How to Tune a Guitar With Harmonics

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Russell Eldridge, Music Editor for Target Audience Magazine; Singer and Guitar Player for Delusional Mind. Today we're going to talk about how to tune using harmonics. First let's talk about real quick on how to get a harmonic and we're going to just put the guitar little bit like this. You basically; when you're getting a harmonic, you don't want to be right on the fret but end of the bar, after the frets. So if I'm aiming for the twelfth fret, I want to be on top of this fret and then you can kind of see that I'm just lightly touching it and even after I take my finger off, still rings quite well. Okay. So you can get them at the twelve; nine, aw they're not; seven; five; seven and twelve and one of these string on; I don't know if you guys can hear it is I already added tune which I'm going to use to give an example on how to get a, in tune with using a harmonics. So let's go ahead and try that. Now basically it's a simple principle; I'm tuning these two strings; this string, the fifth fret and the seventh are harmonic, should be the same note. And it, I don't know if you guys can hear this; but there's a wavering in the air that's going, "Na-na-na-na-na", like that. Okay. I'm going to turn the distortion just for a second . You can hear real strong there. Okay, so what I'm going to do is I'm going to tune it until that wavering goes away. Okay. Still there a little bit. Okay. Go back to clean; oops still there; there it goes. Alright, now tuning with harmonics is cool and it's easy to hear; but it really doesn't give you the most accurate and close to tune; okay. And I just showed you on those two strings. Really, it's the fifth and seventh fret for the sixth and fifth string; okay. The fifth and fourth string it's also the fifth and seventh fret; basically I'm hearing the, that looks like the sixth string; I'm hearing the fifth fret on the sixth string and the seventh fret; okay; or sixth string, I'm sorry, fifth fret on sixth string, I'm sorry, fifth fret on the sixth string and the seventh fret on the fifth string. And if it's done right and it's hearing tune, you're not going to hear that wavering. So it's the same thing for the fifth and fourth string. I hit the fifth fret on the fifth string and the seventh fret on the fourth string; okay; and then I hit the fifth fret on the fourth string; the seventh fret on the third string. Okay. It sounds like a lot in tune; okay. Now on the third second string, sounds pretty cool; but that's not going to work for your tuning. Okay. I guess you could; you got E here; okay. You got an E here but I haven't found the E on the fifth fret on the second string and E on the ninth fret on the third string but I haven't found that working very well for me personally. Then so that one you have to go back to the old fashion way which we'll talk about on a second; okay. Now the fifth fret and set it for once again, for your forcing. You're going to hear the wavering going away, that means you're in tune. Now like I said, if you kind of, if you don't have your fingers right; you know; on a, on a good spot; if you move it just a slice a bit; you're, it's not going to work. You're not going to be in tune, okay. So the, the most accurate way is to do the kind of the more old fashionable; the most accurate way is to use a tuner. Okay. That's going to be better than the human ear, okay. But you hold the fifth fret, you listen to the next string open. You make sure that they're working and then the next string down fifth fret; you make sure that the string underneath works. The basic, you're tuning everything down to the sixth string which in the harmonic way, you're doing the same thing. You; this one's going to be in tune; you know; relatively, you know, so like that before you go to the rest of it. But these fifth fret, fifth fret, fifth fret, fourth fret wasn't loud. I think I miss them. Okay. That wasn't loud too. So with this method, when one's out, it can affect all of them. Sweet. Okay, so that one is a little bit; that's more accurate if you're going to do it by ear. One last thing you could also use a, kind of like, how each string is, is tune to each other. They're tune in perfect force. This is a fourth. It's a wedding song; a wedding song. These two major third, what you hear a lot in doorbells; okay; by going from the, the highs and the lows running back to your perfect fourth; okay. Now even though I am, you know, I've been playing for about twenty years and I can tune my guitar by ear; if I'm going to record, I'm going to get my tuner out 'cause I want it to be the most accurate."