The basic tuning for a country guitar is EADGBE, which probably means very little to you right now. But if you hold the guitar as if you intend to play it, the string nearest your nose is the thickest one (or at least it should be) and that is tuned to E. That’s the E that is to the left of Middle C on a piano. Once you have that in tune you can either continue to use a tuner for the others, or you can tune them by ear using the ‘E’ string as your starting point.
Now this is important: make sure you do tune your guitar properly. As you progress with each country guitar lesson you will begin to train your ear to recognize chords and even individual notes. If your guitar is out of tune that just ain’t gonna happen! So it follows that, having tuned your guitar, you need to check the tuning each time you play it, especially when you have new strings fitted.
You don’t need to use a tuner each time, except for your 6th, E, string. Make sure that is in tune and then manually check the other strings as follows:
Hold down the E string at the fifth fret; it should now sound the same pitch as the A string – that’s because you’re playing an A on it.
Hold down the A string at the fifth fret; this is a D and should have the same pitch as the D string.
Hold down the D string at the fifth fret and pluck the G string. The pitch of both strings should be the same.
Hold down the G string at the FOURTH fret. This should chime with your B string, never mind why just now.
Hold down the B string at the fifth fret; this is an E and should have the same pitch as your thinnest string.
Remember that the string you adjust is the one you are playing ‘open’, i.e. you are not holding it down. The one you are holding down is the one that should be in tune.
That’s it. You’re ready to play!
