Which guitar tuner should I buy for my child?
Guitar tuners are a basic piece of equipment for the budding or professional guitarist. Playing in tune is sweet. Playing out of tune is heartbreaking...for those listening!The three main things to look for when choosing a tuner are:
- Ease of use. If the tuner is fiddly to handle, your young student may not bother with tuning as he or she is busting to pick up the guitar and play. Look for a tuner which takes about 10 seconds to set up.
- Unless you want a complex tuner that does more than simple tuning of stringed instruments I recommend trying a clip on tuner. These digial tuners pick up the sound waves on the body of the guitar and transfer the waves to the tuner. The LED digital display clearly shows the player when the string is at the correct pitch. Very young children may not be able to open the peg-like clip on their own for a while, but if they are that young, I recommend you help them with their tuning and practice every time they play anyway.
- Battery availablity. Most batteries are available from Dollar stores, but I have come across tuners which have unusual battery sizes. Keep a spare battery safely stored at home incase the tuner's battery goes flat suddenly.
Alternatively there are many free guitar tuner apps online and they all do basic guitar tuning.
