by Jeremy Patton

Created on: December 01, 2009

Keep Your Guitar In Tune By Always Tuning Up

Tuning up isn't a big secret for many musicians who might read this article and scoff. It's common knowledge for them. But for a lowly guitarist who never received formal training, learning this technique smacked me in the face with an epiphany that made my jam sessions a lot less frustrating.

I've played classical, acoustic, rock and metal guitar for years. It's a creative outlet and a wonderful way to relieve stress, that is, when I'm not stressing out about my strings going flat. Sometimes I finished several songs before going out of tune. Other times, I'd go flat as soon as I bent a string or slammed a power chord.

At first, I suspected faulty equipment, but after purchasing several new guitars I realized that that wasn't the problem. Next, I theorized that I hadn't strung the instrument property or my strings were wearing out. I eventually concluded that the fluctuating temperature in my house was the culprit.

I stumbled across the solution one night while surfing the internet. During a video tutorial, a musician was demonstrating some riffs then briefly mentioned the importance of always tuning up, never down (I regret not giving him credit here, but I can't remember his name or the video). Here's what tuning up means:

Let's say that your guitar is plugged into a digital tuner. You twist the tuning key counter-clockwise, watching the needle on the display twitch closer to the in tune line as you repeatedly pluck the low E string. Oops! You accidentally twist the key too far and the needle moves past the line. If you twist the key in the opposite direction and tune down to the line, slack will be left in the string. Playing your guitar will stretch the string and cause it to slip below the desired position.

If you accidentally tune the string too high, you should loosen it until it falls well below the desired note then tune it back up. Now the string is tight and slipping will be minimal.

That's the secret. Now my guitar rarely goes flat and only needs occasional adjustments to keep it sounding great. I learned this technique the hard way but hopefully I just saved you a lot of trouble. If I help one beginner learn the importance of tuning up, my years of frustration have been avenged.

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