Tuning your guitar with a tuning fork means starting from a pure acoustic reference: the A at 440 Hz, the standard pitch you use to tune every other string by ear. It's an old method — cheap and surprisingly accurate — and it's perfect for training your ear when there's no display in front of you.
In a nutshell: strike the tuning fork, rest it on a resonant surface so you can clearly hear the A at 440 Hz, tune the 5th string to it (A, A2, two octaves below), then finish the remaining strings with the fifth-fret method.
What a tuning fork is and why 440 Hz
A tuning fork is a small metal fork with two prongs: when you strike it, it vibrates at a fixed, stable frequency, producing a clean note almost free of distracting overtones. The most common model gives you the A at 440 Hz, the central A (A4).
That value is no accident: 440 Hz is the international pitch standard, the shared reference for orchestras, luthiers and tuners around the world. Starting from it, your guitar will play at the same pitch as any other instrument tuned to the same reference. It's also the foundation of standard EADGBE tuning, the one virtually every guitarist starts from.
How to sound the tuning fork
A tuning fork sounds very faint if you just hold it in your hand: the trick is to amplify it with a resonant surface.
- Hold the tuning fork by the stem, not by the prongs.
- Strike one of the prongs against something firm but not hard: your knee, the heel of your hand or the edge of a wooden table. Avoid metal or stone surfaces, which can damage the tip.
- Right away, rest the stem (the base) of the tuning fork on a resonant surface: the tabletop, the guitar's body or the instrument's bridge. The wood amplifies the vibration and the A becomes clear and sustained.
A handy variant is the pitch pipe: a small instrument you blow into to get the note. Some models give you only the A, others all six open-string notes. It's convenient for travel, but the airflow makes it slightly less stable than the classic metal tuning fork.
Tuning the A string from the tuning fork
The tuning fork gives you the A at 440 Hz (A4), while the open 5th string of the guitar is a much lower A, A2 = 110 Hz, exactly two octaves below. It's the same note, just in another octave: that's why the 5th string is the natural starting point.
| Reference | Note | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Tuning fork | A (A4) | 440 Hz |
| Open 5th string | A (A2) | 110 Hz |
Here's how:
- Sound the tuning fork and hum or memorize that A.
- Pluck the open 5th string and compare the two notes: try to hear whether the string is the same note "two floors down".
- Adjust the tuning peg until the string's A and the tuning fork's A match. When they're in tune you'll hear a steady, clean sound; when they're slightly off you'll hear a beat, a kind of pulsing that slows down as you get closer to the right pitch and disappears when you're there.
Comparing notes two octaves apart takes some practice: if you struggle at first, try bringing the string closer to your ear and listening only to the attack of the note, ignoring the rest.
Finishing the tuning
Once the 5th string is in tune with the tuning fork, you have your reference note and can tune all the other strings relative to it, without needing the fork anymore. The most common system is the fifth-fret method: press a string at the fifth (or fourth) fret and tune the next string to the same sound.
We won't re-explain it in detail here: you'll find the whole procedure, fret by fret, in the guide on how to tune a guitar by ear. Starting from the already-tuned 5th string, just work out the lower strings first (6th) and then the higher ones (4th, 3rd, 2nd, 1st) to reach full standard tuning.
Tuning fork or tuner
The tuning fork is unbeatable for training your ear and never runs out of battery, but it asks you to trust your hearing: at first, comparing octaves and recognizing beats isn't easy. If you'd rather have a visual reference that tells you, string by string, how far you are from the note, a tuner is more direct.
A convenient middle ground is tuning online with EasyGuitarTuner: it's a free web tuner that works in your browser through the microphone, with no installation or sign-up, on computer, smartphone or tablet, and it supports 6- and 12-string guitars as well as ukulele. Its only limit is the microphone itself: in a noisy room the reading can get jumpy, so tune in a quiet space. If you like, you can also use it for a quick check after working with the tuning fork, or turn to a free online tuner in your browser when you're in a hurry.
The best solution, in the end, is to combine them: the tuning fork to train your ear and truly understand what "being in tune" means, the visual feedback for quick checks and for the days when you don't have time to listen carefully.