Tune town

I found this product while surfing the net:

The String Master Robotic Guitar Tuner is unlike any guitar tuner you’ve ever used. Our robotic technology makes String Master the easiest, most fun to use guitar tuner available. The String Master Robotic guitar tuner is the cutting edge in guitar tuner technology.

All you do is hold the String Master robotic guitar tuner on each tuning peg and pluck the string. String Master listens to the sound and its powerful gear motor actually turns the peg for you until that string is tuned to perfect pitch. (Keep reading at www.actiontuners.com)

KEEP IT IN TUNE

One of my pet peeves when I listen to bands is hearing out-of-tune guitars. Most people don't hear which individual string – or even which guitar – is out of tune, but I suspect everyone knows there's something amiss in the band. Any string that's out of tune is bound to mess up the entire band's music, and people will simply chalk that up to the group's ineptness. It is our duty as guitarists to keep our instruments in tune and to maintain it through the gig even if it means stopping between songs to fiddle with the tuning keys (more advanced players can do it in the middle of a song).

Tuning up is easier said than done, of course. Gig time means we are either caught up in the moment or are distracted by a number of big and small details (feedback, volume, cables on the ground, beer bottles flying around) – and out-of-tune strings can be the last thing on our mind. I have found that the answer is to simply listen, because when we pay attention to the music we will know what's wrong, whether it be feedback or volume or guitar strings going astray.

For years I used my ears exclusively for tuning, believing there to be no better tool than my own auditory organs to tell me when my guitar was in or out of tune. I swiped a pitch pipe from someone (I forget who it was who owned it, but he wasn't using it anymore so I simply appropriated it for myself) and used it even though its G note was broken and sounded like a goose being strangled. I also developed a system of using harmonics in the fifth, seventh, and 12^th frets because the higher pitches were easier for me.

It wasn't until last year when I decided to try out a digital tuner. I had always derided the gadget, feeling it was for those whose ears aren't good enough to know they're out of tune already. Fortunately I found a very inexpensive tuner at a music store and decided to buy it simply to see if it was any good.

To my surprise it worked like a charm: within a minute my guitar was in tune, unlike the three-minute minimum I used to spend with my pitch pipe. I found it easy to use: when the needle pointed straight up, the string was in tune. And since it was a digital tuner it automatically displayed which note I was looking for. No sweat!

Does the digital tuner make my ears obsolete tuning-wise? Of course not. Playing live often means adjusting tuning on the fly without the benefit of the tuner, and that's where one's ears are still important. But as a tool nothing beats a tuner, and I only wonder why I didn't get one sooner.

If you play guitar, I advise you to buy a good tuner; your friendly neighborhood music store should have one. It's one of the best investments you'll ever make. Believe me.