So you have a 3 string cigar box guitar, to play the songs on this site and get the most from the training courses you'll want to tune them in the traditional way.
- Find your key - Heavy strings will have a lower pitch while lighter stringers will sound higher on the same guitar at the same tension. You'll generally find that you won't have too much trouble tuning each string within a range of about a major third, that is 4 semitones or frets on a standard guitar.
- Tune Up - Once you've settled on the pitch you want for your bass note then go ahead and tune your lightest string an octave higher than that. For example if you tune your bass note to a G then your top note will also be a G but an octave higher. The middle string is the 5th note of that scale, in the key of G it will be D (just count up 5 from your starting note, remembering to stop and start again at G).
This guide assumes that you are using the 3 bass strings in a standard set of guitar strings. You can of course use whatever strings you like and the principle remains the same: light string = high pitch & tune to root, fifth and octave.
A Quick Guide to Tuning
| String guage | Key | tuned | Key | tuned | Key | tuned |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light strings | F | F, C, F | G | G, D, G | A | A, E, A |
| Heavier strings | C | C, G, C | D | D, A, D | E | E, B, E |
Of course there are more than two types of string guages available and you may choose a different guage that will give you a different range of keys. You'll soon learn how much tension your guitar can take and this in the end will determine how high you'll be able to tune it.
So to find these pitches you can get yourself a tuner or learn to tune by ear. Even if you own a tuner it will still help to be able to approximate your tuning with your ear, this video will help you with that.