Using Your Electronic Tuner

Do you make these mistakes when using your electronic tuner?

Playing the string too rapidly. If you play the note and keep playing it very quickly, a lot of tuners have trouble picking up the note. By striking it once every one or two seconds it gives the tuner a steady signal.

Playing the string too slowly. After you pick a string, the note goes flat as the sound decays. If your tuner has a needle and it drops, you've let the note sound for too long. Same thing if your tuner has flashing lights.

Not getting close enough to the microphone. All tuners have a small built in microphone and it will pick up outside noises. If there's a tv or radio on,  if there's music in the background or even someone talking, it can give a false reading. I usually put the tuner close to the instrument to help block out noises.

Tuning to the wrong note. I know, the tuner tells you what note you're playing and it should be obvious. Be sure that the note you're tuning to matches the one the tuner says you're playing. Sometimes the sharp or flat symbol isn't very big and you can tune to the wrong note.

 Not tuning to concert pitch. In our tonal system we tune to A440, which means the note A vibrates at 440 vibrations per second. A lot of tuners can be adjusted up or down so you can match another instrument that may not be easily retuned. Some tuners also feature the ability to tune down 1/2 step or more, so make sure the settings are correct. While most tuners go back to the default setting if you turn them off then back on, some retain the last settings used.

Getting false readings from overtones. When you play a note, it creates a series of overtones. This means that other strings may vibrate sympathetically with that string. This causes the tuner to have difficulty picking out the correct note. The way to prevent that is to deaden all but the string you're trying to tune.

If you'll follow these steps you should have no trouble getting and keeping your guitar in tune. One more thing, a sharp # reading means the note's too high, a flat b means the note's too low. When tuning keep in mind that the thicker the string, the less you have to turn the tuner to make it higher or lower.