Members Tullsterx Posted October 24, 2013 Members Share Posted October 24, 2013 . . ./songwriter and plays coffee shops and such, low-paying gigs, pretty frequently. Just her and her acoustic guitar. She's been doing that for years, since she was 15 or so, she's 18 now, I think. I've seen her at coffee shops a couple of times, and I've seen her play at family reunions and dinners many times. . . She's a pretty good singer and she can play guitar OK. But, her guitar is ALWAYS out of tune. An I don't understand it. She's seems pretty bright, I'm sure she's aware of guitar tuners and intonation in general. Her voice has pretty good intonation. But, I was wondering if it was some pride thing, or if she thinks she shouldn't use a tuner for some reason. I was thinking about getting her a guitar tuner for her birthday or Christmas, but I don't want to insult her. What do you guys think? Is there a school of thought out there that advocates not using a guitar tuner? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nchangin Posted October 24, 2013 Members Share Posted October 24, 2013 Possible you have her play a tuned one after she gets done playing the untuned one? Surely she should be able to hear the difference assuming she has an ear for pitch if she can actually sing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wheresgrant3 Posted October 24, 2013 Members Share Posted October 24, 2013 This is something that frustrates me to no end. Even though I've never been a remarkable player I have always had very good pitch... near perfect when my hearing was better. When ever I hear someone clearly out of tune I want to walk over and adjust their tuning, LOL. Can't give advice on tuners except to say for $9 you can download an app for your iPhone. It works as good as any chromatic tuner. Tullsterx wrote: . . ./songwriter and plays coffee shops and such, low-paying gigs, pretty frequently. Just her and her acoustic guitar. She's been doing that for years, since she was 15 or so, she's 18 now, I think. I've seen her at coffee shops a couple of times, and I've seen her play at family reunions and dinners many times. . . She's a pretty good singer and she can play guitar OK. But, her guitar is ALWAYS out of tune. An I don't understand it. She's seems pretty bright, I'm sure she's aware of guitar tuners and intonation in general. Her voice has pretty good intonation. But, I was wondering if it was some pride thing, or if she thinks she shouldn't use a tuner for some reason. I was thinking about getting her a guitar tuner for her birthday or Christmas, but I don't want to insult her. What do you guys think? Is there a school of thought out there that advocates not using a guitar tuner? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SLScott86 Posted October 24, 2013 Members Share Posted October 24, 2013 Haha- I was expecting to see a cool "proud uncle" video. For some reason I found that swerve to be funny and refreshing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tullsterx Posted October 24, 2013 Author Members Share Posted October 24, 2013 You know, her guitar didn't sound too bad to me until she handed to me one time and I strummed a chord, and that's when I really thought "Holy ****! This guitar's really out of tune!" And since then I've noticed that she's usually out of tune. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted October 26, 2013 Moderators Share Posted October 26, 2013 I like Potts take on this. Tell her. She's not going to melt. "You're sounding better than ever. It's time to concentrate on your tuning," She's young and will respond with something like this, "oh no, it's fine, it just got a little out right then." And you say... "Oh yes. Your tuning is holding you back. You're consistently out. Time to fix it." Then teach her. This is how we learn. She won't meltq Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wesg Posted October 27, 2013 Members Share Posted October 27, 2013 It may also be possible that her guitar has never been set up. While that won't affect "campfire chords" too badly, things will get worse the further up the neck she goes. BTW I really like the package idea. And a clip-on headstock tuner is ideal for her. A pedal doesn't work unless she plays with an amp...lots of coffee house performers don't. If you are a rich uncle, you might consider a $1000 guitar, setup nicely, with a built-in tuner. But I seem to recall hearing that you were a musician.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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