How to Tune a Guitar by Ear

Tuning by ear is partly a practical backup — for when a battery dies or the phone is out of reach — and partly the most useful piece of ear-training a guitarist can do. The methods below assume you already have one string in tune; the homepage tuner is one way to get there.

What you need to hear

When two notes are slightly out of tune with each other, they produce a slow pulsing called beats — a quiet wow-wow-wow that speeds up as the notes drift further apart and slows down as they get closer. When they match exactly, the beats disappear and the two notes lock into one steady sound.

Learning to hear beats is the single most useful trick in tuning by ear. Everything else on this page is just a way to get two notes side by side so the beats are audible.

The fifth-fret method (and the one exception)

In standard tuning, the note at the 5th fret of one string is the same pitch as the next string up — with one exception. That gives a simple ladder for tuning from one reference string.

Start by getting the low E (string 6) in tune from a reference — the homepage tuner, a piano, another guitar. Then:

Press the 5th fret of string 6 and play it. That's an A.
Play the open 5th string. It should be the same A. Adjust string 5 until the beats disappear.
Press the 5th fret of string 5 and play it. That's a D. Match it to the open 4th string.
Press the 5th fret of string 4. That's a G. Match it to the open 3rd string.
Here is the exception. Press the 4th fret of string 3 — not the 5th. That's a B. Match it to the open 2nd string.
Press the 5th fret of string 2. That's an E. Match it to the open 1st string.

The exception at step 5 exists because the interval between the G and B strings is a major third rather than a perfect fourth — the same asymmetry covered in the standard tuning explanation.

Go round at least twice. Each adjustment changes the tension of the neck slightly, which can pull the strings you've already tuned a few cents out.

Worked example

Imagine the open A string is a little flat. You press the 5th fret of the low E (an A) and play it; then you play the open A string. The two notes are nearly the same but you hear a slow wobble — say, two beats per second. You tighten the A string a touch and play both again. The wobble slows down — one beat per second. Tighten a hair more. The wobble disappears entirely, and the two notes ring as one. The string is in tune.

If you tighten too far, the wobble comes back, but faster than before. That's the cue to loosen slightly. Always finish by approaching pitch from below, tightening the string into the target.

Harmonic tuning

A natural harmonic is a chime-like note you get by lightly touching a string at certain points along its length without pressing it to the fret. The 5th-fret and 7th-fret harmonics produce loud, sustained notes that are easy to compare.

The most useful pair:

The 5th-fret harmonic of one string and the 7th-fret harmonic of the next string up are, in theory, the same pitch (across most string pairs).
Play both at once. If they're not in tune you'll hear loud, slow beats that are easier to follow than ordinary fretted notes.

The catch: equal temperament means that the harmonics don't line up perfectly between every pair. The 5th-and-7th approach works well on most strings but gets unreliable when the G–B pair is involved. For the G–B pair, the fretted method above (4th fret of G against open B) is more accurate. In practice, harmonic tuning is excellent for the lower four strings and ordinary fretted matching is better for the top two.

Tuning to itself vs. tuning to a reference

The methods above are relative tuning — all six strings agreeing with one another. If you're playing alone, that's enough; the guitar sounds in tune with itself. If you're playing with anyone else, you also need absolute tuning — the right pitch in the wider sense, usually A4 = 440 Hz.

The simplest way to get there is to set one string against a known reference (the homepage tuner, a piano, a phone app) and then use the by-ear method for the other five.

Common mistakes

Forgetting the G–B exception. Tuning the 5th fret of the G to the open B will leave the B about a semitone flat. If a chord suddenly sounds badly wrong after tuning, this is the most likely cause.
Not damping ringing strings. The string you just played keeps vibrating, and other strings start ringing in sympathy. Rest a finger on whatever isn't being compared.
Adjusting too fast. The beats slow down as you approach the target — give yourself time to hear them slow before you assume you're past the mark.
Only going round once. Strings interact through the neck. A second pass is almost always worth the minute it takes.
Tuning down to pitch. Always finish each string by tightening into the target rather than loosening down to it. Strings settle better that way.

Practice that builds the ear

Tuning by ear gets dramatically easier with practice. A small habit that pays off: each time you tune with the visual tuner, listen to the two notes side by side before you look at the meter, and decide whether you think they're sharp or flat. Then check. After a few weeks, you'll find yourself reaching for the meter only to confirm a decision your ear has already made.

For backup, the homepage tuner is always there. For alternate-tuning starting points, see the alternate tunings reference. If a string keeps slipping out of tune between sessions, the why a guitar won't stay in tune page covers the usual causes.

Last reviewed on 2026-05-12.