Standard Guitar Tuning (EADGBE Explained)

Standard guitar tuning is E A D G B E, from the lowest, thickest string to the highest, thinnest one. Spelled with octaves it is E2, A2, D3, G3, B3, E4. The two outer strings are both E — two octaves apart — which is why a correctly tuned guitar starts and ends on the same note name.

The six strings, low to high

A mnemonic makes the order stick: Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie. Read it from the low E up to the high E and you have the whole tuning.

Why these notes?

The intervals are mostly perfect fourths — E to A, A to D, D to G are each a fourth apart — which keeps chord shapes consistent across the neck and the stretch playable. The exception is G to B, a major third. That single narrower gap is what makes common chord and scale shapes fall under the fingers the way guitarists expect; it is a deliberate compromise, not an accident.

How to tune your guitar

The reliable way is a tuner that listens through your microphone, detects the note you play, and shows whether the string is flat, in tune, or sharp on a cents meter. Play one open string at a time, turn the tuning peg until the needle sits at center, and move to the next.