TUNING!!!!!

I really need some help!!! what helps you learn how to tune better?

I cheat and I bought a tuner I can plug into my electric and my acoustic has a built in tuner.

You may already know this, but if you have one string tuned, you can tune them by ear by knowing which frets are the same notes with two string next to each other. For example, the 5th fret of the low e string is A, which is also the a string open. You can strike the fifth fret of the e string and then the open a string and adjust the a string (assuming the e string is tuned already) until you stop hearing the tones wabbling. I can't think of a better way to say it really. If they are out of tune, you can hear the dissonance. When they are in tune that disappears. Someone else might be able to expand upon this thought.

If you are using a drop tuning, the same thing applies, you just need to know where the appropriate note moves to. Drop D would not have the 7th fret of the e string become a. And you would repeat above.

I am not sure if this helps or not, but hopefully it did. If you are wondering how to become better at finding that first string by ear without a tuner, well that just takes time. :o)

i think im going to cheat too...
LOL
it would probably help me out a lot, but for now until i get one, im just going to try my hardest to get the notes down :) i almost got it right a week ago, but i popped my b string so...im playing with 4 strings right now :p

if theres a piano around, or keyboard you can tune to that.

This is how I thought of tuning.

Pretend its the clutch on a standard shift car.
Start slow and easy with someone teaching you how to use the clutch
(Use a tuner to get to the right note, but tune slow)
After a while, you dont need an "instructor" (tuner), you can go by feel (in this case, by ear)
But remember to not go to fast or youll pop the "clutch" and stall. (Break a string)

If youve ever dealt with driving this may help some.
I actually used this in reverse to learn to drive my dads stick shift.

Or you can tune using harmonicss.

Btimm took the words outta my mouth. +1 too him.

I tune using harmonics at the 12th fret. Your tuner has the best responsiveness to changes in pitch doing this, as it is less likely to overload the tuner and cause it to not read a change in pitch. Cheap tuners like a low end Korg will have some issues with banging out an open string and generally won't get the change in pitch as well as the former method of harmonics. Plus you get the extra experience of ringing out harmonics every time you tune. This is like a double whammy when you think about it. I'm a huge advocate for just buying a little tuner. It will save you lots of headaches and time when you just want to play and not tune for 20 minutes.
My two centavos.

@Domigan_Lefty epic and i dont think anyone else woulda thought of that lol
what do you find are the best kind of tuners out there?

for sheer simplicity I would recommend the Korg GA-30. It's cheap but effective and simple to use. Really that's what the bottom line is, however on better tuners(like pedals or Boss needle-tuners) you will have a bit more precision. Those are more than likely going to cost you above $50 while the korg will only be about $15.

lol.. i cheat a lot. I did all that. I used my net to tune my guit at home, i used the keyboards to tune the ones in my church. i can adjust 5-1 as long as the low E is tune in though just like btimm said.. tuning is the first thing i learned way back but i will go check out a tuner nxt month. hehe :)

Tuning is something that you just get good at over time. Its a great skill to have, really helps with learning music by ear. If you keep playing you will get to the point were you can hear the notes and know what note that is. Learning to tune by ear is the first step.

Start trying to learn harmonic tuning, if you don't know how to PM me and I'll reply when I can.

I would get a clip on tuner. Every good bluegrass musician has one. I like the Intellitouch PT10 Mini Clip-On Tuner.