Are the strings on your guitar discolored or rusty? Maybe more importantly, are all six strings present and accounted for? If you answered NO to either of the two questions or if it’s been several months since you put new strings on the guitar, it’s time for a string change.

How often should you change the guitar strings? Just like the brake pads on a car, guitar strings wear out with use. Old guitar strings often behave badly (aka they’ll lose tuning more quickly, sound less “bright”, and give you problems with intonation). Bottom line, if you play the guitar – you need to change the strings every A) couple of months if you play casually and B) every two weeks if you play professionally at gigs, etc.

If you own an acoustic guitar, you need “acoustic guitar strings”. If you own a classical guitar, you need “classical guitar strings” or “nylon strings”. An electric guitar, thus, requires ”electric guitar strings.” If you have yet to get the hint, each guitar requires different strings.

When you go to change the guitar strings, you also must consider the gauge. What is the gauge? It’s basically the thickness of the strings. While every guitarist is different, medium gauge is the recommended level for beginners as you can adjust accordingly upon performance.

Guitar strings, regardless of the gauge and brand, should set you back no more than $8-$16.

Steps Needed to Change the Strings:

1. Once you’ve completely loosened the 6th string, unwind it from the tuning peg and remove from the guitar. Some individuals find it easier to snip the string in half with pliers and then remove. Make sure you ONLY REMOVE one string at a time. Removing all six strings at once will drastically change the pressure exerted on the neck. The result? Seriously damage to your instrument.

Before moving on, take a few minutes to clean the newly exposed areas of the guitar.

2. Locate the new sixth string (the heaviest of all six) and unravel from the packaging. Feeding the new string through your guitar varies from instrument to instrument. For some electric guitars, you’ll simply feed the string through the tailpiece, in a manner similar to stringing an acoustic guitar. For quite a few other electric guitars, however, the guitarist will feed the new string through the body of the instrument. Flip the guitar over, and locate the appropriate hole to feed the new string through.

3. Flip the instrument over after you’ve successfully fed the string through the body of the guitar. Then, pull the entire length of the string through the bridge.

4. Rotate the tuner for the sixth string, so the hole in the tuning peg forms a right angle to the neck of the instrument. Now, bring the string up the neck of the guitar. Pull the string fairly taught, and using your eye to estimate, measure about one-and-a-half inches past the tuning peg. Crimp the string lightly at that point, so the end of the string points out at a right-angle.

5. Slide the string through the hole in the tuning peg, up to the point where the string is crimped. The end of the string should point outwards, away from the center of the headstock. You may want to crimp the other side of the string emerging from the tuning peg , in order to hold the string in place. Then, turn the tuner in a counter-clockwise direction to wind the new string, using your string winder (if applicable). As it tightens, look down the length of the guitar, and be sure the string is sitting properly on the bridge of the guitar.

The title of this article may come off as a little strange.

‘I thought that the only way to make the instrument sound good was via someone who could actually play the guitar?’

Correct, but even in the hands of a professional, the guitar will only sound as good as the tune. Thus, you must tune the guitar for quality.

If you have ever observed the professionals, you’ll note that they are constantly tuning their beloved musical instrument. Why? Simply because the guitar gets out of tune often (even modern technology cannot fix this small vice). You’ll want to tune your guitar:

1. After it’s been bought, regardless of whether it’s new or not.
2. You’ve been playing with some big bends which may cause the tune to change.
3. A string breaks.
4. You travel with a instrument and the temperature changes, the guitar is bumped, etc

In other words, you’ll tune the strings a lot. Fortunately, several guitar tuning methods exist. You may tune the instrument with:

• an electronic tuner
• with a piano
• with a tuning fork or pitch pipe
• from another guitar that is fully tuned
• relative tuning
• by harmonics
• from an internet source
• or, via your phone

Today’s Fun Fact: Betcha really didn’t think the iPhone could “do it all.”

Regardless of however you tune the guitar, you must always start below the note and then ”tune up” to the note. Why? When you are loosening the string, the nut that keeps the string from loosening when you play may not let go of the string immediately. Thus, after you tune the string may ultimately be ”out of tune.” However, when you tighten the string, the nut has no effect because the string is already under tension.

“The Standard Tune” is tuned to the notes E-A-D-G-B-E. Some guitarists create helpful little reminders like “Eric Archer Digs Great Breakfast Everyday.”

The “first E” (6th string) is at the top of your guitar but is technically the bottom string (because it’s the thickest). “A” is the next string (5th string), followed by ”D” (4th string), “G” (3rd string), “B” (2nd string), and the second “E” (1st string). 

If you ask any professional guitarist, most will strongly recommend that you tune the strings in the following order: 3rd string, 4th string, 2nd string, 5th string, 1st string, and finally the 6th string. By tuning in this pattern, the guitarist eliminates stressing and twisting one side of the guitar neck.

While you may use several different methods to tune the instrument, innovative methods like the phone (dial tone is @ the pitch of A), are not nearly effective as say, the electric tuner. While electric tuners are expensive, they are by far the best and most accurate method. For a price of $20-$50, the guitarist may plug the electric guitar directly into the tuner and use the analog or digital device (most professionals prefer the analog needle) to read the note until it reaches the desired position.

The piano is also a very useful for guitar tuning if you are blessed with such a beautiful instrument. On March 31st, Guitar Lessons Critic will break down guitar tuning into a more detailed approach that utilizes such methods as relative tuning and tuning by harmonics. We’ll also examine some of the top guitar tuning devices on the web, such as the one located on Gieson.