How to tune a guitar for beginners is easiest with a clip-on tuner or a tuner app. Clip the tuner onto the headstock, pluck one string, then turn the pegs slowly until the needle sits right on the standard note. The order runs from the thickest string to the thinnest: E, A, D, G, B, E. Once you are used to it, the whole process takes five to ten minutes and can be done every time before you play.
- The standard guitar tuning is E-A-D-G-B-E, read from the thickest sixth string to the thinnest first string
- A clip-on tuner is the most beginner-friendly tool because it reads the wood's vibration and shrugs off noise
- The ear can be trained to tune on its own through the 5th-fret method, a valuable backup when no tuner is around
- An acoustic or classical guitar with six usable strings and none broken
