I was literally going crazy trying to get it to stay in tune. Now after seeing this video I realize I was pressing the strings down like my acoustic guitar lol
I am so grateful for this explanation. NOW I know why my open chords never sound in tune on my first electric. I was looking for warps, action etc when what you say makes so much sense. Thank you again.
I always get a wake up call when I pick up one of my electric guitars after spending a lot of time playing only acoustic. Love your content. Keep up the good work! Thanks for giving us all some peace of mind that we’re not insane for having this frustration. 😂
This was a very good explanation. Touch is everything. I even sometimes try to play with little to no vibrato and see how accurately I can hit the notes making them as pure as possible and then adding vibrato or a bend later in the sustaining notes.
Never really thought about pulling the strings sharp like that, even though it most definitely happens even when you don’t realize that. Great point there.
This is a great video. I used this video to help teach my daughter. I'm not the best teacher. When I'm showing her a technique or concept and she is not getting it. I will turn to someone that can explain it better. This issue is something I figured out naturally as a beginner. when you start gaining skill and confidence I believe this issue reveals it's self. However, I can see how people now a day's that rely on forums & videos to fix their issues this could easily cause intermediate guitars some issues. Great video.
Very useful. Recently bought a Strat and was seriously considering returning it until I saw this video. Have e been playing an acoustic with fairly heavy strings for many years.
I've been playing guitar over 30 years (mainly acoustic) and this is still a struggle for me on electric. Playing light is counterintuitive. Helpful video, thank you.
Could be because my playing experience has been with downtuned instruments that haven’t been properly intonated for that style of music, but I find that acoustics are a lot less forgiving in regards to how precise your technique has to be compared to electric.
Thanks for you observations. Sharpening notes is common, especially on electric guitars that have high fret wire. If you are an acoustic guitar player you naturally tend to press harder but you always stay in tune because nearly all acoustic guitars have fine frets which are very low to the fretboard. Mandolin wire is commonly used. This prevents noticeable sharpening of the string or strings. The lighter strings on an electric guitar, especially the G, B and top E strings are therefore very easily sharpened compared to an acoustic. Years ago electric guitars had fine frets as well but over the years the marketeers have promoted fat frets with a much higher wire. Crazy idea in my opinion as it exaggerates the problem of sharpness. Buy guitars with fine fret wire as it is much easier than altering finger pressure for each chord shape. Technically strings only have to touch the top of the fret wire and not bent below that, but in reality not many players do that, especially acoustic players. Intonation also has to be accurate and the way the strings are secured to the machine heads to prevent slippage. Hope that help add something good to this discussion.
This is really a big problem for me. I am a pretty new player and I find myself hanging on for dear life just trying to get the changes made. Its so bad that I have flat spots on the wound strings where they cross the fret. Great advice as always-thank you.
Thanks for this. It was very helpful. Having started on an acoustic guitar where I had to press down very hard to get a clean sound on the strings and not sound like the strings were dead, now my touch on an electric is much harder than it should be. I don't know if my acoustic strings have always been too heavy a gauge or that the action is set too high. However, it has an effect on my electric guitar where it always is sounding out of tune, particularly on the open strings. I'm not sure either though if my electric guitar is intonated correctly.
Totally wasn’t expecting this valuable information. I’ve been a musician my whole life but am a novice on guitar (9 weeks now), bought a cheap, thrift shop stratocaster type, been having trouble with chords sounding out of tune particularly when I strum harder, and thought it was the bridge. So I was looking for advice on what kind of bridge or other upgrades I should make to the guitar, but think you nailed it, that it’s how I’m playing. From the beginning, one of my biggest problems has been learning to loosen my death grip on my fretting hand. Definitely improved, but as I learn new chords I find those are the ones that go out of tune. Now it makes perfect sense why that’s happening, it’s because I’m just learning the chord and so I’m pressing too hard on those strings until I’ve become fluent in that chord or the chord changes. Thanks so much for this. Absolutely huge help.
How hard is it learning guitar when you were already a lifelong musician? Think I'm gonna try to get serious with the piano, having been a guitar player all my life
I don’t really have anything to compare it to, but it seems to me that already having general musicianship is huge. Even if you don’t have formal training, if you have experience just keeping time, playing with others and so forth, those are a lot of hurdles which discourage complete novices from continuing or progressing beyond the absolute basics. There’s also a lot of stuff where the instruction tells me to do something one way and I just personally prefer to do it differently, or your learning to play a tune from a RU-vid video and they can’t cover every little detail of how to play it, but you discover on your own how you are going to play it, your style. One other thing, I’m doing Yousician, and there are a lot of videos on RU-vid of people playing Yousician levels, scoring perfect points, everything is right according to the app, but musically it sucks whereas someone who is already a musician is going to play that ‘correctly’ and at the same time it’s going to sound like actual music that you want to play or listen to.
