Online Guitar Tuner: Tune Your Guitar with a Microphone or Cable

How to tune your guitar online in a minute

The tuner listens to one string at a time and shows how far the sound is above or below the target note. The order is:

• Press Start tuner and allow access to the audio input. The browser calls it microphone access, even when the guitar is connected by a cable.
• Choose Guitar and a tuning. For an ordinary six-string guitar that is Standard (E A D G B E).
• Play the open sixth string. In Auto mode the tuner finds the nearest string itself and shows its note and the deviation in cents.
• The blue zone on the left means the string is below the note, so tighten the peg. The red zone on the right means above, so loosen it. The green middle means in tune.
• When a string has stayed in the green zone, a check mark appears on it. Move on to the next one.
• After all six, play a couple of chords and check the strings again: tightening shifts the neighbors a little.

Tuner for acoustic and electric guitar, six-string and bass

The tuner suits acoustic, classical and electric guitars with six strings. For a four-string bass switch Guitar to Bass and the tuner shows the strings E A D G.

An electric guitar is best connected by a cable through an audio interface with Cable / interface selected: the signal is clean and room noise does not get in. An acoustic guitar is easier to tune with the microphone: choose Microphone, sit in a quiet room and keep the guitar close to the microphone. The sound is processed right in your browser and is not sent anywhere.

Tunings: standard, drop D, half a step down and more

The Tuning list has 13 options. When you pick a tuning you see the notes of every string and tune to exactly those:

• Standard E A D G B E and tunings a half step (Eb), a whole step (D), a step and a half (C#), two steps (C) and five half steps (B) lower.
• Drop D, Drop C#, Drop C and Drop B for heavy music.
• DADGAD, Open G and Open D for fingerstyle and slide.
• The reference pitch of A4 changes with the minus and plus buttons, 440 Hz by default.

If the tuner does not hear your guitar

The most common causes and what to do:

• The browser did not give access: allow the audio input in the site settings and press Start tuner again.
• There is no signal: pick your interface in the Input list, and with a two-channel input choose the channel the guitar is plugged into.
• The signal is weak: raise the Preamp or the gain on the interface.
• The needle jumps: play one string, let it ring and reduce the noise around you. Play an electric guitar with a clean tone, without distortion.

What to do after tuning

If you are just starting, read how to tune a guitar by ear and with a tuner and learn the guitar string names. Check the tuned guitar against a metronome and play your first chords.

Want to play right away? Open the guitar online page: a virtual fretboard and chords with sound.