Tune Your Guitar at 12th Fret and Open – Intonation

When I first saw the phrase guitar intonation I just skimmed past it not understanding. Now I understand more.

“Guitarists Make Their Money Above the 12th Fret”

This phrase seems to have a debate on the Internet.

Whether you believe it or not, as you play past your 6 months or 1 year of being a guitarist, you will approach the 12th fret.

And you better hope your guitar is tuned or intonated at the 12th fret also.

Tune Your Guitar with Open Strings and at the 12th Fret

95% of us always tune our guitar with open strings. That works for chords close to your guitar nut.

But the talented 5% also “tune” the guitar at the 12th fret.

It’s really a 2 step process:

1. Tune your guitar with open strings as you were taught.
   • Of course, you may adjust your guitar tuners to bring your guitar into tune.
2. Tune your guitar at the 12th fret.
   • It should be identical to the open string except one octave higher.
   • If it’s not in tune, your guitar isn’t intonated properly.

Intonating a Guitar Isn’t the Easiest Thing

I won’t pretend to be a luthier and teach you how to intonate a guitar. I can do simple maintenance on a guitar but intonation isn’t one of them.

Here is some advice:

1. Electric guitars. Perhaps simpler to intonate.
   • Tune/measure guitar on the high E string first.
   • If it’s flat, move the screw forward to the left.
   • If it’s sharp, move the screw back to the right.
   • But even then it may not be easy to do. Just try it on the high E string if you understand the instructions.
2. Acoustic guitars. Much harder in my opinion.
   • Sorry, no great advice.
   • In theory it’s a bridge adjustment for each string.
   • But you may need very good skills to intonate a string on an acoustic guitar.

Yes, Tuning a Guitar for each String is Two Measurements

Yes, Tuning a Guitar for each String is Two Measurements

1. First tune with open strings.
2. Second, tune at the 12th fret.

It’s easy to get open strings in tune.

Tuning or intonating at the 12th fret is more difficult.

Again, Guitar Intonation Matters

If a guitar is tuned at open strings but not in tune at 12th fret, you will find that some of your notes “up the neck” near the 12th fret are not in tune.

That’s because your guitar isn’t properly intonated.

Poor Guitar Intonation probably won’t affect you as a beginner guitarist. But after playing 6 months, perhaps a year, you will begin playing chords up the neck.

If you wonder why chords sound bad on your guitar “up the neck”, that’s because your guitar is poorly intonated.

Thanks for Visiting Shoshin Guitarist Today

Shoshin is Japanese for “beginner’s mind”.

I am not Japanese nor pretend to know their culture fully. I do know that I love a single word that has so much meaning.

Be Shoshin in your Guitar studies, and in life.