By the way, if you want to see what it’s like to learn from the Yousician app, I just posted a video where I unlock level seven. Most of the videos people post are of them playing everything perfectly, but mine shows me struggling with it and finally passing.
If that guitar was marketed as a 36" guitar it's probably a piece of junk. There are so many unscrupulous manufacturers out there that are making guitar shaped objects that are not musical instruments. They were never built correctly in the first place to be able to play in tune. I hope this is not the case with your son's guitar. You need to bring the guitar to someone that can evaluate the guitar and adjust it so that it can actually play in tune. I am serious. Take the guitar to a professional and ask them why the thing won't play in tune. Hopefully it will require some minor adjustments and a little advice on how to get the thing to play right, but often cheaper guitars were not built correctly from the factory and without invasive surgery (expensive) it will never play right. I've seen this so many times where a parent will buy a very cheap and flawed guitar for their child and the kid sounds like crap and never gets to the point that they can play musically. The parent just thinks that it's the kid's fault and they have no talent when it is the guitar itself that is at fault.
Thanks, very helpful.Play acoustic a lot ,and when I play electric ,especially open chords ,it sounds off.Now trying to reduce my gorilla grip.Thanks again.
Just spent 4 hours adjusting truss rod to give more relief for buzzing frets lifting saddle etc..re intonating ..fresh strings etc. Still low E at G is sharp..a lot. Checked out how much neck flex made a difference so tuned slightly flat with seems to work out..its only on my Gibson..acoustics are ok. Thanks.
So I have been playing guitar for 12 plus years and a few years ago I had a brain tumor and lost the feeling on my left side of my body. I just restarted playing guitar and now I'm having this issue, any tips that might help me control my fingers strength as now I can't feel my hand at all? No worries if not, it's not a common problem at all. Thank you
Hi could you please tell me why one of the note sounds out of tune when i play the cord? for an example if i play D cord the F# note on the first E string sound out. and yet the E string it self is in tune and all the rest of the intonation is fine.what can it be please? any info will be much appreciate Thanks.Gio
One thought of mine is if every fretboard tunes well in open string and all its length if using only a specific string gauge.Mine high E tunes in open and fret 12 but all the fretted notes are sharper.I have mixed E-A-E strings from .009 set and D-G-B are from .010.The .010 are quite a lot in better tuning.
Thanks man, was playing a classical guitar for very long and repaired my electric to get back to it. Not a normal one of course but a RG550 with a new LowPro Edge on it, which makes it even harder I guess - and even as I learned and figured out much myself last year and play cleaner now I coudn't figure out what else I was missing, especially with an open a-minor-chord ... Perhaps this is it. I think I can even see the tremolo moving a bit while pressing harder, which adds to the problem! Will try! Btw: Could you do a video about bending strings with a tremolo perhaps, I see it moving and I hear the other unbended notes changing as well, which is an issue while bending to the same note a string lower, if you know what I mean - or as well one and a half step brings the rest out of tune. Best wishes!
I love these tuners but: The old monochrome green ones worked great but I’ve gone through several of the newer color-Play models and they don’t pick up low E very well. No matter which guitar (ruling out intonation/vibe issues), no matter how tight I hold the thing against the neck. I think seasonality - low-humidity - is worse.
This is why I sometimes prefer smaller frets. Once you bottom out on the fretboard you can’t go any further out of tune. But then my finger tips get stuck on the fingerboard during bends.
I wish i had seen this video before , i have been returning brand new guitars because whenever i played F chord for some reason the 2 string sounded out of tune , its late night and i can’t play right now but ima follow ur advise before returning this guitar 😂🙏🏻
I just stated playing an electric and this is happening to me. I have played acoustic for decades without this problem. So it seems it all has to do with the fretting pressure. Will going up in string gauge help at all? The electric I'm playing came with 9s. It's not a very high end guitar.
@@yrrahyrrah I came here because I have the same issue with the A string. When open it is sharp, but when I fret it ...especially at the 7th fret, and above that it is flat. I have set the intonation several times and it remains. Really frustrating.
