Electronic
Tuners
In the last few years the price of electronic
tuners has dropped drastically. At the same time, the reliability
has gone up. Currently you can buy a decent electronic tuner
for under $25 (US). Tuning by ear takes some practice, so
a good option for tuning your bass when you are first starting
out is to buy an electronic tuner. Below we are going to take
a look at some things to look for in a tuner, and then how
to use it.
There are good tuners and bad tuners, just like
everything else in this world. I would suggest getting a digital
tuner, with both a needle indication, and some sort of lights
to tell you that you are either to high or to low.
Electronic tuners that you can use for guitar/bass
come in two varieties. The first is one that allows you to
tune the 6 strings of the guitar as well as the 4 string of
the bass to standard pitch. The other is a chromatic tuner,
which will allow you to tune to any note, not just those in
standard tuning. Of course in this day and age songs are often
tuned down a 1/2 step (The equivalent of 1 fret lower). There
are also many alternate tunings in use, therefore the chromatic
tuner is the way to go. Chromatic tuners are also easier to
use, even if you are just tuning to standard pitch.
How
to use a standard guitar/bass tuner
Using an electronic tuner should be self explanatory,
right? Well, not really. Here is something to remember about
using a standard guitar/bass tuner. Unless the string that
you are tuning is within a 1/2 step of the correct pitch,
the tuner will not know what to tell you. For instance, if
you are tuning your 4th string (E) and it is tuned to an F
(which is a 1/2 step to high), the needle will not register
anything. Worse yet the default position of the needle is
to the left, so many people think that this automatically
means that they are too low. Then they proceed to tune the
string up, and up, until the string breaks, or the neck looks
like a bow from the tension of the string.. A standard guitar/bass
tuner is only good as a fine tuning tool, and unless you can
tune by ear enough to get you within a 1/2 step, it is useless.
Here are a couple of standard electric guitar/bass
tunes that I recommend to my students. They are cheap, and
are good tuners.
Of course, I would really recommend getting
a chromatic tuner. That way you have the option of tuning
to any note. Another advantage is that you do not need to
be within a 1/2 step of the correct pitch, just somewhere
in the area of the right octave. If, for instance, you were
tuning your 4th string (E) and it was tuned to an F, you would
see that it was it was an F and know to tune it down. You
will need to have a basic knowledge of sharps and flats and
the names of the notes on
the guitar.
All
of the chromatic notes
| A |
A#/Bb |
B |
C |
C#/Db |
D |
D#/Eb |
E |
F |
F#/Gb |
G |
G#/Ab |
When you are tuning, try and think about whether it would
be closer to go up, or down to the note that you are trying
to tune to. If you were trying to tune your 4th string
to D, but your electronic
tuner was registering a C,
you would need to tune up.
Here is the chromatic tuner I would recommend. No, I
do not work for the Quik Tune company, they just make
a cheap, good tuner.
Qwik Tune QT-2 Chromatic Tuner
Page 3, tuning the electric bass with a piano
Page 5, using a tuning
fork 
