When I tune my acoustic on my chromatic tuner string by string to standard tuning, then go play a chord the tuner displays the chord symbol but shows it on the "sharp" side.
What's up here?
Probably one of two things: either your fingers aren't coming straight down to fret the strings (so you're bending one or more notes a little bit) or you're pressing too hard - once the string is making solid contact with the fret, additional pressure stretches the string and drives it sharp. You want to play with as light a touch as possible.
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
yes, and too, a tuner has a hard time reading more than one string at a time. a chord is confusing it.
Dgbite said: yes, and too, a tuner has a hard time reading more than one string at a time. a chord is confusing it
I don't think you can rely on a tuner reading a chord. There are too many harmonics kicking around with all the strings setting up sympathetic vibrations with one another etc - and the soundboard vibrations on an acoustic is going to make this way worse than a solid-body. Not too sure of the scientific side of it - but if the tuner shows the individual strings are okay, I'd put it away before hitting the chords! :)
David
Dgbite said: yes, and too, a tuner has a hard time reading more than one string at a time. a chord is confusing it
I don't think you can rely on a tuner reading a chord. There are too many harmonics kicking around with all the strings setting up sympathetic vibrations with one another etc - and the soundboard vibrations on an acoustic is going to make this way worse than a solid-body. Not too sure of the scientific side of it - but if the tuner shows the individual strings are okay, I'd put it away before hitting the chords! :)
David
I hope you understand my post. I personally dont tune chords.
often, difficulty with tuning is pressing too hard on the string, intonation, too low of volume for the tuner to read.
in this case I have a feeling the guitar needs to be intonated.
original poster: does the tuner registter the same note with the sting open and fretted at the 12 fret?
Dogbite - I did understand and hoped I was amplifying ... BUT I think I was off-base in any case. I just tried playing a handful of chords with my PocketPOD set to tuner, and it picked up the chord every time!!! So scratch what I said.
You live and learn!
David
PS: I did notice that if I held the chords in a death-grip the tuner showed sharp whereas if I eased up it got closer to tune, so I suspect the feedback on finger-pressure and intonation is closer to the truth ...
I have a pocket POD too, and the tuner mode it includes, while adequate, is NOT intended to measure the tuning of chords. You're supposed to pluck one string at a time to adjust the tuning. Playing more than one string is just going to confuse the tuner and won't give you any accurate information.