I had the same issue for a long time on my acoustic when playing a D chord. What I found (and have now read other people saying the same thing) is that it varied every time I changed to different gauge strings. So, what I was doing, was using very light (10s) strings when I gigged with my acoustic rock trio because I am a lead guitarist and really wanted to be able to bend the G up a step. It worked great, but then the chords would sound sooo bad, even though the guitar was in tune. The solution? For only $20.99 a month, you can buy my DVD... Only joking haha. The solution was to use a wound G string rather than a plain metal one. It meant that I couldn't bend the G, and I had to slide my finger to the note instead, but it was a good compromise. I hope this helps!
I intinated my guitar open string and 12th fret and it's perfect but when I play a note on the string anywhere on the neck and it's out of tune? Is this a neck relief problem?
I've three guitars but I only have this problem with one. Intonation is good on all of them. On this particular guitar sounds in tune at the top of the neck but as soon as I move down the fretboard starts to sound out of tune. More lately I'm thinking the problem is mainly the D string. Driving me mad!
G string in tune but,when you press the 2nd fret position,the A note is sharper,even though the guitar is already properly intonated,.what is causing this problem?
The open G chord has never sounded right on literally every guitar I've ever played ever (in 15 years of playing), even with perfect tuning and set up. I know I'm playing the chord correctly. The notes are correct but they don't harmonize perfectly and the whole chord wobbles. I switch to a e major and it sounds perfect. I play a g major bar chord and its also perfect. Then I switch to the g open and its out of tune. I've tried this on probably 70 guitars and they're all the same. Adjusting the pressure didn't help. What's going on?
Equal temperament tuning causes some intervals to be further away from perfect. Different fingering can highlight the compromises. Being aware is cool. Trying to fix something that is inherent is not a good use of time. Justified tuning allows an instrument to sound better in certain keys but will sound bad in other keys because the errors are not spread out equally. This will sweeten the instrument for certain songs but be aware changing keys will likely require retuning. Learn which errors are inherent and and enjoy the dissonance.
@@Nickdeltone thanks for this. This is good info. About a day ago I learned about equal temperament and I figured that this was the issue I was experiencing. Ive learned that I can tune a guitar to the open g chord and it fixes the problem somewhat (granted that now E and some other chords will sound off). So the solution in my mind is to be aware of what is happening and in some cases I will tune the guitar to sound best with a specific chord depending on the specific song I am playing. Either that or enjoy the dissonance as you say.
@@jond3929 I also play an piano that is over 120 years old. It has a real honkytonk sound. That means the unisons are out a bit. I'm sure some folks would cringe but that big old upright kicks out massive sound. I need to retune it but in the meantime we be "honktonkin'"! Enjoy your instrument. Find the melodies within the scales and chords. That's where they hide, just waiting to be coaxed out.
My SG is the only guitar I have this tune problem with. My Les Paul and my other two Fenders seem to keep great tune. But on my SG I tune it perfectly with a tuner, but when I strum a chord it sounds like shit. With that guitar I usually have to tune my low E first, then tune the rest of the strings by ear and really fudge around with it to get it right. And I'm not talking about tuning off the fifth fret. I mean pluck open E and A together and tune open A until it just sounds right and so on until i get to high E. Then when I cross reference with the tuner afterwards, those strings aren't in perfect tune, but the chords sound great. What is going on with that?
Hi I hope someone can help please ! - I am new to electric guitar having played acoustic for two years. On my electric the D, A and Fmaj7 chords sound out of tune - a sort of whiny slightly off sound that ruins songs when strummed - despite the tuner saying they are ok. Where as the G, E, C chords (for example) sound fine. Is this in my head or does this make sense to anyone as something that is wrong with the guitar? (I am within the exchange period so need to make A decision soon). Thank you in advance ! For what it’s worth it’s an epiphone Les paul 1959 reissue
Sometimes it happens when the strings behind the nut (closest to the tuners) vibrate too much. Strum a chord a gently press them. If the sound goes away, you found your problem
I just tried 10 of the most expensive guitars from Gibson's to Guild to Yamaha all over $1,000. And there wasn't a single guitar in which all of the chords sounded like they're in tune when the guitar was tuned up, to the standard tuning. The most frequent issue was between the 3rd and 4th strings playing e chord. If I adjusted it to make the e chord sound good in harmonious then suddenly the d chord or the g chord would sound horrible. Is there any guitar on this planet that actually has this all worked out?
I've played acoustic for years and am beginning to dabble with an electric. I'm here because when I play an open c chord it sounds terribly out of tune. After watching your video it is exactly like you say, 4th string, I am pressing to hard and it's bending the pitch out of tune.
