Category: Tuning

The modern twelve string guitar appeared in The United States at the end of the nineteenth century. Nobody knows who first got the idea of making a guitar with double courses of strings. Some guitar historians see the twelve string as an extension of the long tradition of coursed instruments in Italian musical history. But many people think that Mexico, with its tradition of variations on the conventional guitar is the more likely source.
A six string guitar has 6 strings tuned to E A D G B E. The twelve string guitar has six pairs of strings, each pair tuned to the same note but E A D G are tuned an octave apart. B and E are in unison.
To start tuning a 12-string guitar, let’s look at the strings:
E (First String)
e

B
b

G
g

D
d Tuned to the 2nd string - 3rd fret

A
a Tuned to the 3rd string - 2nd fret

E
e (Sixth String)Tuned to the 4th string - 2nd fret

So use your guitar tuner or pitch pipe to get six of the strings in tune as normal. Then go back and do your additional 1st, 2nd and 3rd strings as normal. Then tune your additional 6th, 5th and 4th strings an octave higher.
I’m afraid the final step is to go back again and repeat the tuning process a number of times until your guitar is in tune because the neck of a twelve string guitar comes under alot of stress, and the pithch of the strings will change!
It’s harder to explain than it is to do, so after you’ve done it once, it’ll be a snap!
Once you have got the hang of it, there’s a neat trick for playing twelve string guitar: removing the higher octave from the E A and D strings makes playing running bass lines easier, without losing that distinctive twelve string sound in strumming passages.
The twelve string guitar is great for strumming along accompanying songs but it does not lend itself to the techniques involved in playing lead guitar.
The twelve string guitar has a warm, ear-friendly sound which draws attention to the guitar even behind a group of singers.
Twelve string guitars are usually acoustic, although some lead guitarists have used electric twelve string guitars from time to time.
Guitarists who favored the twelve string include early blues guitarists Blind Willie McTell and Lead Belly, folk singer Bob Gibson and sixties folk-rock innovators, The Byrds. It has not had any great popularity since the seventies when Led Zeppelin and The Eagles recorded ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and ‘Hotel California’.

Leo Kottke plays 12 string guitar
He may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but Leo Kottke made a name for himself in the 19070’s with his unique self-taught 12-string guitar style.

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Anyone looking for an online guitar tuner need look no further than The Tune-O-Matic! This guitar tuner also has alternate guitar tuning options. You can tune to Standard, Drop D, Open C, Open G, Open D, Open G, Half Step Down, Full Step Down, Open E or Admiral.
How To Tune A Guitar

. . . and a guitar tuning video!!

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Here’s an excerpt, just to give you the gist of today’s guitar lesson:
“This is probably the most important piece of knowledge that you can learn when it comes to tuning your guitar. The process of tuning your guitar to itself is one by which you tune each string to another string on the guitar. Basically, it means that you can tune the guitar without having to use a tuner or pitch tool. The only set back about using this method is that your guitar may not end up in exact concert pitch. What I mean by that is that the strings may not run E, A, D, G, B, E as they would if they were in correct concert pitch (you would need a tuner or pitch tool to do that), rather they will all be tuned to whatever note the top string happens to be at the time of tuning.”

Another important aspect of learning guitar is also touched on - recording yourself occasionally to provide a reality check:
“An old piano teacher of mine used to record my playing at different times throughout my terms work. At the end of the term she would give me a tape that contained a selection of pieces that I had played running from work that I had completed early in the term to the things that I was working on at the end of the term. I would take this tape home and I would play it to my friends and family. People listening to the tape would say, “Man, you’re getting good”.
This did two things for me. First of all, it made me go back to my teacher for more lessons. Secondly, it made me practice more because I could see the benefits of working on something over time. Basically, the progress that I could hear on the tape motivated me to progress further.
I strongly recommend that you begin to record your practice sessions for future reference.”
Click here to learn to tune your guitar

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