If you have a strong ear, you may prefer a reference note tuner. If you haven’t yet developed your ear, you can use a reference note tuner to help train your ear, but it shouldn’t be your exclusive tuner. The downside with audio input apps is that mobile phone mics may not be as accurate.
Typically you can download the app for free. The ones that you have to pay to download may have more features, such as the ability to set different tunings. The main difference between the apps is the interface. However, some reviewers do claim that certain apps are more accurate than others. For example, Pano Tuner and Guitar Tuna get consistently high ratings and are considered highly accurate.
A few apps have additional features, such as a metronome. Some, such as the Martin Tuner, also have instructional guides on maintaining your guitar and training your ear. If you’re a beginner, you might find these useful.
The app may have different types of tones available. Especially if you’re a beginner, use a tone that most closely imitates a guitar sound. Turn your volume up on your phone if you can’t hear the tone, or move to a quieter location. It’s not a good idea to use headphones, as you might have trouble hearing your guitar.
For audio input apps, set your phone as close to your guitar as you can. Try to eliminate background noise. Your phone’s mic will pick that up too, and it could interfere with the operation of the tuner.
Once you’ve gone through all the strings, start over from the first string and make small adjustments as necessary. If you used a reference note tuner and you don’t have a particularly strong ear, you may want to repeat the process with an audio-input tuner just to check your accuracy.
Since microphone tuners tend to be less expensive than other electronic tuners, they’re typically the best option for a beginner. You can find battery-powered microphone tuners online for less than US$20. If you’ve already experimented with smartphone tuner apps, you know how a microphone tuner works. However, the microphone in these tuners tends to be more sensitive than the built-in mic in your phone (and therefore more accurate). To use a microphone tuner, simply pluck the string you want to tune. The display will let you know whether the tone you plucked is higher or lower than the tone you want.
For example, if you want to tune your guitar to Drop D so you can play hard rock and heavy metal power chords with ease, a chromatic tuner is the easiest way to get there.
To use a clip-on tuner, clip it to the headstock of your guitar, then start plucking a string. The tuner will detect the string you’re plucking and the tone it should be playing. On the tuner’s display, the readout will tell you whether to tune up or down to get your string to the right tone. Clip-on tuners work with both acoustic and electric guitars, although they’re more useful for acoustic guitar players. Their small size also makes them portable. They typically are battery-powered, so make sure you have spare batteries in your gig bag just in case.
You can also connect a pedal tuner permanently through your pedal board. When it isn’t switched on, the signal passes straight through the pedal. When you turn it on, it engages to help you tune your guitar. Pedal tuners are designed primarily for use at shows. The displays are bright and any background noise won’t affect their accuracy.
When you turn the tuner on, the display typically will light up to let you know it’s functioning and ready for use.
Many tuners have the display on the side of the guitar that faces you when you play, so you can see it easily. Just hold your guitar as you normally would to play, glancing down at the display as you tune. [14] X Research source
You may want to go back through and fine-tune each string again after you’ve performed a basic tuning. Particularly if your guitar was significantly out of tune, tuning the higher strings may knock the lower strings out of tune.
Some built-in tuners are designed to automatically shut off if they aren’t used for 3 minutes. However, this may not work if you’re playing your guitar immediately after you tune it.