Just intonation vs equal temperament...I tune E,A and D strings on my tuner and then I tune G,B and E strings by ear using chords with no thirds in them
I had the same issue for a long time on my acoustic when playing a D chord. What I found (and have now read other people saying the same thing) is that it varied every time I changed to different gauge strings. So, what I was doing, was using very light (10s) strings when I gigged with my acoustic rock trio because I am a lead guitarist and really wanted to be able to bend the G up a step. It worked great, but then the chords would sound sooo bad, even though the guitar was in tune. The solution? For only $20.99 a month, you can buy my DVD... Only joking haha. The solution was to use a wound G string rather than a plain metal one. It meant that I couldn't bend the G, and I had to slide my finger to the note instead, but it was a good compromise. I hope this helps!
yes this can drive you nuts - i went crazy while tuning the goddamned G string - i meassured i can easily press it a whole step sharper just bystrong press. nuts . my acustic guitar is loughing at how soft the Yamaha is . lol
Man idk what happened, I changed my strings for my guitar, had a guitarist change them, then i tuned it with an app wich I always tuned woth my old strings, but the guitar just sounds off/really bad.. i need help plz😅
Try out 0.12/0.13 gauge strings you probably have used 0.9 gauge strings. If you can't restring right now then try tuning your guitar to 445 hz instead of 440hz (Can do this in GuitarTuna app) but beware that this won't be standard tuning incase you're planning to play along with others/backing track.
@@ericsantillan9711 yeah man, if you’re using an app to tune it, get the Guitar Tuna app, and make it to manual so you can tune each string by itself. I did it on automatic that’s why it didn’t tune so well and it sounded off, but when you tune it manually each string it’‘ll sound the way it should😉
I keep taking my equipment to the shop thinking its jacked up and it always sounds fine when another guitarist plays.. I guess I AM the problem lol I was wondering why my full chords sound like poo, more so my open chords.. now I think I know why.
@@MidwestFarmToys :( Maybe we just suck? For real, it's so annoying though, tryna practice, but it's so disturbing to listen to. Definitely not supposed to sound like that...
Is there any chance that as you strum you are not quite hitting it vertically but rather slighting horizontal. So the string rather than vibrate up and down is slightly vibrating towards and away from you, causing the strings to slap the frets! I have no idea what I’m talking about. But a theory that sounds as if lcould be plausible,
I’m gonna return my prs something don’t sound right when I do a D chord or C on my electric guitar 😠 I’m a newbie but something about those chords don’t sound right
let me see how this is. My new guitar was good for two albums but all of a sudden it out of tune and sounds like crap. Lets see how this video does. nope, this does not help me at all. I think theres something wrong with my guitar. it all of a sudden out of tune when i changed the battery in my guitar, makes no sence but thats how it happened.
I already tuned every string of my guitar. But when I play C major, It's sound not in tune.. When I listen to the sound example of every single string sound the same. Chord G, E, A and D sound ok but not chord C.
i dont get it i think im just dumb because i dont understand the video or hear any difference but i feel my guitar sounds shitty even though it is in tune
I like how you managed to make this sound like an issue with the players and not the strings/guitar being completely terrible, which it usually is. You just wanted an excuse to talk about things that have nothing to do with this. Bad guitars have this issue. And many good guitars have this issue also. It's never about pushing down too hard or anything like that. Complete hogwash. -25 years of guitar playing.
@@JohnGonzalezBand First of all, no. Gibson guitars don't have a special design that makes pushing in on the inlays too hard extra damaging to your key. All guitars do that. Secondly, to make a video about why guitars that won't stay in key where his core focus is about pressing down too hard when that's almost never the issue is just dishonest and hacky. It's never that. Even beginners naturally acclimate to how hard to push down because it's just natural.
@@StudioMod he says in the intro if your intonation and set up are fine this could be the issue. And yes all of my Gibsons have had this issue fretting open chords. It’s because of the nut and the medium-jumbo frets. I can make a video to show you, if you lightly press the first fret on any string it will not run sharp. The harder you press, the sharper it goes. If you have any type of les Paul go try it out with a tuner
@@JohnGonzalezBand Again, every guitar does something similar to that. It's not just Gibson. If you press down with a lot of force, you will absolutely push the note out of key. And YEARS to learn not to do that? A total lie. I have taught many people who were able to play full songs and phrase several licks all within 5-6 months. You're absolutely talking out of your a** right now.
Thank you for this 🫰 i feared that it was going to be something with the guitar itself but turns out ive been pressing down hard like an acoustic guitar
