Mel Bay Tuning the Guitar by Ear [Paperback]

Gerald Klickstein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 18, 1996

The most complete guitar tuning method ever published. Written by one of America's leading guitar teachers and designed for all guitarists, from beginners to professionals, this book offers a practical new approach to tuning the guitar. This system is equally effective for all types of guitars and even includes the principal alternate tunings used in classic guitar performance: dropped-D, low-G (DGDGBE), and the lowered third string (G to F#) but otherwise normal tuning often used to emulate the lute or vihuela. Using the principles described in this book and conveyed purely through diagrams, any guitarists can learn to tune with precision and confidence.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Classic guitarist Gerald Klickstein performs and teaches throughout the U.S., appearing as solo recitalist, chamber musician and clinician. He is a member of the distinguished artist-faculty of the North Carolina School of the Arts where his students consistently win top prizes in a variety of guitar competitions. His writings and musical arrangements are published by Mel Bay Publications, Southern Music Company and Tuscany Publications.

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Mel Bay Publications, Inc.; A Practical New Approach for the Uncompromising Musician edition (October 18, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786620846
• ISBN-13: 978-0786620845
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.3 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #502,294 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gerald Klickstein (@klickstein) is a veteran performer and educator with more than 30 years of experience on the concert stage and in higher education.

Currently Professor of Music at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, he is a sought-after speaker, writer, music career coach, creativity consultant, arts administrator, and classical guitarist.

His book The Musician's Way (Oxford 2009) and its extensive companion website have drawn global praise for their insightful handling of the issues that today's musicians face. Learn more and join the conversation at MusiciansWay.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book on Guitar Tuning!, January 17, 2010

By 

Christopher A. Davis - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mel Bay Tuning the Guitar by Ear (Paperback)

The tuning methods described in this book are different from what I wrote and what's usually done.

After some preliminary text, the book goes into a few exercises designed to help the student learn to hear beats between out of tune unison harmonics. This is an often skipped step. Teachers, including myself, just show the student where to put the fingers for tuning with no mention of how to recognize differences in pitch. The book's system relies on hearing the beats between unison pitches and adjusting them strings until the beats sound a certain beats per minute.

In an equally tempered instrument, such as the guitar, only the octaves are in perfectly in tune. The other pitches are adjusted. The seventh fret harmonics sound pure fifths, not tempered ones. As such, tuning open strings to pure fifths of harmonics puts other intervals out of tune. Gerald Klickstein's method for tuning factors this in. Each string is first tuned with harmonics. The strings are adjusted until the beats between unisons sound at a certain metronome marking. The secondary tuning method is a series of checks and test chords that ensure the guitar is in tune.

The methods described in this book work very well. I have started using some of the checks and test chords to tune my guitar. The book's strength is its inclusiveness; every detail of tuning by ear, from muting strings to moving to and from altered tunings, is covered in the text.