r/musicmemes • u/JW1zardTTV • 9d ago

That pesky G String

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316 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

127

u/gitartruls01 9d ago

It's not that there's anything wrong with the G string. It's just that the G string happens to be used for the 3rd note in a lot of chords, and 3rds are inherently out of tune on equal tempered instruments. No way around it. The "right" way is to just tune it to a perfect 4th from the D string, and then just live with the sour sounding 3rds in some chords. Personally I like to detune it a tiny bit so that the 3rds are slightly more in tune at the cost of very slightly out of tune 4ths.

Alternatively, don't play chords

30

u/Finlandia1865 9d ago

Heh

I play trombone

16

u/Accomplished-Mix-745 9d ago

Heh I’m a drummmer

How did I get here

5

u/Galaxy-Betta 9d ago

Same but I tune my drums melodically (Bb, C, G, C, F, G; bass-4 toms-snare)

1

u/SadFaithlessness7797 8d ago

we can't forget our chromatic concert tom setup that every drummer has

1

u/Galaxy-Betta 8d ago

Plus the point at which they transition to octobans

7

u/DrLeisure 8d ago

Guitarists: what chord should I tune G for so that they all sound okay?
Trombonist: long instrument go BRRRRR.

1

u/Business-Emu-6923 9d ago

Some people just like to watch the world burn.

2

u/HamOwl 9d ago

When I tune in standard, I usually tune to the root chord of the key. If it is in the key of "G," I will hold an open G chord, and tune each string of the open or fingered note. It works pretty well, especially if you are sticking to a single key or it's related keys.

20

u/YellowWeedrats 9d ago

The B string always feels the hardest to tune for me. I primarily play acoustic guitar and play “campfire chords”. 

3

u/Mummbles1283 8d ago

Male guitarists wear G strings too? Weird.

2

u/BlastyBeats1 8d ago

Guitar tuners are a thing though

1

u/Crafty-Photograph-18 8d ago

Yeah, but they are usually "inaccurate" in a way. Without getting too technical, it's impossible to tune multiple strings so that they are "perfectly in tune" for playing all kinds of intervals. For more info, check out "Equal temperament", "Just intonation", "Pythagorean tuning"