How much time your guitar stays perfectly in tune?

[jaymarsch]

Originally Posted by Joe Beamish

Being “in tune” is relative. In some keys, you want a B string that’s a shade flat. For example.

Electronic tuners don’t always leave you where you want to be.

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

Ears first, then a tuner, then ears again to "fine tune."

As far as "staying in tune," it depends on a lot of things...temperature and humidity changes, how you're playing, etc. It's not out of the realm of possibility that a guitar would go a bit out of tune after a few hours of playing.

Go see a classical guitar performer...they'll tune after every piece (there's other reasons for that other than being "out" of tune, but tuning is a fluid thing, one that can be addressed often, not just a set and forget kind of deal.)

These two posts pretty well sum it up for me when it comes to tuning.

Best,
Jayne

[musicman1951]

Originally Posted by rov

Exactly, I mean perfectly in tune with a tuner?, is it possible for a guitar to be like this after some playing time?

I suppose anything is possible given the right conditions.

I don't use a tuner often at home. Depending on how fussy my ear is any given day, I am rarely happy with equal temperament major thirds in any give key (although some seem worse than others - voicing, no doubt). So some days require a slight tweak of those thirds, and I have no explanation for why some days are fussier than others.

If your ears are not complaining you should just play and enjoy the guitar sounding fine no matter how long it's been.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by rov

But all you guys check tuning with the tuner or you just use your ears?. is it normal for a guitar to go some very few cents sharp or flat after some hours playing or it has to stay perfectly in tune?

Hi rov

Having taught hundreds of students, I can tell you a lot of players think their guitars are in-tune when they are not.

The reason they don't weld strings on at the factory and including tuning machines is guitars go out tune whether due to playing, bending strings, rooms changing temperature, string wear/stress, or because the wind changes directions.

I tweak and refer to electronic tuners. I often tune to dropped D mid-song on the fly…by ear. But sometimes I miss slightly and am glad for the clip-on-tuner that is clipped to the end of the headstock (so is everyone else in the room).

I have no issues which way people tune, as long as they tune. What grates on my ears is people who do not know they are out of tune, and apparently don't think we do either.

[Christian Reno]

I would assume you are trying to gauge what you experience with your guitar(s) compared to what others say they experience. As has been noted, there are so many variables that this becomes a tough comparison to say the least.

Should you have to tune between each and every song? Probably not unless you are beating it up pretty good or the conditions you are in are rapidly changing. A lazy player, or maybe a player who does not have a good ear, may go for quite a while without regard to tuning. A compulsive player will tweak constantly. The middle ground may be where you want to be. How much we tune during a practice session or performance can have as much to do with the type of player we are as does the guitar and conditions.

I doubt many players who perform with others will be tolerated for taking the time (and cause the interruption) in the show to check their electronic tuners between every song to tweak the slightest issue. Relying on your ear to tell you when there is a problem to be checked is a good way to perform IMO. Playing in perfect tune all of the time is not possible or even logical. There is a good compromise that most players find that keeps them in relative tune, but doesn’t obsess over the quest to be in perfect tune.

[DesertTwang]

Originally Posted by rov

But all you guys check tuning with the tuner or you just use your ears?. is it normal for a guitar to go some very few cents sharp or flat after some hours playing or it has to stay perfectly in tune?

Yes, of course that's normal. Have you ever been to a concert? If yes, have you noticed that the guitar player tunes in between every song, or at most every two songs?

[Kitkatjoe]

Originally Posted by Robin, Wales

Having played dobro for many years, played historic folk instruments, built (and gigged) my own dulcimers in just intonation and sung in a male voice choir, I have played around a lot with ‘tuning’. A guitar (99% of which are fretted in equal temperament) tuned exactly to an electronic tuner (99% or which are set in equal temperament) will sound ‘out’ in some keys more than others. So as guitarists we get used to ‘tweaking’ the tuning by ear to get the best blend of notes pretty much without thinking about it. But then you can be playing along nicely in G and then switch to playing out of E and feel your guitar has slipped out of tune – so we tweak again.

Basically, in equal temperament virtually every note is a little ‘out of tune’ compared to it’s perfect pitch position. Equal temperament (ET) is a mathematical invention from the mid-1500s to get instruments (particularly keyboards from the 1800s onward) around having to re-tune for every different key. It has no relation to how a string vibrates and that string’s natural harmonics. For example: Half a string length will give you and octave (same as ET); 1/3rd of the way up the string length will give you a perfect 5th (a little different to ET); a 5th of the way up the string length will give you a perfect 3rd (a good 14 cents flatter than equal temperament). These perfect note intervals are easy to find – they occur when the intervals are at their least dissonance (when the ‘beats’ disappear) A barbershop choir will sing in just intonation, because the note blends are perfect and so are easier to find. Dobro players will throw the B strings in GBDGBD a little flat of ET so the instrument sounds sweeter. When you change keys the notes ‘move’ positions – Ask a fiddle player to play a double stop involving the b note in the key of E then in the key of G and the fingered b note will move position. ET fixes the position of a ‘b’ somewhere between the two. If you rely on an electronic tuner, you are sort of going to be a little disappointed with the sound of your guitar on some occasions. Tuning a guitar is always going to be a compromise. An electronic tune is a great starting point and I use one all the time but after that all we can do is to try to tweak by ear and get the best tuning fit for whatever we are playing.

So when you ask how long does my guitar stay in tune. I’d have to say “until I change key”.

Well here is someone who understands cents,chromatic tuners and the dobro. With a background in pedal steel,non pedal and dobro,I sing a tuning we shall go. A chromatic tuner is very important to tuning a guitar. Learn the art of tuning and you will love your guitar experience more. Now I know there are many experts on here but maybe one person might learn something from this seasoned old veteran.😳

[Goodallboy]

The actual answer will depend more on the player and his tuner and less on the guitar.

[Herb Hunter]

I have several guitars so some of them can remain unplayed for months. A while back, I took out my cedar/walnut, grand-auditorium Taylor after 7 months if disuse and was pleased to find it was virtually in tune. The low E and G were off by 10 cents and the rest of the strings proved to be perfectly in tune.

[6L6]

My 1971 Guild F-312NT is kept at full concert pitch and NEVER needs retuning. Plays effortlessly/sounds incredible.

As for my 6 strings, I always check before playing.

[KarenB]

Originally Posted by Joe Beamish

Being “in tune” is relative. In some keys, you want a B string that’s a shade flat. For example.

Electronic tuners don’t always leave you where you want to be.

Joe,what keys have you found that flattening the B string is helpful? B strings are my bugaboo. Maybe it's the transition from wound to unwound

[Joe Beamish]

Originally Posted by KarenB

Joe,what keys have you found that flattening the B string is helpful? B strings are my bugaboo. Maybe it's the transition from wound to unwound

Well, for example, I might be playing cowboy chords in the key of C major, and sounding pretty good with all my strings tuned to pitch on a chromatic tuner. But in my next song, I might be in the key of A major, and I might play chord tones up the neck on some of the strings, including the 10th fret of the B string, against that open ringing A string, or against the A fretted at the 7th fret of the D string, and sounding awfully sharp on that high A note.

I often adjust tuning based on the key, and how I’m using the guitar. Very often I’m playing parts of chords way up the neck alongside open strings — I mean that’s what an acoustic guitar is largely for, in my view. That’s where you’re going to be doing some fine tuning, especially when switching keys.

I tend to tune the B string a little flat; it’s more forgiving that way. Then again, it can just sound flat in some grips, like the folkie F major grip, and I’ll bring it back up. It just depends.

A slightly flat E sixth string is also useful.