Jamorama Blog » intonation http://www.jamorama.com/blog Learn to play music online fast! Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:56:34 +0000 en hourly 1 What Is Intonation? http://www.jamorama.com/blog/what-is-intonation/ http://www.jamorama.com/blog/what-is-intonation/#comments Tue, 25 Oct 2011 13:29:52 +0000 admin http://www.jamorama.com/blog/?p=5144 Intonation is the accuracy of your guitars pitch all the way down the neck. It is relative to each individual fret. If your intonation is correct then when you play the lowest string on your guitar (an E) then each fret up should be perfectly in tune: E (open), F (1st fret), F sharp (2nd fret) G (3rd fret) and so on. If your intonation is right then all the other notes on your guitar will be perfectly in tune with your open string. Intonation doesn’t always go askew on all frets; it’s usually only a few here and there and gets worst if not attended to.
newsletter15 article whatsintonation1 300x224 What Is Intonation?
If you want your guitar to sound good then you need to keep your guitar properly intonated so it is in relative tune to itself. Generally you should check your intonation every week or so, just to make sure that your guitar is sounding as good as it can. To check your intonation you need a tuner and you should do one string at a time. The procedure for checking your intonation is as follows.

1. Turn on your tuner and tune the string to the right pitch.
2. Strike the 12th fret harmonic; make sure it is tune with the open string. (they should be the same note).
3. Now strike the note at the 12th fret (not the harmonic) all three of these notes should be the same note. If they are, then your intonation if probably fine if not then you could have a serious problem.

If you have a problem with your intonation then you should take your guitar to the nearest guitar store and get a professional to fix it for you.

Good luck with your practice!

Posted by Ben Edwards

]]> http://www.jamorama.com/blog/what-is-intonation/feed/ 0 Tuning guitar II – Guitar Intonation – updated http://www.jamorama.com/blog/tuning-guitar-ii-guitar-intonation/ http://www.jamorama.com/blog/tuning-guitar-ii-guitar-intonation/#comments Mon, 15 Jun 2009 04:17:38 +0000 Jamorama http://jamorama.com/blog/?p=1653 INTONATION:

Okay so here`s the deal regarding intonation. Intonation problems are created when the length of the guitar string is not precisely matched to the length of your guitar. Why does this matter? Well, when you play a guitar you are dividing the string into different lengths in the process of fretting notes, this causes the strings frequency to increase or decrease in an inverse relationship with the strings length.

Simply put if you play your E string at the twelfth fret – an octave above open string tuning – you are dividing the string in half. Now, if the division of the string isn`t exact then the pitch of the note will be out. That is why your electric guitar has moveable saddles in the bridge – so you can check and resolve intonation problems because nothing sounds more out of whack than skipping to the twelfth fret for a burn up and finding that all your notes are just a little bit flat or sharp.

SO, if you want to Test your Intonation plug in your tuner and for each string perform the following actions:

1. play the open string and make sure it is exactly in tune.

2. play the same string at the twelfth threat and adjust your bridge saddles until the string  is exactly in tune.

3. play a harmonic at the twelfth fret and  double check the tuning.

4. Repeat across all strings.

5. Start playing.

Cheers,

Jake Edwards

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