Guitar Tuner
A free guitar tuner online: play a string into your microphone and the needle shows whether to tune up or down, in standard or eight other tunings.
Your microphone is analysed on this device and is never recorded or sent.
Keyboard: Space starts and stops the tuner.
How to use the guitar tuner
This guitar tuner online hears one string at a time. Press Start tuner, give the browser permission to use the microphone, then pluck an open string with your thumb or a pick. Your microphone is analysed on this device and is never recorded or sent.
With Auto on, the display names the string it thinks you are playing, such as Auto: String 5 (A2), so you can go through E A D G B E in any order. A string that is a long way off also gets a count of semitones low or high, which tells you whether to wind several turns or give the key a nudge. Hold a string in the green zone and its button gets a check mark.
The six buttons play a plucked guitar tone for each string and lock the tuner onto it. Use them when a string is so slack that Auto mistakes it for its neighbor. With a keyboard, 1 is the thin high E, 6 is the thick low E, A switches Auto back on and Space starts or stops listening. The Tuning menu holds the nine tunings below and remembers your choice. What the needle and the cents mean is explained on the chromatic tuner page.
Standard tuning, string by string
Guitar strings are numbered from the thinnest: string 1 is the high E nearest the floor, string 6 is the thick low E. The last column is the old fifth-fret check, which you can use to confirm the tuner by ear.
| String | Note | Frequency at A4 = 440 Hz | Fret it to match the next string |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | E2 | 82.41 Hz | 5th fret = open A |
| 5 | A2 | 110.00 Hz | 5th fret = open D |
| 4 | D3 | 146.83 Hz | 5th fret = open G |
| 3 | G3 | 196.00 Hz | 4th fret = open B |
| 2 | B3 | 246.94 Hz | 5th fret = open high E |
| 1 | E4 | 329.63 Hz | Two octaves above string 6 |
Start with the low E and work across to the high E. Changing one string pulls on the neck a little, so do a second pass; it is usually quick.
Drop D and drop C tuning
Drop D lowers only string 6, from E2 to D2, so a power chord on the three lowest strings takes one finger. Pick Drop D in the menu, lock string 6 and turn it down until the needle settles on D.
Drop C tuning is the same shape a whole step lower: C2 G2 C3 F3 A3 D4. Strings 1 to 5 each go down a whole step, and string 6 goes down two whole steps, from E to C. Because of its heavier tone it is most common in rock and heavy metal. Half step down and full step down lower every string by one or two semitones and keep all your chord shapes.
Open G tuning and the other open tunings
Open G tuning is D2 G2 D3 G3 B3 D4: strings 6, 5 and 1 each go down a whole step, and the open strings ring a G major chord. With a chord on every open string and every straight barre, it suits slide and steel playing, and it is common in blues and folk. In Hawaiian slack-key guitar the same tuning is called Taro Patch. Its top four strings, D3 G3 B3 D4, are the same notes as the four long strings of a 5-string banjo in open G.
| Tuning | Notes, lowest string first | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4 | The usual tuning. |
| Drop D | D2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4 | Low E string down a whole step to D. |
| Half step down | Eb2 Ab2 Db3 Gb3 Bb3 Eb4 | Every string one semitone lower. |
| Full step down | D2 G2 C3 F3 A3 D4 | Every string a whole step (two semitones) lower. |
| Drop C | C2 G2 C3 F3 A3 D4 | Full step down, then the low string down another whole step to C. |
| DADGAD | D2 A2 D3 G3 A3 D4 | Strings 6, 1 and 2 down a whole step; the open strings make a Dsus4 chord. |
| Open G | D2 G2 D3 G3 B3 D4 | Strings 6, 5 and 1 down a whole step; the open strings make a G major chord. |
| Open D | D2 A2 D3 F#3 A3 D4 | Strings 6, 2 and 1 down a whole step, string 3 down a semitone; the open strings make a D major chord. |
| Open E | E2 B2 E3 G#3 B3 E4 | Strings 5 and 4 up a whole step, string 3 up a semitone; the open strings make an E major chord. |
Open D and open E are the same idea in other keys. When you return to standard, retune every string you changed and run across all six again.
Checking with harmonics and chords
Touch a string lightly right above the 12th fret wire and pluck it: you hear a harmonic an octave above the open string. It rings clearly after you let go, and the tuner shows the same letter one octave higher. A new string, or one just moved several semitones, stretches and drifts flat for a while, so look again after a few minutes of playing. Then try a few shapes from the guitar chord chart, name what you are holding with the guitar chord finder, and practice in time with the metronome.
More for guitar: Guitar Chords · Guitar Chord Finder · Guitar Scales · Fretboard Notes · Capo Chart · Virtual Guitar · Guitar Tab Maker · Chord Chart Maker · Online Guitar Amp · Guitar Effects · Online Looper
Questions
What are the notes of standard guitar tuning?
From the thickest string to the thinnest: E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4. String 6 is the low E and string 1 is the high E.
How do I tune a guitar to drop D?
Choose Drop D in the Tuning list, then lower string 6 from E2 to D2 until the needle is centered. The other five strings stay as in standard tuning.
What is drop C tuning?
C2 G2 C3 F3 A3 D4: every string a whole step below standard, and the lowest string a further whole step down to C. It is drop D moved a whole step lower.
What are the notes of open G tuning?
D2 G2 D3 G3 B3 D4, lowest string first. From standard, lower strings 6, 5 and 1 by a whole step; strummed open, it is a G major chord.
Why does Auto pick the wrong string?
If a string is several semitones off, it can be closer to its neighbor's note. Tap the string you are tuning to lock the tuner to it, then tune until the needle centers.