Stringing a guitar (standard tremolo or bridge)
- Loosen all 6 strings by unwinding at the tuning pegs.
String Winder: String winders can be handy tools for quickly loosening and tightening strings. Make sure you turn them smoothly to avoid string breakage. Peg Tool: Attached to many string winders is a peg tool that allows you to easily remove the pegs from an acoustic guitar. - Place the first string through the tremolo or bridge
- Put the new string through the tuning peg hole and wrap around (see picture to the right)
Peg Happiness: This shows one method of wrapping your string when you string it. - Tighten slightly so that each string can hold itself.
Top Left: This is where you feed the strings into the guitar when you are replacing them.
Top Right: On acoustics, you have to feed it from inside the body of the guitar.String Ball: This keeps a guitar string in place. - Repeat for all strings.
- Tune to pitch (see how to tune below)
- Stretch strings (see picture below)
String Stretching: Keep stretching and retuning your strings until the guitar stays in tune when you play it. The string was superimposed with a red line. - Repeat steps 6 and 7 until the guitar does not go out of tune when you play it.
Stringing a guitar (Floyd Rose Tremolo) - Pictures Coming Soon
- Loosen the top nut
- Loosen the strings with the tuning machines.
- Loosen string lock bolts at the end of the bridge approximately 3 turns.
- Repeat steps 5 - 8 for each string. It is suggested that you only replace one string at a time due to the nature of the tremolo.
- Remove the old string.
- Place the new string through the tuning peg and locking nut.
- Cut the string and leave about 1 - 2 inches to work with.
- Insert the string into the bridge saddle and tighten until snug but do not overtighten.
- Repeat steps 5-8 for each string.
- Adjust fine tuning knobs to the middle position.
- Stretch strings and tune to pitch using the tuning machines on the headstock.
- Tighten the locking topnut.
- Stretch strings again
- Use fine tuning knobs to tune to pitch.
Stringing a guitar (Classical Acoustic Guitar) - Pictures Coming Soon
- Remove old strings
- Tie one end of the strings to the bridge
- Put the new string through the tuning peg hole and wrap around
- tighten slightly so that it can hold itself.
- Repeat for all strings.
- Tune to pitch
- Stretch strings
- Repeat steps 6 and 7 until the guitar does not go out of tune when you play it.
6 String Guitar Tuning
Here's how you tune from a perfectly tuned Low E note.
- Hold down the 5th fret of the Low E string and pluck it and the A string
- Listen for a beating or pulsating. The faster the beating the more out of tune it is.
- Adjust the A string until there is virtually no beating.
- Hold the 5th fret of the A string and pluck it and the D string.
- Repeat again holding the 5th fret of the D string to tune the G string.
- Repeat again holding the 4th fret of the G string to tune the B string.
- Repeat again holding the 5th fret of the B string to tune the E string.
Click on the 
or the 
to hear the note to tune to.
| Low E | A | D | G | B | High E |
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7 String Guitar Tuning
Seven string guitars are tuned the same way as a six string except that they have an additional low B string. You can tune it by matching the low E string to the 5th fret of the low B string.
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Low B |
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12 String Guitar Tuning
Note: Strings are numbered 1 - 12 from the High E string to the Low E string.
The chart below shows the notes that each string is tuned to. You might not know what an octave is. This term refers to an interval. It basically means that the note is 12 half-steps higher or lower than the original note. In this case, all the octaves are higher. This is explained in more detail in Lesson 11: Intervals Part 1. In the chart below, if the sounds are not given, that is because they were given in the chart above.
| String: | Note: | ||
| 12 | Low E | |
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| 11 | E (octave) | |
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| 10 | A | |
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| 9 | A (octave) | |
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| 8 | D | |
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| 7 | D (octave) | |
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| 6 | G | |
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| 5 | G (octave) | |
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| 4 | B | |
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| 3 | B | |
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| 2 | e | |
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| 1 | e | |
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- Starting with a perfectly tuned Low E note, tune every other string the same way that you did for a 6 string guitar (shown above).
- Hold down the 12th fret of the 12th string and match that note with the 11th string.
- Hold down the 12th fret of the 10th string and match that note with the 9th string.
- Hold down the 12th fret of the 8th string and match that note with the 7th string.
- Hold down the 12th fret of the 6th string and match that note with the 5th string.
- Match the 4th string with the 3rd string.
- Match the 2nd string with the 1st string.
Lesson 3: Playing Techniques
The proper way to hold a pick is shown in the picture below along with examples of other techniques described later in this lesson. The most basic way to produce a sound on the guitar is to pluck a string that is open, or not being touched. Playing an open string or note is when you pluck a string without fretting it. To play a note you need to know how to "fret" a note. To "fret a note," place your finger behind the fret that you wish to play, push down, and then pluck the string.
The following examples have videos in avi format at the bottom of the page to help clarify how to use these techniques. To "hammer-on" a string, pluck a note then, while holding it down, fret a note on a higher fret of the same string. It should give you a smooth transition to the new tone. Now try to "pull-off" the note you just hammered on by letting go of the fret that you just fretted. Next, try sliding up by plucking a note then holding it down, and sliding your finger up the fretboard. Next we will try the bend. To do this, pluck a note, then push the string towards your face or away from your face all while staying behind the same fret. To make a vibrato sound, all you have to do is wiggle your finger up and down to produce a vibrating type effect.
