a sound like a leaky bucket. Sound is what you are looking for.

Your guitar should have a round, full tone in the bass and a singing, sustained sound on the top strings. Some guitars, because of bad construction, will sound flat and woody, with a muffled tone even on the open strings. Others will be over balanced on the bass side, with nothing in the treble but a tinny tinkle.

Draw your plectrum or the fleshy part of your thumb across the strings mid-way between the bridge and the end of the fingerboard. Does the sound ring on for some time after the stroke, or does it die almost immediately? If it fades too quickly try another, try another in any case, because it will give you some basis for comparison.

The chances are that the guitar will be out of tune, so ask the dealer to put it in tune for you before trying it. If he doesn't know how, he hasn't any business selling guitars. After all, would you buy a car from a salesman who didn't know how to drive?

If you try several instruments you will find a surprising difference in their tonal quality and sustaining power. And these differences may not always bear any apparent relationship to price. Sometimes, because of the strange vagaries of the guitar maker's craft, which is more of an art than a science, a cheap guitar may have a better tone than a more expensive one.

I stress the matter of the tone particularly because it is of prime importance, but you must also remember that tone is some extent a subjective matter and people have different opinions. What you should be looking for is a sound that pleases you, personally.

Within the obvious limitations of your pocket your instrument should give you the best possible value for you money. But the way, if you have a friend who is already a player, do your best to persuade him to go along with you and help in this testing. For one thing, he will already be aware of many of the points raised here, and for another you will be able to listen to him playing the guitars and get a truer impression of their qualities.

Buying A Guitar

It follows from what has been said below that the most sensible type of guitar for a beginner to buy is a reasonably priced steel string acoustic model similar to that shown in Illustration A. The tone of such an instrument can be surprisingly good and satisfying, especially if you have never had the pleasure of making your own music before.

If you'd like to hear the acoustic guitar at its ultimate, listen to the recordings made by Diango Reinhardt with Hot Club de France in the thirties, many of which are now available on re-recorded LPs. This may sound a rather prehistoric kind of reference, but in my opinion and that of many other guitarists, those performances have never been equaled since.

You should be able to pick up a reasonable second hand acoustic guitar for around $60, which is pretty cheap for the amount of pleasure it can give you.

If you're really stuck on the idea of an Electric Guitar will probably cost you 90$ or 100$, and then there's the amplifier to think about , so you're going to be committed to around $200 before you start. But do read the chapter on Electric Guitar in Section 3rd of this site before buying. A Semi Acoustic would cost you rather more, say $90 or $95 for the instrument, and here again you would probably want to but an amplifier as well.

You should be able to buy a reasonable second hand Spanish Guitar for about the same price as an Acoustic Guitar. Cheap Spanish Guitar used to be known as Valencianas, after the city where so many of them were made, but today they are just as likely to be Japanese and none the worse for that, I hasten to say. Admittedly it is rather above the Valenciana class, but my own Takamine is a delight to play and beautifully made.

The Spanish Guitar

Finally we come to the true, classical guitar, the instrument of Segovia, Julian Bream and John Willi-arms. More lightly built, its nylon strings give it a warm, sensitive tone of quite a different quality from that of the metal string instruments. A good Spanish guitar is responsive to the touch of the fingers to a degree not found in a steel string instrument and tone production becomes much less mechanical and more intimate. For one thing, the thicker, more pliable nylon strings with their lower tension feel quite different under the fingers of both the Left and Right hands.

More than any of the other guitars, the Spanish guitar is a complete instrument, full of rich possibilities for any musician who is willing to work and study to develop those possibilities. I'm not trying to put you off learning to play the Spanish Guitar, but I think you should understand from the outset that this most rewarding of guitars is also the most demanding. It is not an instrument for the dilletante of casual strummer. Still in this age people are willing to learn from Spanish guitars, because it takes less hard effort for the beginners. Every single guitars has it's own tones individually. I don't say, beginners must buy this guitar and learn it to play, you can buy any guitars you like and learn it to play. Get the complex notes and try it everyday. Firstly practice it slowly and then after doing that slowly built up your entire speed on it, that makes you feel beeter when you change your guitar on Electric Guitar.

The Twelve String Guitar

This is mainly a vocal accompaniment instrument, long used by Folk artists like Leadbelly (Huddie Lead better). It has a characteristic, jangly sound of it's own which you may or may not find attractive. The sources of it's different sound are the twelve strings, which are grouped in pairs, as on a Mandolin, the bottom four pairs tuned in octaves with one thick and one thin string side by side. This means that what would sound as a single note on a normal guitar is automatically doubled up on the Twelve Stringed Instruments.

The intervals of the tuning are the same as for the standard 6 string guitar, so that the normal fingering for the scales and chords shapes can be used. However, the pitch is normally four semitones lower, which means that the usual fingering for an E major chord produces as C major sound. For this reason the tuning given below is known as the C tuning. This guitar is totally different from another Semi Acoustic Guitars, Acoustic Guitars, and an Electric Guitars. This guitars consists of various different parts itself, going for the vocal class is very suitable with this, because this guitar is mainly used for vocal practices. Mentioning other guitars have their own major tone which is some how similar with this made guitar.

