



I think we all know our smartphones are capable of tuning a guitar, but how good of a job do they do?Ī guitar tuner app hears the notes of a guitar the same way a digital handheld tuner does, only the microphones of many phones are not designed with this use in mind. tt feels silly to type that question out as a sub-heading because it’s a question my 72-year-old Dad would ask with his eyes squinted as though he were looking into the sun. A tuner app is a must-have for any guitar player and while I don’t think it exactly replaces a handheld tuner, it comes close. Different situations call for different tuners, but most hobbyist guitar students only need a basic tuner as opposed to a $100 pedal tuner or rackmount tuner.īut, it is really necessary to drop even just $25 on a handheld tuner? Or should you get a tuner app for $2.50? Heck, most tuner apps can be had for free. There really is no way around it and if you bought your guitar without getting a tuner as well, you will find out very quickly that you are dead in the water. If you are going to play the guitar, you must have a tuner. When I used to tell new students that their assignment for next week was to get some spare strings and a tuner, I got a look that said, “Yeah okay, buddy…” and was greeted the following week by an out-of-tune pupil with a broken string. If that guitar is not in tune, no amount of reverb, distortion, or wah is ever going fix it and I will sound terrible forever. I often say that buying a tuner was the most boring purchase I ever made, but it was the most important. After all, it only takes one small bump, change in atmosphere, or exaggerated string bend to knock a guitar or bass out of tune.

It is also what I would say between line checks or during a stage reset to remind the musicians to keep everything sounding on point. “Okay, let’s tune up!” This is usually the first thing I say to kick off a guitar lesson.
