MUSIC 043 - GuitarHistory and Parts of the Guitar

This topic will review the history of guitar and the parts of a guitar.

Tuning Your Guitar

This is a youtube video that takes the student through the process of tuning their guitar.

Transcript

Knowing how to properly tune your guitar is essential. You could practice like crazy, but if your guitar is not in tune, you'll be left wondering why it still doesn't sound good. So, let's spend just a few minutes here to make sure you really understand how tuning works. So up here at the top we have the

low E string, then the A string, then the D string, the G string, the B string, and finally the high E string. A simple pneumonic device that

you can use to remember the string names is this. Eddie ate dynamite. Goodbye, Eddie. Eddie ate dynamite. Goodbye

Eddie. E A D G B E. Maybe a little morbid, but it works. Now, we mentioned that these tuning pegs allow us to raise and lower the pitch of each string.

So, I want you to follow along with me here. Put your finger right here on the top E string and slide it down to the end of the neck until you run into its corresponding tuning peg. This first

tuning peg is the one that we'll use to tune the low E string. You can do the same for each of the other strings. Just follow along, see where they land, and that tuning peg will control that string. If I turn the peg counterclockwise or away from my body,

it will raise the string's

[Music]

pitch. But be careful. If you tighten a string too much, especially these thin bottom strings, they can break. This will happen to every guitar player at some point. So, if it happens to you, don't be discouraged. Just grab some new strings and try again. If I turn the tuning peg clockwise or towards my body, it will lower the

[Music]

pitch. So, that's how the tuning pegs work. To get everything tuned up, I need to make sure each string is tuned to the proper pitch. Before modern technology, we would have had to use a tuning fork or a pitch pipe to find the right notes. But now, there are lots of ways to check

clip-on tuner like this. Clip-on tuners just clip right onto the end of your headstock like this, where they read the frequencies of your strings and display the pitch back to you. Usually, I would clip the tuner on the back of the headstock so only I could see it, but for the sake of this video, I'll have it face out so that you can see what I'm doing. I'm also going to use my iPhone app as we tune so that you can see what that one's doing as well. Our goal is to align the pitch of our string to the center of that tuner. So, I'm going to go through each one of my strings, tuning up my guitar one by one, so you see how this works. If you want to follow along, feel free to do so. So, if I tune up this low E string, I can pluck it and see that it's really low or flat as we call it in music. So, I can just twist my tuning peg, raise the pitch until I land on that

E right there. Most tuners will light up 3:20 green or give you some indication that you've landed on the correct pitch.

You'll also notice as I'm tuning, I keep plucking that string because your tuner needs something to listen to. So, as I o through, I'll just keep plucking, keep twisting until I land on that right pitch. So, on to the A string. Once again, we're flat. So, we can raise up until we land right on that A.

The D string is the same thing. Let's raise it

[Music] up. Next, we have the G string. Okay. Now, this one is high o sharp as we call it in music. So, what I want to do when I have a

they can lose their tension and fall out of tune. It's way more common for your guitar to fall out of tune and get flat rather than to get sharp. You might bump the tuning pegs and your guitar might go sharp, but usually you're going to find yourself below your desired pitch. You

So, I've tuned down below the G that I'm trying to get to. And then I can tune back up. Next, we've got the B string. We'll tune that

up. I overshot it, so I go back under and I get right

there. You'll find that these bottom strings take a lot less work to change the pitch because they're so thin. It's really easy to to move them up and down and so it's easy to overshoot your your target pitch. So, you want to make sure that you're right

on. There you go. Let's go back through and just double check everything. We've got our E. It's not uncommon for the the tuning to change even as you're tuning because as you change the tension on each string, it can pull the other

strings out of tune. So, you just want to give it one last check. So, there you go. You're nice and

tuned up. Remember to double check your tuning every time you sit down to practice or play your guitar. Different guitars can hold tune better than others, but all can get out of tune really easily, either just by not being played for a while or maybe you'll like accidentally bump the tuning pegs and knock it out of tune. So, make sure you're nice and tuned up every time you

play.

6:26

So, now that we are all tuned up, we're ready to start.

Attribution

The Worship Initiative. (2025, April 2). How To Tune Your Guitar. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-SXdLzl-kM

Parts of the Guitar

This infographic details the names and locations of different parts of a guitar.

MUSIC-043- History and parts of the guitar, resized infographic, parts of the guitar by Nicole Triptow

Attribution

Petersen, M. (n.d.). Guitar History, Types, Parts. MUSIC-043-T002: Guitar Basics 1. https://byuis.agilixbuzz.com/admin/828/courses/80911919/activity/OCDYL

Types of Guitars

This infographic provides images and facts about the 3 main types of guitars.

Music 043- History and parts of the guitar, resized infographic, types of guitars by Nicole Triptow

Attribution

Petersen, M. (n.d.). Guitar History, Types, Parts. MUSIC-043-T002: Guitar Basics 1. https://byuis.agilixbuzz.com/admin/828/courses/80911919/activity/OCDYL

Names of the Strings

This will teach the names and differences between the strings of the guitar.

Music 043, history and parts of the guitar, infographic, names of the strings by Nicole Tripto

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