C TUNING FOR 12 STRING GUITAR

1st pair C (Unison)

2nd pair G (Unison)

3rd pair Eb (Octave apart)

4th pair Bb (Octave apart)

5th pair F (Octave apart)

6th pair C (Octave apart)

About Electric Guitar

This is the instrument that is seen in a vast variety of forms in Rock, Heavy Metal, and even in Pop Groups etc.. and could in that sense be classed as the most popular guitar. The Electric Guitar is fitted with pickups like those on the Semi Acoustic, but as it consists of little more than a block of wood with a guitar neck attached it depends entirely on an amplifier for the production of sounds. For this reason a beginner buying an Electric Guitar must be prepared at the same time to go to the expenses of buying an amplifier, which could cost him as much or even more than the guitar itself. This begin so, I would no happily recommend a complete beginner to start off with an Electric Guitar.

Later on, well that's a different matter, because when it comes to group playing an Electric Guitar has several advantages. Firstly it is usually quite light in weight, which is a consideration if you are playing in a standing position all night with it hanging from your neck. Secondly, the action of an Electric Guitar can be made very light, which makes it easy to play, because there are mo structural acoustic properties to consider in the making of the body. The shape of an Electric guitar is limited only by the imagination of the maker, as will be seen from illustration C.

The third point about Electric guitars is that because there is no need of any consideration of acoustics in their construction a Electric Guitar with special electronic refinements, but there are a number of very reasonably priced copies of the original Les Paul model around that are quite adequate. Just bear in mind that without the help of an amplifier you Electric guitar will produce nothing more inspiring than a tiny 'Plink' - in contrast with an Acoustic, which you can play anywhere and produce a musical sound.

Types Of Guitars

The Steel String Acoustic Guitars

The Round Hole Acoustic Guitar, sometimes known as the 'jumbo' or 'Dreadnaught' is the most suitable type of instrument for a beginner from several points of view. It is very similar in appearance to the traditional Spanish guitar, but more heavily built to withstand the extra tension of steel strings. Another important point is that the fingerboard of a steel string guitar is usually narrower and slightly curved, making it easier to play in some respects than a Spanish guitar, particular when dealing with moving chordal passages.

This instrument has no pickup or means of amplification and depends solely on the strings and the resonant properties of its own body for the sound it produces. It is used by a large number of Folk, Blues and Ragtime players, both as a solo instrument and as an accompaniment to the voice. Because of it's limited volume it is not suitable for playing the solo lead in a group, but it is a very useful instrument on which to learn the basics of guitar playing.

SEMI ACOUSTIC GUITAR

This is the instrument mostly favoured by Jazz players. Generally speaking it has a slim body which produces less un-amplified sound than the Dreadnaught.This limitation is not important however, because it is fitted with pickups which convert the vibrations of its steel string into electro magnetic impulses which are then fed into an amplifier. Thus major part of the sound comes from the speaker of the amplifier rather than the instrument itself and can be adjusted to make it louder or softer by a simple movement of a volume control knob.

Normally played with a plectrum the Semi Acoustic guitar is used for both comping (accompaniment playing) and single note soloing in Jazz groups. Of late years there has also been a growing trend among Jazz soloist to play the Semi Acoustic with the fingers of the right hand, a style which increases the self contained qualities of the instrument and converts into what has been described as a Lap Piano. The leading exponent in this field is without doubt Joe Pass, whose recordings will be only fair to make it clear at this point that it is also difficult one to play because it requires a greater knowledge of the fingerboard and the principles of Harmony than possibly any other style. I shall explain more about this subject in later chapters.

Guitar

There are two basic types of guitar. The first has metal strings, the second (normally called Spanish guitar) nylon strings. Even at this early stage it is important that you should understand the essential differences between the two types, because if you don't you could waste a lot of time and money.


The best Spanish guitar ever made would be completely useless to someone whose ambition is to play in a beat group, and the most fabulously ornate Electric guitar with three pickups, tremolo arm and on board pre-amp would be equally unsuitable for someone who wants to play Classical Finger Style.
So where do you start? Well, unless you have your heart set from the very beginning on becoming a Classical Finger Style Player.
You can work through Sections Two and Four of this book on a metal string instrument, training the fingers of your Left hand and learning the notes on the fingerboard. If you later decide that you would like to go on the Finger Style nylon string guitar nothing you have learned will be wasted.
But before we go any further I must give you one very important warning! Whatever you do, Never put metal strings onto a guitar which was built to carry nylon strings. Spanish guitars are much lighter built than metal string guitars and the higher tension needed to tune metal string can cause irreparable damage.


This may be obvious to you, and you're probably wondering why I lay so much stress on the matter. But I will always remember with a shudder of horror the time when a lady turned up at one of my classes with a beautiful little American made finger style guitar, ornate with mother of pearls inlays and over hundred years old. (The guitar, not a lady!) Full of good intentions she had taken it along to a supposedly reputable music shop on the previous day and asked them to fit it with a new set of strings. This they did-metal ones, under the strain of which the neck of the guitar was already warping visibly!
To help you avoid this kind of pitfall, please study the illustrations and descriptions of the different kinds of the guitars on the following pages carefully.
Metal String guitar can be divided into three types the Acoustic, the Acoustic/Electric or Semi-Acoustic and the Solid Electric.