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So my niece is a singer. . .


Tullsterx

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. . ./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?

 

 

 

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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?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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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. 

 

 

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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

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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....

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