CifraLab

Free tool

Guitar tuner

Turn on the microphone, play an open string and the needle tells you whether it is flat or sharp. You can also tune by ear with the reference tone of each string.

  1. 1Turn on the microphone
  2. 2Play one open string
  3. 3Turn its tuning peg until the needle sits in the green

Press “Turn on microphone” and allow access.

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Hear how each string should sound.

It recognises which string you play. If a string is very out of tune, pick it yourself.

Tip: turn slowly. If the needle moves away from the centre, you are turning the wrong way.

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Which string are you tuning?

Sound is analysed on your device; nothing is recorded or sent.

How to use the tuner

Press “Turn on microphone” and accept the browser permission. Play a single open string, without fretting, and let it ring. The tuner recognises which string it is and shows how far it is from the correct note in cents: one hundred cents equal one semitone.

If the needle sits to the left, the string is flat: turn the peg to tighten it. If it sits to the right, it is sharp: loosen it. When the deviation is five cents or less, the indicator turns green and the string is in tune.

Standard tuning

From the sixth string (the lowest) to the first, the guitar is tuned E, A, D, G, B and E: E2 (82.41 Hz), A2 (110 Hz), D3 (146.83 Hz), G3 (196 Hz), B3 (246.94 Hz) and E4 (329.63 Hz). Neighbouring strings are a perfect fourth apart, except the third and second strings, which form a major third. That exception is what makes open chord shapes comfortable.

Listen: the six open strings

  1. 6th E
  2. 5th A
  3. 4th D
  4. 3rd G
  5. 2nd B
  6. 1st E
From the sixth (the lowest) to the first: E, A, D, G, B, E. Every note on the neck grows from these.

Tips for better tuning

Always tune up to the note: if the string is sharp, loosen it below the note and tighten it back up. That way the gear of the tuning peg stays seated and the tuning holds longer.

Pluck the string gently and wait half a second: the initial attack sounds slightly sharp and the reading settles right after. Find a quiet place and bring the guitar close to your phone or computer microphone.

New strings stretch during the first days, so it is normal to retune several times. Changes in temperature and humidity also move the tuning, especially on solid-wood guitars.

Tuning by ear with the fifth fret

Without a microphone, tune the sixth string with its reference tone and compare the others to each other: fret the sixth string at the fifth fret and adjust the open fifth string until both sound the same. Repeat with the fifth string at the fifth fret for the fourth, and with the fourth for the third. For the second string, fret the third string at the fourth fret, then use the second string at the fifth fret to tune the first.

Privacy

Microphone sound is analysed on your device in real time. CifraLab does not record, store or send the audio to any server.

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