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Before you start playing those first chords or bashing out your first riff, you need to get your axe in tune. Here's how!

The diagram on the right shows the six strings as they're laid out on the neck of your guitar, with the thick horizontal line at the top representing the nut.

The letters indicate the name/pitch of each string when played open (without your left hand fretting the string to raise the pitch).

The first string (on the far right) is the thinnest with the highest pitch, and is called the high E. The second is the B string and so on down to the thickest and lowest pitch string (far left) – the sixth string or low E.

If you have an electronic tuner you now know what pitch each string should be, so you can plug in, tune up and start learning. Alternatively, you can use the '5th fret' approach to tuning which requires you to tune by ear.

The '5th fret' approach

Tuning with this method will leave you better equipped in the long run as it will develop your aural skills and prevent you looking stupid when you forget to take your tuner along to a practice or its batteries run out.

Also known as 'relative tuning', this method is the most common way of tuning a guitar yourself. To start off you will need a reference pitch to tune up to. For this you can tune up to another instrument (see 'Other Ways To Tune at bottom of page).

Every month, we include a tuning guide on the Total Guitar CD, which gives you the pitch of each open string as a reference. Alternatively, you can use the following audio clip:

Compare the sound of the low E string (sixth string) on your guitar. If your note sounds lower you need to tighten the string by turning your machinehead. If your note sounds too high, then you need to use the machinehead to loosen the string and lower the pitch.

Letting the string ring after you have played it will allow you to hear its pitch more clearly. (It will take a while before your ear gets used to recognising when a string is out of tune, but you can always cheat and resort back to an electronic tuner...)

Now you have one string in tune, you can use the 5th fret method to tune the remaining strings:

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