Tuning - A Comment on Today's That Pedal Show

Crazed_Fandango

I'm a regular viewer and hold their knowledge in high regard, but something Mick said today really got my attention and was a wake up call....

The question was: what is the most important pedal on the board.  PRS said that the tuner was, but Mick said if you can't tune the guitar you shouldn't be playing it.

Holding my hands up here...I cannot without a tuner, as I've always used a tuner so never learned to.

How many others are in the same situation or do you feel it's a necessary skill, given that tuners are so readily available?

Thoughts, comments, brickbats.....

monquixote

You need a tuner to get to concert, but you should absolutely learn to tune.

A good ear for relative pitch is essential to being a good musician.

How else will you bend accurately or play slide etc.

Neilybob

Totally agree with @monquixote ;

I can't tune by ear but I know how to bend to the right pitch. 

I'm also an avid follower of TPS and respect there opinions and views with high regards. Can highly recommend seeing them live. 

EricTheWeary

I can tune a guitar to itself easy enough and I’ll be in the ballpark but I wouldn’t guarantee it’s spot on A440. 
But Mick is still wrong (for a gigging board anyway), no one wants to listen to you tuning up. Let alone if you needed to retune mid song and were trying to do it by ear. Headstock tuners get knocked off, aren't reliable when other things are making loud noises and don't mute your output. 

darius

Harsh but fair I reckon. 

It’s lesson 1 really. Its also not hard.
Tuner pedals are great for silent visual tuning but you’ve got to train your ears before relying on a box.

I suppose you’ll be telling me next that you can’t read a map and you’ve always just followed the satnav. 

RocknRollDave

I agree that learning to recognise pitch and, from there, to be able to tune a guitar either to itself or to a note (in my day it was pitch pipes - remember them?!) are essential skills a wannabe guitarist should learn at the first opportunity, but every gigging guitarist should have a tuner onstage with the facility to mute whilst tuning. 

RocknRollDave

RocknRollDave said:

I agree that learning to recognise pitch and, from there, to be able to tune a guitar either to itself or to a note (in my day it was pitch pipes - remember them?!) are essential skills a wannabe guitarist should learn at the first opportunity, but every gigging guitarist should have a tuner onstage with the facility to mute whilst tuning. 

OR to use Telecasters exclusively, and hence never need to retune ever again.

JCA2550

For those of us who started out on an acoustic guitar back in the Dark Ages learning to tune using pitch pipes ( yuck) and a tuning fork (A 440) was both basic stuff and essential. You might not have perfect pitch,  but developing relative pitch and being able tune any instrument to itself should be compulsory in my opinion. That said, try tuning by ear in a loud venue or rehearsal room without an electronic tuner while muted, it can't be done.

stickyfiddle

I'm with @monquixote and @RocknRollDave - you're not a musician if you can't hear pitches properly and the first step to that is tuning by ear. It's essential (sorry to anyone to whom that applies!)

Equally when gigging you should have a pedal tuner that mutes your signal. Nobody needs to hear you tuning. With a Polytune I can check tuning silently in the space of a single bar mid-song if I need to. 

RocknRollDave

stickyfiddle said:

I'm with @monquixote and @RocknRollDave - you're not a musician if you can't hear pitches properly and the first step to that is tuning by ear. It's essential (sorry to anyone to whom that applies!)

Equally when gigging you should have a pedal tuner that mutes your signal. Nobody needs to hear you tuning. With a Polytune I can check tuning silently in the space of a single bar mid-song if I need to. 

I recently upgraded to a Polytune from a Boss, because even that extra time it takes to pluck individual strings to check tuning is too long for a dancefloor at a wedding to be stood there waiting for the next song. It can be the difference between maintaining the atmosphere of the night and clearing a dancefloor.

stickyfiddle

^^ exactly. I mostly got my first PT because I wanted something really small but I wouldn't use anything else now.

slacker

I plan where and how to tune. For bass and acoustic I'll use a headstock tuner and tune once. For electric I'll pick inbeteeen songs where there's talking or where I don't play. I've got a boss and a polytune mini.

roberty

If you can hear which of your strings are sharp or flat while you're playing you can compensate for it until you get a chance to tune, so you should really develop your ear in this way. Absolutely no way you should gig without a stage tuner though

euan

Gate keeping nonsense. Imagine that PRS being less of a snob than a YouTuber 

TheBigDipper

JCA2550 said:

For those of us who started out on an acoustic guitar back in the Dark Ages learning to tune using pitch pipes ( yuck) and a tuning fork (A 440) was both basic stuff and essential. You might not have perfect pitch,  but developing relative pitch and being able tune any instrument to itself should be compulsory in my opinion. That said, try tuning by ear in a loud venue or rehearsal room without an electronic tuner while muted, it can't be done.

All of this. I can tune a guitar using a tuning fork, using pitch pipes or to the nearest piano. I can hear when my guitar is out of tune (or my band mates are). It is a primary skill for any player. Learning how to tune the instrument without a tuner - either to itself (if you're playing solo) or to the piano you're playing with (which may be tuned to itself but no longer at concert pitch) is a skill. Something, somewhere, must be the reference point for everyone. 

But...  tuning up in a noisy performance room at volume is not easy. The human ear will tune up too sharp under those circumstances and it's far simpler to use an electronic tuner to mute your signal and quickly get it right so you can give your best to the next piece or song. For an audience, hearing musicians tune up is boring. The important thing is to make sure everyone in the band agrees that A=440 or whatever, and all the tuners are set so it is! :-) 

Crazed_Fandango

Excellent.  Now I can sell off my guitars to fund a set of golf clubs.

DefaultM

Sounds like something a smug kid who thinks he's better than he is would say. 

If you're gonna stand there on stage tuning out loud are the audience gonna think "wow this guy doesn't need a tuner pedal that's impressive"? Not likely. They'd be wondering why they were hearing it.

Lestratcaster

If you're playing live then a tuner that mutes is a must If you're playing with another guitarist and you both tune by ear then your idea of when a low e is in tune might be different so you'll be both out with another.

joeyowen

Meh, who is anyone to say if anyone else should/shouldn't be playing guitar?

JohnCordy

It's a comment that makes almost no sense

tone1

Yep…. I could tune for Jazz without a tuner