Tune the guitar....
Tune to pitch. There are many ways to tune a guitar. Some are better than others. The Classical Guitar is a compromised instrument. It is designed for the best possible tuning of the twelfth fret to its open string. All notes fretted in between may be either slightly sharp or slightly flat to their desired pitch. This allows all the strings to share the same fret. Without this compromise, the frets would be divided into as many as six individual parts, which would create a whole new set of problems less relevant to the subject at hand.
Tune strings with moderate even strokes in playing position. Weight of attack can affect tuning. Due to the gravity on its neck, a guitar tuned while lying flat on a table will drift flat when brought to playing position.
Methods of tuning....
A few methods of tuning a guitar are:
- Electronic tuner - Good in noisy conditions. Pickup some times necessary. Adequate tuning.
- Using Harmonics - Generally at the fifth and seventh frets. Easier to hear pitches of two different strings. Looks professional. Adequate tuning, but sometimes requires tweaking for certain keys and/or nut height and string height.
- Octaves - In first position. End result reveals that a fret shared by six strings is a compromise. Fair tuning. Needs tweaking to complete tuning.
- Fifth/fourth fret to open string - Best compensates for fret position, nut height and string height. Looks less professional, but generally achieves the best results.
All methods should be referenced to A 440.
Stretching the strings....
Use Light pressure of thumb and fingers while sliding up and down the strings. (Aggressive pressure can damage the strings.)
....the entire length of the string....
Tune again....
A collector views a virtuoso's guitar as top dollar because of its pedigree, while an experienced player knows it's littered with sweet spots.
It is important to consistently keep your guitar tuned to concert pitch (A 440). Anyone who has owned a new instrument will attest that it requires a breaking-in period to improve its tone. A small amount is attributed to the aging of the wood, but the greatest single event contributing to improved tone of an instrument as it ages is its ability to learn to vibrate at frequencies that will most often be used. The classical guitar consists of approximately 40 major wooden parts, all glued together to hold their idle state. If the instrument vibrates regularly at set frequencies, these glue joints will open in such a way that the top, back and sides will eventually begin to vibrate more freely with notable improvements in tone, response, dynamic range, and volume (Sweet Spots).
An average break-in time for a new guitar can take one to two years. For a professional, one to two months with huge improvements in weeks! A novice guitarist can experience this phenomenon. Play something in the key of C with non-open strings, then play the same in Cb (one fret lowered). Notice a drop in tone, sustain, dynamics, and volume on some of these notes. This occurs because the frequencies have dropped out of the sweet spots of the top, back and sides. The more these notes are used the smaller the drop.
Another example can be seen when restringing a well-kept guitar. When bringing the open strings to pitch, notice as the pitch is reached the volume increases with improved sustain. This will occur more notably on the E, A and D strings. This phenomena best occurs when the guitar is regularly tuned to concert pitch. Dropped tuning is OK because you're leaving from one sweet spot to another.
A misconception can also be attributed to this phenomenon. Many performers believe that removing all of the strings at one time will somehow temporarily deaden the top. What actually occurs with newly installed strings is a massive settling of tensions between the bridge, saddle, playing area, fingerboard nut, and tuners. String settling is often referred to as stretching. When the strings are installed and tuned they will immediately move flat and drift out of their sweet spots causing a slightly muted effect to the guitar. With repeated tunings, stretching decreases and the top appears to come back to life.
Final Polish....
Polish the remaining areas of the guitar.
Final thought....
Although only one brand of strings was mentioned, no attempt is made to promote one over another. Choices of brands, alloys, tensions, tonality, durability, and feel can vary as much as the make and models of guitars themselves. An increase of silver in a string may improve tone, but shorten durability. Scale length, string height, style of attack, or even hardness of frets can alter ones views of strings.
Lastly, never to be overlooked, a choice of strings may be decided by the music itself. High tension strings might be chosen to perform Morning (by Grieg) because of its/their dynamic range, while low tension strings may be more suited for Prelude in G Minor (by Rachmaninoff) to achieve a driving, raw, and gritty sound and ease left hand fingerings.
These guitars are all strung with different strings, different fingerboard nut heights, and different saddle heights, for different playing purposes because......
life is full of different circumstances.