- The standard tuning of an electric guitar is E-A-D-G-B-E, from the lowest string to the highest.
- An electronic tuner (clip-on, pedal or app) remains the most reliable method to get off to a good start.
- Always tune up to the target note (never come back down) to prevent the string from slackening while you play.
- A well-set-up instrument (nut, neck, intonation) stays in tune longer and sounds true all the way up the neck.
At the shop, we’ve seen plenty of guitarists come through, and there’s one question that keeps coming up: “Why does my guitar sound weird when I’m playing the right chords?” Nine times out of ten, the answer is a tuning problem. The good news: it’s a habit you can pick up in a few minutes, and once you’ve got it, you’ll never play on an out-of-tune axe again. In this tutorial, we go over every method to tune an electric guitar, from the complete beginner to the guitarist who wants to explore alternate tunings.
The standard tuning of the electric guitar
When you take an electric guitar out of the box, it’s in standard tuning. It’s the foundation, the one underpinning 95% of the songs you listen to every day, from blues to metal by way of pop. Here are the six strings, from the lowest (at the top when you play) to the highest:
- 6th string, low E: 82.41 Hz
- 5th string, A: 110 Hz
- 4th string, D: 146.83 Hz
- 3rd string, G: 196 Hz
- 2nd string, B: 246.94 Hz
- 1st string, high E: 329.63 Hz
To memorise the order, the best-known mnemonic in English is “Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie“. Pick whichever one works for you.
Standard tuning uses A 440 Hz as its reference. Some bands deliberately drop a semitone (Eb standard, Hendrix or Slash style) to gain warmth or to make singing easier. Worth keeping in mind if you play along to backing tracks.
What gear do you need to tune your electric guitar?
There are three main families of tuners, and each has its own use cases.
The clip-on tuner
The most convenient for everyday use. You clip it onto the headstock, it picks up the vibrations directly through the wood and displays the note in real time. No cable, no app, and it works even in a noisy room. Models like the Korg Pitchclip 2 or the D’Addario NS Micro cost about twenty quid and last for years.
Tuner pedals
Essential as soon as you play amplified, especially at rehearsal or on stage. You plug your guitar into it, it mutes the sound when you engage the pedal, and you tune up silently in front of the audience. The Boss TU-3 has become an industry standard, and the TC Electronic PolyTune 3 even lets you tune all six strings at once by strumming a single chord.
Smartphone apps
Handy in a pinch, and free for the most part. GuitarTuna, Fender Tune or BOSS Tuner do the job very well. One small caveat: they’re still less accurate than a dedicated tuner, especially in a noisy environment.
For maximum accuracy, aim for a tuner with a readout in cents (hundredths of a semitone) and a tolerance of ±1 cent. That’s what the pros do in the studio: beyond 5 cents off, things already start to sound “weird” in a band.
The step-by-step method to tune your guitar
You’ve got your tuner in hand, let’s go. Here’s the procedure to follow:
- Start with the 6th string (low E). Play the open string and watch the display. If the note is too low, turn the tuning peg to raise the pitch. Too high? Drop below the note, then come back up.
- Always tune up to the target note. If you arrive from above, the string will naturally slacken in the minutes that follow. It’s the golden rule that many people forget.
- Move on to the next string (A, D, G, B, high E). Same logic for each one.
- Do a full second pass. As you tension the low strings, you slightly loosen the high ones. A second run-through is nearly always necessary.
- Check by playing a chord. An E major or an open A. If something sounds off, isolate the offending string and start again.
If you’ve just changed your strings, plan for two or three tuning sessions close together over the first few hours. You can speed up the process by gently pulling on each string (in the middle of the neck) between tunings.
Tuning your electric guitar by ear
This is the step we strongly recommend you learn, if only to develop your musical ear. The classic method starts from a reference note (an A 440 on a piano, a tuning fork or your tuner) that you carry across to the rest of the instrument.
The principle: the open string should sound identical to the string above it, fretted at the 5th fret. Except between the G and the B, where you fret at the 4th fret. In practice:
- 6th string fretted at fret 5 = open 5th string
- 5th string fretted at fret 5 = open 4th string
- 4th string fretted at fret 5 = open 3rd string
- 3rd string fretted at fret 4 = open 2nd string
- 2nd string fretted at fret 5 = open 1st string
When the two notes ring out at the same time, you sometimes hear a beating effect (a “wah-wah-wah” that slows down as you get closer to being in tune). When the beating disappears, you’re there.
Why won’t my guitar stay in tune?
If you’re retuning every ten minutes, your technique isn’t (necessarily) the problem. There are several possible causes:
- Old or badly fitted strings: if they’re six months old and gone black, change them. New but poorly wound around the tuning pegs (fewer than 2-3 turns)? They’ll slip.
- A poorly cut nut: the string “catches” then suddenly releases. A bit of graphite (pencil lead) in the slot is a quick fix.
- Worn tuning machines: common on entry-level guitars. Switching to locking tuners (Grover, Schaller) is a game-changer.
- An unbalanced tremolo: on a Stratocaster or a Floyd Rose, the slightest misadjustment of the bridge throws everything off. Head to the luthier.
- Temperature swings: wood moves. If you take your guitar out of a cold gig bag, wait 10 minutes before tuning.
If your guitar sounds in tune open but goes off from the 12th fret onwards, the problem isn’t your tuning but the intonation. A trip to a luthier or a full set-up sorts that out in 30 minutes and radically changes how comfortable the guitar is to play.
Other tunings to discover
Once you’ve got standard down, you can explore other tunings. They open up new harmonic colours and unlock iconic songs:
- Drop D (D-A-D-G-B-E): you just drop the low E string by a whole tone. King of grunge, metal and alternative rock (Foo Fighters, Rage Against The Machine).
- Eb standard (E♭-A♭-D♭-G♭-B♭-E♭): everything dropped by a semitone. The tuning of Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan or Guns N’ Roses.
- Open G (D-G-D-G-B-D): the six open strings form a G major chord. The playground of Keith Richards and slide blues.
- Drop C (C-G-C-F-A-D): ultra-low, perfect for modern metal and djent.
Before diving into very low tunings: your usual strings (9-42 or 10-46) are likely to “flop around” and lack tension. Move up to a heavier gauge (11-52, even 12-56 for Drop B) to keep a defined tone.
What now?
Tuning your electric guitar is the first reflex to make automatic before every session. With a good tuner and the method we’ve just covered, it’ll take you less than two minutes. And the more you practise, the sharper your ear will get, until you can spot an out-of-tune string just from the sound of a chord. That’s part of becoming a guitarist too. The next riff is waiting for you.
