Guitoro

Loading the tuner...

Online guitar tuner

A free guitar tuner that runs in your browser. Allow the microphone when the page opens, play one string at a time and turn the peg until the needle sits in the middle. Each string button plays its note from a real guitar recording, so you can also tune by ear.

Standard guitar tuning: E A D G B E

Standard tuning is what nearly every guitar lesson, chord chart and song tab assumes. The six strings are tuned in fourths, except for a major third between the G and B strings.

StringNoteFrequency (A4 = 440 Hz)
6 (thickest)E282.41 Hz
5A2110.0 Hz
4D3146.8 Hz
3G3196.0 Hz
2B3246.9 Hz
1 (thinnest)E4329.6 Hz

How to tune a guitar

  1. Tap Start tuner and allow the microphone when the browser asks.
  2. Play one string and let it ring. Keep the other strings quiet, and keep the guitar close to the microphone.
  3. The string nearest the note you played lights up. The needle to the left means flat (tune up), to the right means sharp (tune down).
  4. Turn the tuning peg slowly until the needle sits in the green middle and the note name turns green.
  5. Do the same for every string, then check the first one again: tuning one string changes the neck tension a little.

How to tune a guitar without a tuner

Get the low E string right first: tap the E2 button on the headstock above to hear the note, or match it to a piano. Then tune each string to the one below it.

  1. Press the low E string at the 5th fret. That note is A: tune the open A string until the two match.
  2. Press the A string at the 5th fret and tune the open D string to it.
  3. Press the D string at the 5th fret and tune the open G string to it.
  4. Press the G string at the 4th fret, not the 5th, and tune the open B string to it.
  5. Press the B string at the 5th fret and tune the open high E string to it.

Listen for the wobble. Two notes that are almost the same beat against each other, and the beating slows down and stops as they match. If the low E was off, the guitar ends up in tune with itself but not with other instruments.

Questions

Does the tuner need a microphone?

To hear your guitar, yes. Allow the microphone when the page opens. Listening starts automatically. The sound is analyzed in your browser and never recorded or uploaded. Without a microphone, tap a string button to hear its note and tune by ear.

How accurate is this tuner?

On a clean, ringing note it reads the pitch to within a cent, a hundredth of a semitone. The needle turns green within 3 cents of the note, closer than most ears can tell.

What is standard guitar tuning?

E A D G B E, low string to high. Standard tuning is what nearly every guitar lesson, chord chart and song tab assumes. The six strings are tuned in fourths, except for a major third between the G and B strings.

Should I tune up or down to the note?

Tune up to it. If a string is sharp, lower it below the note and come back up, so the string sits firmly on the tuning peg and holds its pitch.

What does A4 = 440 Hz mean?

440 Hz is the concert pitch most instruments tune to: the A above middle C. Some orchestras use 442 or 443 Hz, and some people prefer 432 Hz. Change the A4 field and every string follows.

Other tunings

Guitar

Bass

Ukulele

Tuned up? Play along with a song

The virtual guitar sets itself up for each song: key, capo, tempo and the strum or picking pattern. Playing your own guitar along? Choose Play my guitar to slow the song down, from 20% to full speed. The easy guitar songs page groups them by how many chords they have.

Guitoro: a free virtual guitar for the browser: steel-string, classic, electric and bass.