5 Best Clip On Guitar Tuners

How do I tune my guitar?

Remember, standard tuning for a guitar is from lowest to highest:

E-A-D-G-B-E

You can remember this by thinking of the phrase:

Eddie-Ate-Dynomite-GoodBye-Eddie

The outside two strings can be called – Fat-E and Skin-E

The strings are numbered from biggest to smallest.

6-5-4-3-2-1

For the tuners to function properly, Make sure all the strings wind toward the center of the tuning pegs.

How Often Should I Tune My Guitar?

As often as possible!

Anytime you have a break between songs, it would be wise to tune up. Even when you’re playing quietly at home. No matter how good an ear you have, a tuner will still come in handy. Here are other situations when you’ll want to glance at this useful device:

• If you drop your guitar. (after you stop crying)

• When you’ve traveled from one location to another.

• When you’re using a capo.

• When you’re bending strings a lot.

• If you haven’t played for a while.

What is a Sound Hole Tuner?

A sound hole tuner is a clip-on tuner that fits discreetly into your acoustic guitar’s soundhole. Like an electric guitar tuner, it uses a Piezo sensor to identify the pitch. Placing the sensor so close to the sound supply provides exceptionally accurate tuning.

Things to consider When Buying a Tuner

Budget – There is quite a wide range in price here. Before you consider the following options ask yourself, do I want a cheap tuner that will get the job done or do I want the best tuner I can afford.

If you are only playing alone, with lots of time to tune, you can get away spending some time tuning and being slightly out of tune. In this case, a cheaper tuner would be fine.

but if you are planning on playing with other musicians, being in tune is critical, and being able to get it done quick is also important. In this case, I would suggest spending a bit more and getting a tuner you can trust on the gig.

Speed – You’ll want a tuner that responds nimbly to your playing. A cheap guitar tuner will take longer to “settle” on the note you are playing.

Accuracy – Accuracy is crucial because, well, that’s why you bought the tuner! Some clip-ons aren’t precise. You’ll need to find one that registers the string’s pitch within two cents (semitones). Accuracy is important so that you don’t have an onstage Spinal Tap moment fumbling to get your pitch right.

If you don’t have an ear for exact pitch, I would get a better tuner, it will take out some of the guesswork for you. With the cheaper models, you may need to do some fine tuning by ear to get it “just right”.

Size – This one is tricky, you want a screen you can see, but not one that is so big it is distracting. A tuner with a brighter screen can be smaller and still seen easily.

Tuning modes – Are you a simple kind of person or do you like bells and whistles? Options can vary a lot as price increases. These can include things like guitar only tuners on the simple side, and the ability to change the Hertz target (the sweet spot) for each string on the expensive side. The two main modes you will see are Chromatic or instrument specific. Here’s what they do:

• Chromatic – Chromatic tuners are complex devices that can tune to any note in the scale. For instance, if you want to do an alternative tuning such as a dropped D, you can do it. These tuners can make it a bit harder for a beginner to tune the guitar to the right notes.
• Guitar specific mode – A guitar mode tuner (also called non-chromatic) only tunes to a conventional E-A-D-G-B-E setting. This type of tuner is easier for beginners to learn on.

Of all the clip-on tuners out there, these are some of my favorites: